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School Buildings (Cleethorpes)

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list (a) new schools, (b) major building projects and (c) major refurbishments to schools in Cleethorpes constituency since 1997. [158118]

Mr. Miliband: The majority of capital support is allocated to schools and local education authorities (LEAs) by formula, and they decide how to invest it in line with their asset management plans. The Department does not, therefore, have complete information about all the new schools, major building projects and major refurbishments in Cleethorpes. This information should be held locally. However, the following table shows the total capital support provided by this Government for school buildings in North East Lincolnshire LEA and North Lincolnshire LEA since 1997–98.

£ million

	North East Lincolnshire	North Lincolnshire
1997–98	0.858	0.950
1998–99	2.987	2.635
1999–2000	3.137	2.241
2000–01	5.550	5.856
2001–02	3.599	10.019
2002–03	7.993	9.945
2003–04	7.718	6.113

We have to date, also allocated indicative funding for future years worth approximately £7.248 million in 2004–05 and £3.366 million in 2005–06 for North East Lincolnshire, and £10.051 million in 2004–05 and £2.542 in 2005–06 for North Lincolnshire.

School Funding (Greater London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) schools funding spending share, (b) school pupil numbers and (c) schools funding spending share per pupil was in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough in each year since 1997. [158453]

Mr. Miliband: Education Formula Spending Share (EFSS) replaced the former Education SSA in 2003–04. There is no equivalent to Schools Formula Spending Share (SFSS) in years prior to 2003–04 so information is given in tables showing EFSS and SSA, pupil numbers

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and EFSS/SSA per pupil in Greater London and for each London borough since 1997. A copy of the tables has been placed in the Library.

School Sports Facilities

James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had with universities on the opening of their sports facilities for out-of-hours community use. [157767]

Alan Johnson: There have been no discussions with universities on the opening of their sports facilities for out-of-hours community use. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are autonomous organisations and it is up to individual institutions to decide on the degree of public use of their sports facilities. This will vary depending on the type of facilities, the requirements of the local community and the needs of the institutions. However, I am aware that universities are already increasingly engaged in this type of activity.

Special Schools

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the age profile of teachers in special schools is; and how many newly qualified teachers were recruited by these schools in the last year for which figures are available. [157605]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 1 March 2004]: There were 100 newly qualified ¹ entrants to full or part-time service in maintained special schools in England between March 2001 and March 2002.

The following table shows regular qualified teachers in full-time service in maintained special schools in England by age, at March 2002:

¹ Includes conventional and employment based training routes.

Special schools

Age	Number
Under 25	80
25–29	690
30–34	950
35–39	1,190
40–44	1,830
45–49	3,380
50–54	3,260
55–59	1,370
60 and over	160
All ages	12,910

Provisional data:

Database of Teacher Records

Specialist Schools

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of bids for specialist school status made by (a) faith schools, (b) non-faith schools, (c) faith schools with a comprehensive intake, (d) non-faith schools with a comprehensive intake, (e) Church of England schools, (f) Roman Catholic schools, (g) grammar schools and (h) Roman Catholic grammar schools have been successful. [157751]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 1 March 2004]: The following table shows specialist school applications over the last two years.

3 Mar 2004 : Column 1010W

Specialist school applications

Type of school	Number of applications(46)	Percentage of applications successful
Faith schools	249	58.2
Non-faith schools	1,179	60.4
Faith schools with a comprehensive intake	217	66.8
Non-faith schools with a comprehensive intake	1,036	59.9
Church of England schools	71	56.3
Roman Catholic schools	172	58.7
Grammar schools	87	70.1
Roman Catholic grammar schools	(47)7	14.3

⁽⁴⁶⁾ These figures include some schools which have applied on more than one occasion.

⁽⁴⁷⁾ Given the small sample size, this data should be interpreted with caution.

The selection process for the Specialist Schools Programme is robust and transparent.

It is open to all maintained secondary schools and our aim is that all schools that are ready should become specialist.

All unsuccessful applicant schools receive detailed written feedback based on independent assessments. The Specialist Schools Trust and Youth Sport Trust provide a range of support to these and other aspiring specialist schools.

Student Drop-out Rates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has commissioned into (a) student drop-out rates in the poorest communities and (b) the impact of benefit rules on students dropping out of access courses. [156308]

Alan Johnson: We are not aware of research into student drop-out rates in the poorest communities. However, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has found that levels of non-completion are correlated only very weakly, if at all, with social class after taking into account prior academic record (see HEFCE submission to the Education and Employment Committee, Sixth Report, 13 March 2001, HC 124, page 121). Other research has reached similar conclusions. Examples include:

"Right Choice? A follow-up to 'Making the Right Choice'", Connor H., Pearson R., Pollard E., Tyers C., Willison R. Universities UK 2001 http://www.emplovment-studies.co.uk/pubs/report.php?id=1427uuk

"Dropping Out: A study of early leavers from Higher Education" Rhys Davies and Peter Elias, DfES Research Report 386 http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/

Research shows that non-completion is a complex process that cannot normally be explained by any single factor. The reasons (many of which are inter-related) why people leave higher education include:

incompatibility between the student and their course or institution;

lack of preparation for higher education;

lack of commitment to the course;

financial hardship;

poor academic progress; and

health or other personal reasons.

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The Department is not aware of research into the impact of benefit rules on students dropping out of access courses.

The UK non-completion rate has stayed broadly the same at around 17–18 per cent. since 1991–92 and this fell to just over 16 per cent. in the figures published in December 2003 by HEFCE. This represents one of the highest completion rates in the OECD and we are determined to maintain this level of performance.

HEFCE has allocated £225 million to institutions in 2003–04 for widening access and improving retention and recognises some of the additional costs of supporting students from non-traditional backgrounds and those who are less well prepared for higher education.

Teachers (Retirement)

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to raise the normal retirement age for teachers to 65; what estimate he has made of the cost savings from raising the pension age to 65; and if he will make a statement. [156575]

Mr. Miliband: The retirement age of teachers is covered in the contract of employment between the teacher and their employer. Issues relating to contractual retirement ages are still under consideration in the light of the policy on encouraging longer working lifetimes in the Green Paper (GM 5865) "Simplicity, security and choice: Working and saving for retirement. Action on occupational pensions"; and considerations on how legislation on age discrimination under the EU Employment Directive EC78/2000 will be implemented in the UK.

The provisions of the Teachers' Pension Scheme are currently under review in consultation with representatives of teacher and employer associations. This review is being conducted in the context of proposals to increase the normal pension age (ie the age at which

3 Mar 2004 : Column 1012W

scheme members can access an unreduced pension) to 65. It is proposed that the higher pension age would apply to new teachers from 2006 and to the future service of existing teachers from 2013. The impact on scheme costs of the increase in the normal pension age and any improvements that may be made to the existing provisions of the TPS will be assessed by the Government Actuary as options are worked up in consultation with teacher and employer representatives.

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