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30 Mar 2004 : Column 1400W—continued
School Playing Fields
Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school playing fields have been disposed of since 2001; and what purposes the land was used for in each case. [163663]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires local authorities and schools to obtain the written consent of the Secretary of State before they can dispose of any part of a school's playing field. Schools are only allowed to dispose of genuinely surplus areas of playing fields. All sale proceeds from approved applications are used to provide new or improved sports or education facilities at maintained schools.
Since 2001, only 40 applications have been approved that would result in the loss of an area of school playing field that is capable of forming at least a small sports pitch of 2000m 2 . Some 19 of these cases are at closed or closing school sites. Of the 21 cases at operating schools, 18 of them included proposals to provide better sports
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facilities, including 11 new sports halls and eight all-weather pitches. The remaining three cases provided improved school facilities including a new school and new school buildings.
The purpose of our assessment process is to ensure that the land is genuinely surplus to needs, not to monitor its future use. That is a matter for the local planning authority. We, therefore, do not record the purposes to which the land will be used following approval to dispose.
Schools (Computers)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on computers for schools in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in each year since 1996. [164181]
Mr. Tom Clarke: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to his question on funding allocated to Lancashire for information and communications technology (ICT) in schools across the authority on 16 March, Official Report, column 226W. Our records show that Lancashire did not receive any specific funding for ICT in 1996–97 or 1997–98. Funding is not allocated or collected on a constituency basis.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils per computer there were in schools in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in each year since 1996. [164182]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested is not available centrally.
Figures for England, which were derived from a sample of schools, are shown in the table.
| Maintained primary | Maintained secondary | Maintained special | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 19.0 | 9.0 | 4.0 |
| 1997 | (41)— | (41)— | (41)— |
| 1998 | 17.6 | 8.7 | 4.5 |
| 1999 | 13.4 | 8.4 | 3.7 |
| 2000 | 12.6 | 7.9 | 3.7 |
| 2001 | 11.8 | 7.1 | 3.2 |
| 2002 | 10.1 | 6.5 | 3.4 |
| 2003 | 7.9 | 5.4 | 3.0 |
(40) Full-time equivalent numbers of pupils.
(41) Not available
The latest information on ICT in schools was published in Statistical Bulletin 'Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2003', which is available on the Department's web-site www. dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
Speech Therapists
Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many speech therapist
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posts in special schools in London were unfilled in each local education authority in each year from 1997 to 2004. [164158]
Mr. Miliband: Data on the number of vacancies for speech therapists in maintained special schools are not collected centrally.
Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many speech therapists were employed in special schools in each local education authority in London in each year from 1997 to 2004. [164159]
Mr. Miliband: Data on the number of speech therapists in maintained special schools are not collected centrally.
Students (South Derbyshire)
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many students there were in the most recent academic year for which statistics are available whose home prior to commencing their higher education course was in the South Derbyshire constituency; [157399]
- (2) what proportion of students leaving school or college at 18 whose home was in the South Derbyshire constituency commenced a higher education course in the most recent academic year for which statistics are available. [157400]
Alan Johnson [pursuant to his reply 11 March 2004, Official Report, c. 1745W]: Figures at constituency level are not held centrally.
The available information covers students accepted for entry to full time undergraduate courses via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) by local education authority (LEA). The figures show that in autumn 2002, 3,508 students of all ages from South Derbyshire LEA obtained a place in HE. In the same year, 22.5 per cent. of all 18-year-olds from South Derbyshire LEA obtained a place.
Teacher Recruitment
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to attract teachers who have taken early retirement back into the profession on (a) a part-time and (b) a voluntary basis; and if he will make a statement. [164201]
Mr. Miliband: Working through some of our national partners and contractors, such as the NCSL, TTA and Capita, we have encouraged the increased use of retired teachers with our plans for remodelling the school workforce and promoting 'Keeping in Touch' and 'Return to Teach'programmes. It is however up to local authorities and schools to determine their local needs for voluntary support staff.
More specifically, for those teachers who retired on ill-health grounds from the Teachers' Pension Scheme, regulations came into effect on 1 January 2004 (The Education Health Standards England Regulations 2003) which will enable such former teachers to be re-employed, or work on a voluntary basis, in the education sector in a non-teaching capacity.