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EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Children's Fund
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the reduction in Children's Fund money for projects on jobs and services for young people. [151429]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 27 January 2004]: The 2003–04 mid-year review of expenditure found that the Children's Fund was underspent in the first half of the year.
The Department met representatives from the main voluntary sector organisations involved in the Fund, the LGA and the ADSS on 18 December to discuss the review and assess its impact. Officials then wrote to all Children's Fund partnerships on 19 December 2003. We advised partnerships that where our decisions at the mid-year review had compromised their ability to meet contractual obligations, we would revisit them. Furthermore, we set aside some money to assist where there was a likelihood of staff redundancy or premature closure of services. The Children's Fund regional teams discussed this in detail with partnerships during January, identifying where we should restore funds taken back in the mid year review. This process was completed at the end of January.
Infanticide
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) on what basis he deemed it appropriate to state ahead of (a) the Appeal Court judgment in the case of R v. Angela Cannings and (b) the subsequent review of cases announced that children taken away from birth parents as a result of judgments where expert witness testimony from Sir Roy Meadow has been instrumental should not be returned to them if judgments are found to be unsafe; [151025]
- (2) what directions he has issued to local authority departments to (a) identify and (b) secure documents relating to cases involving infanticide or harm to children which relied on expert testimony from Sir Roy Meadow; [151026]
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(3) when the Minister for Children first ordered an investigation into the number of children who were taken away from parents who may have been sent to prison for cot death; and what actions he took subsequently; [150807]
(4) what directions have been issued to social services departments to identify and secure documents relating to cases involving infanticide or harm to children which relied on expert testimony from Sir Roy Meadow. [151091]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 26 January 2004]: The Appeal Court announced its judgment in the case of R v. Angela Cannings on 19 January 2004. I am now studying the judgment carefully, in the light of the Attorney-General's statement in the other place on 20 January.
School Deficits
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the schools in West Derbyshire which ran a budget deficit in the year ending 31 March 2003; and how much this deficit was for each school. [150880]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is submitted to the Department according to local education authority areas, rather than districts within an area: West Derbyshire is a district of Derbyshire local education authority. The information for Derbyshire LEA is as follows:
(1) Deficit budget is taken from Table B column 13—other revenue balance. This includes the cumulative balance of income less expenditure from revenue funding sources during the financial year and the balance from previous years.
(2) The data are as reported by Derbyshire LEA within their 2002–03 Section 52 Outturn Statement (Table B) submitted to the DfES.
Note:
The data are as at 6 January 2004. Currently the data remains provisional as it is subject to validation and could change.
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School Drugs Advisers
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many school drugs advisers are in post in each local education authority; and what estimate he has made of how many will be in post after April; [151430]
- (2) what funding has been made available for employment of school drugs advisers (a) to date and (b) after April 2004. [151296]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department does not collect information centrally on the number of school drug advisers within each local education authority.
Funding for school drug advisers (£7.5 million per year) has been made available through the Standards Fund since 2001. From April 2004 it will be up to local education authorities and schools to support drug education, including school drug adviser posts, out of the total resources available to them.
Young people will continue to receive advice and support on drug issues from schools, the Connexions Service and a range of local agencies.
School Milk
Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with
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(a) other departments and (b) local education authorities to promote the consumption of milk in English schools. [152802]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Following a 20 per cent. reduction in the European Union (EU) subsidy on school milk from January 2001, this Department, the Department of Health and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, agreed to meet the annual £1.5 million shortfall from their budgets.
In addition, DfES officials discuss school milk policy with other Government Departments, local education authorities and schools whenever there are issues of common interest to resolve.
School Sport
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average time spent by pupils per week on (a) physical education and (b) after-school sport was in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [152698]
Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 3 February 2004): Historically, the Department has not collected data annually on the average time per week spent by pupils on physical education and school sport. Data collected during the autumn term 2002 suggested that about a third of schools at Key Stages 1, 3 and 4 and two fifths at Key Stage 2 offered their pupils two hours of high quality PE and school sport each week within and beyond the curriculum.
Data is currently being collected on the percentage of school children who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high-quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum.
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