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20 Apr 2004 : Column 481W—continued
Sex Education
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made since 16 July 2003 on establishing a set of guidelines on sex education for boys. [166546]
Stephen Twigg: We have commissioned the development of practical guidance to support schools in Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) for boys and young men. The guidance will be available in early June.
Additionally since July 2003, we have supported the production of a resource for teaching and learning about HIV and AIDS which addresses both boys and girls. Our programme of professional development which includes a specialist module of SRE will be available to up to 3,000 teachers in 2004–05. These participants are required to demonstrate that their SRE programme meet the needs of both boys and girls.
Student Loans
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much interest accrued to the Student Loan Company on student loans in financial years (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; and how much of this interest was derived from capital sums which had been paid by debtors to the Inland Revenue but not transferred to the Student Loan Company. [166116]
Alan Johnson: In financial year 2002–03, the sum of £146.8 million in interest was added onto the student loans balance. Of this, £106.9 million related to income contingent loans and £39.9 million related to mortgage style loans. Any adjustments arising from the repayments received in respect of 2002–03 will be included in the 2003–04 data.
Data are not available to answer the second part of the question.
Data for financial year 2003–04 are not yet available.
Teachers (North Somerset)
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teaching assistants, (b) teachers and (c) teaching vacancies there were in schools in the North Somerset Education Authority in each year since 1997. [165679]
Mr. Miliband
[holding answer 19 April 2004]: The table shows the number of full-time equivalent teaching assistants, regular teachers and full-time permanent teacher vacancies in maintained schools in North Somerset Local Education Authority area, in January of each year since 1997.
20 Apr 2004 : Column 482W
| Teaching assistants | Teachers | Vacancies | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 190 | 1,450 | 9 |
| 1998 | 220 | 1,380 | 12 |
| 1999 | 220 | 1,360 | 10 |
| 2000 | 260 | 1,360 | 14 |
| 2001 | 290 | 1,420 | 7 |
| 2002 | 310 | 1,480 | 5 |
| 2003 | 380 | 1,490 | 7 |
Sources:
Annual School Census (teaching assistants) and the Annual Survey of Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies.
Teaching Assistants (Wirral)
Mr. Chapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there were in schools in Wirral South in (a) each of the last seven years and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [166625]
Mr. Miliband : In the Wirral South constituency there were 130 full-time equivalent teaching assistants in service in maintained schools in January 2003. This is the latest information available. The table gives the corresponding numbers since 1997.
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 50 |
| 1998 | 50 |
| 1999 | 50 |
| 2000 | 60 |
| 2001 | 80 |
| 2002 | 100 |
Source:
Annual School's Census.
Excellence in Cities
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Birkenhead have benefited from the Excellence in Cities programme; and what the per pupil spending was in each year since the programme's inception. [166327]
Mr Miliband: Park High School, Prenton High School Ridgeway High School, Rock Ferry High School and Woodchurch High School in Birkenhead have been included in Excellence in Cities since September 2000. The table below shows the number of children in Birkenhead benefiting, and the annual spend per pupil for the years in question.
| No of Children | Total EiC expenditure(12) £ | Spend per Pupil £ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 4,870 | 675,311 | 138.67 |
| 2001–02 | 5,056 | 675,311 | 133.57 |
| 2002–03 | 5,141 | 726,028 | 141.22 |
| 2003–04 | 5,284 | 1,437,340 | 272.00 |
(12) Funding figures were supplied by the Excellence in Cities coordinator for Wirral.
20 Apr 2004 : Column 483W
The large increase in the rate of EiC funding in 2003–04 is due to the extra funding provided through the Leadership Incentive Grant and Behaviour Improvement Programme which came on stream in 2003.
Supply Teachers
Mr. Andrew Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if he will take measures to ensure that only local education authority-approved teachers can be employed by schools as supply teachers. [166412]
Mr. Miliband:
My right hon. Friend has no present plans to take such measures. However, the Government has already taken action to improve the quality and reliability of supply teachers. A package of self-study materials was launched in June 2002 specifically for supply teachers. In addition, my Department's Quality mark scheme requires that teachers being offered to schools by agencies and Local Education Authorities have been interviewed and their references checked. I plan to write to schools soon recommending that they use Quality Mark holders for fulfilling their supply needs wherever possible.
20 Apr 2004 : Column 484W
Schools (Wirral, South)
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils in Wirral South reached the (a) mathematics and (b) English standard in each of the last seven years. [166623]
Mr. Miliband: The results from the 2003 National Curriculum tests showed that 75 per cent. of 11-year-olds in England reached Level 4 in English and 73 per cent. in mathematics. These results represent a significant improvement in standards—of 12 percentage points in English and 11 percentage points in mathematics—since 1997, reflecting the impact of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies on primary schools. We remain absolutely committed, through our new Primary Strategy, to supporting schools to achieve the ambitious targets we have set for standards in literacy and numeracy.
The table shows the number and percentage of pupils in Wirral South who have achieved level 4 or above in the Key Stage 2 English and mathematics tests since 1997. The results for Wirral South are well above the national average and have improved significantly since 1997:
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English—no. of pupils(13) | 665 | 708 | 757 | 772 | 797 | 819 | 767 |
| Mathematics—no. of pupils(13) | 633 | 633 | 727 | 723 | 742 | 774 | 733 |
| English—% of pupils | 76 | 76 | 81 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 84 |
| Mathematics—% of pupils | 72 | 68 | 78 | 78 | 80 | 79 | 80 |
(13) The number of eligible pupils for the Key Stage 2 tests varies slightly from year to year.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in Wirral South on the latest date for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce them. [166626]
Mr. Miliband: Teacher vacancy information is collected at local authority level. There were 18 vacancies for full-time teachers in maintained schools in the Wirral local education authority (LEA) area, which includes Wirral South.
Like other areas, since 1997 Wirral has benefited from the initiatives that the Government has put in place to recruit and retain teachers and to increase the number of staff supporting them in schools. Since 1997, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in maintained schools in Wirral LEA has risen by 150, from 2,930 to 3,080 in 2003. Over the same period, the number of full-time equivalent school support staff in the LEA has grown by 690, from 680 to 1,370.
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