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Schools (Accidents)

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent in legal costs by (a) schools and (b) local education authorities in relation to (i) school trip accidents and (ii) accidents within schools in 2003. [160070]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: My Department does not collect this information from local education authorities or schools.

Sector Skills Development Agency/University for Industry

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the (a) Sector Skills Development Agency and (b) the University for Industry is registered to (i) the ISO 9000:2000 standard requirement and (ii) Investors In People standards. [159748]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Sector Skills Development Agency is not registered to the ISO 9000:2000 standard requirement As a relatively new organisation the Sector Skills Development agency is working towards and is totally committed to achieving Investors in People recognition during the operating year 2004–05.

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The University for Industry is not registered to the ISO 9000:2000 standard requirement but is currently considering its value and expect shortly to make a decision about its adoption. The University for Industry was recognised as an Investor in People on 29 October 2003.

Special Educational Needs

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the change in the rate of incidence of emotional and behavioural difficulties as a special educational need among primary school children over the last 10 years. [157176]

Margaret Hodge: In the past no figures have been collected for special educational need by type of difficulty. However, from January this year we have started to collect information about type of need for pupils with statements of SEN and for those at School Action Plus as part of the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC). One of the categories used is 'Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulty' (BESD).

From this summer, information will be available on the number of children in primary schools with BESD. These figures will act as the baseline against which we will be able to compare future trends.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what procedures are in place to assess progress made in improving the attainment of children with a statement of special educational needs. [157823]

Margaret Hodge: Each child with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) is expected to have short-term educational and development targets set for them during the course of the year. In addition to routine monitoring of the child's progress by their teacher, these targets form part of their individual education plan which should be reviewed by the school at least twice a year and fully considered by the Local Education Authority at the annual review of the child's statement before new targets are set.

"Removing Barriers to Achievement: the Government's Strategy for SEN", launched on 11 February, will strengthen the focus on pupil progress and achievement. Key measures include:

trialling and guidance on how schools can make effective use of routine tests, tasks and other forms of assessment to inform target-setting and reporting on pupil progress;

helping schools to make effective use of information contained within the Pupil Achievement Tracker and Ofsted Performance and Assessment Reports so that they can compare their performance for different groups of pupils, including those with SEN, with other schools;

extending the Pupil Level Annual School Census to include pupil details by type of SEN, allowing comparison with others and better identification of pupils who may need targeted support;

promoting the use of P-Scales by all schools with pupils working at the very lowest level of the National Curriculum, by providing guidance on moderation to support consistent assessment and collecting P Scale results as part of the national data collection exercise from 2005;

looking further at how the achievements of all children, including those working below the level of the national tests can best be reflected in national performance tables.

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The SEN Strategy includes a number of measures which underpin this work including: equipping teachers and other professionals with the skills and confidence they need to enable children with SEN to reach their potential; encouraging children and young people to be actively involved in decisions about their learning; and promoting and supporting the commitment of inclusive schools.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the future role of moderate learning difficulty special schools will be; and if he will make a statement. [159383]

Margaret Hodge: The Government's special educational needs strategy Removing Barriers to Achievement makes it clear that we believe that special schools have an important role to play within the overall spectrum of provision for children with special educational needs—educating some children directly and sharing their expertise with mainstream schools to support greater inclusion.

There will always be changes to local provision to reflect local needs and circumstances. This is a matter for local decision. Local education authorities are required to review their provision and future needs for children with special educational needs when drafting their School Organisation Plan.

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils at special schools was successfully reintegrated within the mainstream school system in 2003. [160071]

Margaret Hodge: In January 2003, local authorities reported that 1020 pupils had transferred from special schools to mainstream schools. That is 1.1 per cent. of the special school population. In addition, about 2000 pupils are dual registered and spend part of their time in a mainstream school. Others are on the roll of a special school but have regular mainstream experience.

The Government's SEN Strategy, "Removing Barriers to Achievement", encourages greater collaboration between special and mainstream schools in order to promote inclusion. This will include greater movement between special schools and mainstream schools by both pupils and staff. We will also encourage more special schools to participate in federation, cluster and twinning arrangements and, through the Building Schools for the Future programme, hope to bring more schools closer physically, including through co-location.

Student Drop-out Rates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated cost to public funds was of students dropping out of higher and further education courses in the latest year for which figures are available. [156309]

Alan Johnson: The Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) teaching funding method provides funding for students who complete their course of study. Students who do not complete their course are not fundable. Figures for the public costs of student support for higher education students who do not complete their courses are not available.

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Further education funding for institutions is based on learners' attendance on termly census dates. If students finish their studies before the planned end of their course no further funding is provided. Thus if a student attends for one term of a one year course, the college gets 30 per cent. of the funding for the whole course. The Learning and Skills Council estimates that around £319 million is spent on teaching students who attend only part of their course. This does not include any Learner Support Funds received by these learners as this information is not available centrally.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the percentage drop-out rate for students from higher education institutions whose home residence is in the (a) 100 poorest wards in England and Wales and (b) 100 richest wards in England and Wales was in the last academic year. [156311]

Alan Johnson: Non-completion rates are not calculated at ward level.

The figures produced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in the publication 'Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK' give non-completion rates for UK domiciles as a whole at each UK HE institution. A copy of the publication is held in the House Library.

Student Finance

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport website will carry information on how the Higher Education Bill will change student finance arrangements. [160068]

Alan Johnson: The DfES Student Support website will contain information on any changes to the Higher Education funding regime only after the passage of the Bill and when the detail of the future arrangements have been decided. Until then, information on the possible impact of the Higher Education Bill on student finance arrangements is available on the Department's www.dfes.gov.uk/hegateway website which is dedicated to keeping the public informed on developments around Higher Education reform. A link between the two sites ensures that people can access both information on the current funding regime and proposals for the future.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many graduates have begun to repay income contingent loans in each of the past three financial years. [159850]

Alan Johnson: Repayments of income-contingent loans are collected through the tax system, apart from a few exceptions. Repayments are notified to the Student Loans Company (SLC) after the end of the tax year, after which time has to be allowed for reconciliation with SLC records. Therefore complete data on the number of borrowers with income-contingent loans where repayments have begun to have been made are not yet available.

Borrowers enter repayment status, i.e. are due to make repayments on their loans, in the April after graduating or otherwise leaving their course. No repayments are

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deducted from income-contingent borrowers whose income falls below £10,000 per year. Borrowers with income contingent loans can also make voluntary repayments, either in the form of pre-payments before they enter repayment status, or ad-hoc repayments to accelerate their repayments after entering repayment status. These repayments are made directly by the borrower to the SLC. The table shows the number of UK income-contingent loan borrowers who have entered repayment status by tax year. It also shows the number who have made voluntary repayments by tax year, and of those the number who have entered repayment status in that year.

	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Entered repayment status	36,000	66,000	202,000
Borrowers who made voluntary repayments	5,000	12,000	24,000
of which, borrowers in the first year of entering repayment status	1,000	1,000	8,000

Source:

Student Loans Company

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