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12 Jan 2004 : Column 583W—continued

School Fruit Scheme

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Government have spent centrally on administering the National School Fruit Scheme in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [141789]

Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

The Department of Health spent £0.75 million in 2001–02 and £0.3 million in 2002–03 on administering and evaluating National School Fruit Scheme pilots, including the cost of the fruit. In 2002–03 and 2003–04 the lottery-funded New Opportunities Fund has been supporting a scaling-up of the original pilots region by region with £42 million. From 2004–05 the scheme will be rolled out to all local education authority infant schools in England with full funding by the Department of Health.

School Meals

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will make a statement on provision of school meals by Essex county council; [146625]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Local education authorities have a duty to provide free and paid for school meals that meet nutritional standards. Where a school has a delegated budget for meals, the governing body takes on these responsibilities. From April 2000, funding for school meals was delegated to all secondary schools. Primary and special schools can opt for delegation.

From April 2004, Essex county council will delegate the budget for primary school meals. Primary school governing bodies will have the freedom to choose what form school meals should take, including the type of dishes served and the ingredients which are used. They can also choose the suppliers or providers for the school meal service.

12 Jan 2004 : Column 584W

Specialist Schools

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in each local education authority area have specialist school status in the current financial year; and what the total funding made available in the current financial year under the programme is in each local education authority area. [145430]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested is set out in the following table.

Designated specialist schools receive a one-off £100,000 capital grant and £126 per pupil per annum for four years.

Specialist schools funding by LEA report for 2003–04
£

LEA NameTotal Funding 2003–04 (£)Number of specialist schools
Barking & Dagenham, LB of637,9824
Barnet, LB of1,400,11910
Barnsley631,9334
Bath & North East Somerset1,385,14310
Bedfordshire1,060,5177
Bexley, LB of609,2355
Birmingham4,861,06038
Blackburn with Darwen528,5004
Blackpool603,5944
Bolton1,651,3249
Bournemouth608,8754
Bracknell Forest301,0002
Bradford1,781,84311
Brent, LB of1,302,3719
Brighton and Hove841,7015
Bristol, City of 789,8036
Bromley, LB of1,425,1319
Buckinghamshire1,885,83314
Calderdale1,046,3257
Cambridgeshire2,407,35618
Camden, LB of680,3755
Cheshire3,011,81521
City of London00
Cornwall2,320,07716
Coventry968,5166
Croydon, LB of735,2586
Cumbria3,540,91524
Darlington580,9225
Derby, City of 629,1944
Derbyshire2,343,10916
Devon3,270,55420
Doncaster1,535,4459
Dorset1,919,35314
Dudley1,198,7639
Durham2,550,89820
Ealing, LB of1,267,1118
East Riding of Yorkshire1,464,1659
East Sussex2,577,25518
Enfield, LB of328,6992
Essex7,217,79046
Gateshead751,2635
Gloucestershire3,926,91128
Greenwich, LB of700,1266
Hackney, LB of779,7047
Halton413,8753
Hammersmith & Fulham, LB of284,9232
Hampshire4,338,54530
Haringey, LB of648,1525
Harrow, LB of548,1656
Hartlepool411,7503
Havering, LB of1,188,3148
Herefordshire692,1965
Hertfordshire5,579,23337
Hillingdon, LB of926,3756
Hounslow, LB of'992,5446
Isles of Scilly00
Isle of Wight254,8752
Islington, LB of381,5933
Kensington & Chelsea, RB of257,8582
Kent5,207,51134
Kingston upon Hull, city of613,0004
Kingston-u-Thames, RB of976,9946
Kirklees1,519,86411
Knowsley381,3753
Lambeth, LB of613,3535
Lancashire4,487,86333
Leeds3,227,50121
Leicester City1,016,2208
Leicestershire2,048,54113
Lewisham, LB of366,8962
Lincolnshire4,553,02538
Liverpool2,392,40016
Luton256,5002
Manchester1,769,03311
Medway781,7506
Merton, LB of125,0001
Middlesbrough707,4655
Milton Keynes950,2826
Newcastle upon Tyne1,334,8758
Newham, LB of1,111,6897
Norfolk2,955,51922
North East Lincolnshire719,2325
North Lincolnshire745,3087
North Somerset1,063,2627
North Tyneside956,3247
North Yorkshire2,584,62117
Northamptonshire2,367,37617
Northumberland1,119,7509
Nottingham, City of652,7115
Nottinghamshire2,789,94119
Oldham844,5426
Oxfordshire2,946,90918
Peterborough, City of791,2185
Plymouth, City of 1,338,39910
Poole832,8726
Portsmouth598,9184
Reading338,4892
Redbridge, LB of1,520,89210
Redcar & Cleveland283,6252
Richmond-upon-Thames, LB of583,1254
Rochdale721,4495
Rotherham1,368,7038
Rutland190,1252
Salford401,8763
Sandwell947,5096
Sefton 823,5347
Sheffield1,798,10612
Shropshire2,201,91817
Slough364,1254
Solihull1,240,4678
Somerset3,477,08325
South Gloucestershire1,418,5228
South Tyneside297,6252
Southampton615,1524
Southend-on-Sea955,2437
Southwark, LB of566,4745
St. Helens803,4175
Staffordshire2,752,29620
Stockport512,6103
Stockton-on-Tees804,2266
Stoke-on-Trent938,7827
Suffolk2,459,39118
Sunderland1,613,04310
Surrey3,398,16923
Sutton, LB of930,1556
Swindon562,0193
Tameside742,8385
Telford and Wrekin559,0604
Thurrock589,5844
Torbay493,8753
Tower Hamlets, LB of733,9946
Trafford1,569,22512
Wakefield1,855,22311
Walsall2,364,86815
Waltham Forest, LB of680,9905
Wandsworth, LB of 834,4426
Warrington949,1216
Warwickshire2,528,35918
West Berkshire1,433,40410
West Sussex2,386,26614
Westminster, LB of352,0003
Wigan1,597,81812
Wiltshire1,821,20713
Windsor & Maidenhead, RB of783,0004
Wirral1,283,87510
Wokingham599,1254
Wolverhampton998,1748
Worcestershire2,134,63015
York, City of846,2557

12 Jan 2004 : Column 586W

Teaching Methods

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 15 December 2003, Official Report, column 669W, if he will make a statement on the relationship between ability grouping and (a) personalised learning and (b) teaching tailored to the needs of pupils; and what the role of central government is in implementing these teaching practices. [145527]

Mr. Miliband: Ability grouping is one measure by which schools can personalise the learning and tailor teaching to the needs of pupils. However, it is possible to identify a list of benefits and limitations for the main kinds of ability grouping at the level of the institution, teacher and pupil. It is for schools within the context of their particular circumstances to develop and determine for themselves which forms of ability grouping have the most positive impact for different groups of pupils within different learning contexts (such as different subject areas).

Through the primary and Key Stage 3 national strategies we will be making available to teachers later this year support in assessment for learning techniques and approaches to promote personalised learning.

12 Jan 2004 : Column 587W

Toilet Training

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the number of children who have been adequately toilet trained prior to entry to school. [146728]

Margaret Hodge: My Department has not assessed how many children have been adequately toilet trained prior to entry to school.

Value Added Improvements

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to address difficulties in assessing value added improvements in secondary schools where part of their intake have not previously been evaluated in terms of SATS and teacher assessment. [146560]

Mr. Miliband: Value added measures for schools can only be calculated using existing data. Given that all pupils of compulsory school age attending maintained mainstream schools follow the National Curriculum, there are only a very small number who were not assessed at the end of the earlier key stage—for example, only 3 per cent. of 15-year-olds had no prior attainment data at Key Stage 3 in the 2003 performance tables.

Though most schools will be unaffected, we accept that a small number might have a significant proportion of pupils with no prior attainment data—for example, pupils from overseas. This is why we publish a coverage indicator in the performance tables which shows the percentage of pupils on which the value added calculation is based.


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