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6 Feb 2004 : Column 1089W—continued
Schools Expenditure
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent (a) per primary school pupil and (b) per secondary school pupil in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 2001; and what plans there are to increase this figure. [148406]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is given in the following table.
Our plans for funding increases for the next two years are that recurrent funding for schools in 2004–05 will increase by £1.6 billion, with a further increase of £2.2 billion in 2005–06. Capital funding is rising—this year it is £3.8 billion and will rise by £1.2 billion to £5 billion by 2005–06.
| Pre-primary and primary(5) , (6) | Secondary(7) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1992–93 | 1,880 | 2,770 |
| 1997–98 | 1,940 | 2,630 |
| 2001–02 | 2,850 | 3,400 |
(3) Net current expenditure (NCE) includes expenditure within schools and also that incurred centrally by the LEA's.
(4) Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
(5) Expenditure was not distinguished between pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of the Section 52 Outturn Statement in 1999–2000.
(6) The NCE per pupil figures for pre-primary and primary relate the net current expenditure (after recharges) in the pre-primary sector and maintained primary schools to the total number of financial year pupils who are educated in the maintained nursery and primary schools sector.
(7) The NCE per pupil figures for secondary relate the net current expenditure (after recharges) in maintained secondary schools to the total number of financial year pupils who are educated in the maintained secondary schools sector.
Source:
The financial data are as reported by LEAs and taken from Section 52 Outturn Statement submitted to the DfES from 1999–2000 onwards and prior to that from the Office of the Deputy-Prime Minister's (ODPM) RO1 statement. Pupil data are drawn from the Annual Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis.
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TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Business Link
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many business link operators did not satisfy the independent audit of their finances and management information systems in each year since 1997. [152046]
Nigel Griffiths: Independent audits of Business Link Operators (BLOs) began in 2001 following re-engineering of the Business Link Operator network.
By their very nature independent audit reports contain recommendations for improvements in the financial and management control systems. To date there has been one instance where these reports have identified serious weaknesses in a BLO's financial and management systems. This was a identified as part of the current financial year's independent audits and we are developing with the BLO concerned an action plan to address the issues.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Business Link operators did not achieve the performance levels required for their key performance indicators in each quarter since 1997; and what steps have been taken to address this. [152051]
Nigel Griffiths: The Business Link Operator (BLO) Performance Management Framework was introduced in the 2002–03 financial year. As a result of a review of quarter 3 2002–03 performance levels, three BLOs were identified as seriously underperforming and their contracts were not automatically extended. Another two BLOs were identified as underperforming, but to a less serious extent.
All five have been required to undergo a Business Performance Review (BPR) which focused upon areas of weakness and which has resulted in a remedial plan. The appropriate Small Business Service Regional Team/Regional Development Agency contract manager is monitoring the implementation of these plans.
Following their performance results for Quarter 4 2002–03, a further two BLOs have been required to undergo BPRs. These have also resulted in the production of a remedial plan which is being monitored by the appropriate contract manager.
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Coal Health Handling Agreement
Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to encourage co-defendants to sign up to the Coal Health Handling Agreement; and if she will make a statement. [147199]
Nigel Griffiths: The small number of outstanding issues is principally a matter for resolution between the claimants' solicitors and the co-defendants.
The two main groups of co-defendants are small private mines, which produced coal during the nationalised period and who have concurrent liability with British Coal and the successor companies, such as UK Coal who have consecutive liability. Negotiations with both groups are advanced. At the end of January, representatives of the DTI, the Claimants Solicitor's Group (CG) and the small mines will take part in a three-way mediation exercise to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues between them.
The Department has been working with its claims handlers to develop a mechanism for paying interim awards to men who worked for small mines. The first payment went out in December 2003.
Discussions with the successor companies to sign up to the Claims Handling Agreement have also reached an advanced stage. UK Coal and the CG have recently
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produced new information regarding dust levels in successor mines. The parties' experts are currently reviewing these reports and further negotiations will take place shortly. If the remaining issues cannot be resolved through negotiation, mediation will be explored.
Company Insolvencies
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company insolvencies there have been since 1997, broken down by region and industry. [152009]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Table 1 records the number of company compulsory liquidations by region classified according to groupings of Official Receivers' Offices from 1999 to 2002 and the first three quarters of 2003. Statistics have not been provided prior to 1999 because of boundary changes.
Table 2 records total company insolvencies by industry from 1997 to 2002 and the first two quarters of 2003.
Company insolvencies consist of company compulsory liquidations and creditors voluntary liquidations. Only compulsory liquidations are available on a regional basis whereas the industrial analyses are available for total company insolvencies, but creditors voluntary liquidations cannot be separately identified.
| 2003 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | Ql | Q2 | Q3 | ||
| Anglia Region | 719 | 672 | 708 | 733 | 205 | 153 | 149 | |
| London | 1,161 | 951 | 911 | 1,147 | 281 | 200 | 174 | |
| Midland Region | 694 | 664 | 553 | 821 | 190 | 141 | 135 | |
| North East Region | 564 | 546 | 504 | 480 | 140 | 136 | 113 | |
| North West Region | 660 | 597 | 586 | 987 | 180 | 153 | 161 | |
| Public Interest Unit | 37 | 94 | 150 | 266 | 115 | 347 | 40 | |
| South East Region | 768 | 769 | 715 | 1,028 | 261 | 227 | 200 | |
| South West Region | 606 | 632 | 548 | 768 | 213 | 113 | 104 | |
| England and Wales total | 5,209 | 4,925 | 4,675 | 6,230 | 1,585 | 1,470 | 1,076 | |
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