House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 26 Apr 2004 (pt 23)

26 Apr 2004 : Column 795W—continued

Children's Centres

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanisms he will put in place to ensure that the additional £669 million to fund one children's centre in each of the country's 20 per cent. most disadvantaged wards by 2008, will be used specifically for that purpose; and if he will make a statement. [167255]

Margaret Hodge: The Chancellor announced in the Budget that the overall allocation for Sure Start would be £669 million higher in 2007–08 than in 2004–05. This additional funding will take the Sure Start allocation to £1.167 billion in 2005–06, £1.483 billion in 2006–07 and £1.567 billion in 2007–08.

This allocation is ring fenced for the full range of Sure Start activities, including the expansion of children's centres. The Chancellor announced a number of new commitments in the Budget that that will need to be met from the allocation, including increasing children's centres towards the goal of a children's centre in every community. We are committed to ensuring that these centres provide services for all children in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged wards by 2007–08. he funding for children's centres will make up a significant part of the full Sure Start allocation and will be subject to full monitoring and financial controls.

Children's Commissioner for England

Mr. Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy that the Children's Commissioner for England should have powers equivalent to those of the Children's Commissioners for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. [167055]

Margaret Hodge: The Government are proposing through the Children Bill that the powers of the Children's Commissioner based in England should be in keeping with his responsibilities, which are not identical to those of Commissioners elsewhere in the United Kingdom. His proposed functions will include, among other things, acting as a children's champion and advising the Secretary of State on their views and interests, helping them to achieve the outcomes that children have identified as important investigating the effectiveness of complaints procedures open to them, and reporting annually to Parliament on how well the outcomes children seek are being met.

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Class Sizes

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Greater London were taught in classes of more than (a) 25 and (b) 30 in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [165837]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 19 April 2004]: The information requested has been placed in the House of Commons Library.

Classroom Assistants (Liverpool)

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many classroom assistants have been employed in schools in Liverpool, Walton in each year from 1997 to 2003. [166958]

Mr. Miliband: The following table shows the full time equivalent number of teaching assistants in service in maintained schools in the Liverpool, Walton constituency in each year between 1997 and 2003, the latest year for which information is available.
Liverpool, Walton

1997 80

1998 90

1999 100

2000 120

2001 180

2002 170

2003 210

Source:
Annual Schools Census.


1997	80
1998	90
1999	100
2000	120
2001	180
2002	170
2003	210

Criminal Records Bureau Checks

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on requiring people coming from abroad to work with children or young people to have checks equivalent to those carried out by the Criminal Records Bureau before they begin work. [165830]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 19 April 2004]: I have received no representations on this matter.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will require people coming from abroad to have Criminal Records Bureau checks before they can take up positions working with children or young people; and if he will make a statement. [165833]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 19 April 2004]: The Criminal Records Bureau is not able to obtain details of a person's criminal record from overseas. A limited number of overseas convictions are recorded on the Police National Computer, but the data are not comprehensive.

My Department's guidance to employers in the education service about pre-appointment checks on teachers and other people whose work will bring them into regular contact with children draws attention to the

26 Apr 2004 : Column 797W

fact that, if a person who they intend to appoint to work with children or young people has never lived in the UK, no purpose will be served by asking them to apply for a Disclosure when they come to this country as they will neither have a criminal record in this country, nor appear on List 99 or the Protection of Children Act List.

The Bureau's Overseas Information Service provides advice to employers on the availability of criminal record information from overseas. The service currently covers 17 countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Irish Republic, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Italy (excluding Vatican City) and Finland). The CRB is in discussions with the 10 accession countries to the European Union and aims to provide information through the Overseas Information Service about the criminal record information available from these countries within the next few months.

Where criminal record information is not available, we recommend that employers take extra care in taking up references and carrying out other checks on a person's background.

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FE Colleges

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the changes he is proposing for the funding of new buildings for further education, with specific reference to altering the match funding criteria. [168361]

Alan Johnson: All of the Department's funding for post-16 learning and skills sector capital investment is allocated to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The Council has sole discretion in how it chooses to allocate these funds to further education colleges. This includes decisions about the level of funding that it expects colleges to contribute to capital projects. This is an operational matter for the LSC. Mr. Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places there were in North Tyneside local education authority in each of the last seven years. [164373]

Margaret Hodge: The information requested is shown in the table.
Numbers of day care places⁽²¹⁾ by type of provider—North Tyneside local education authority area—1997–2003Position at 31 March each year

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Day nurseries⁽²²⁾ ⁽²³⁾— 600 620 770 860 ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾—

Full day care⁽²⁴⁾ ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— 1,600

Playgroups and pre-schools⁽²²⁾ 680 680 630 590 560 ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾—

Sessional day care⁽²⁴⁾ ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— 600

Child minders 1,540 1,430 1,300 1,300 1,100 ⁽²³⁾— 1,300

Out of school clubs⁽²²⁾ 130 200 210 190 260 ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾—

Holiday schemes2,5 140 190 2,300 ⁽²⁶⁾1,500 ⁽²⁷⁾180 ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾—

Out of school day care⁽²⁴⁾ ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— 700

Crèche day care⁽²⁴⁾ ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— ⁽²³⁾— 200

⁽²¹⁾ Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
⁽²²⁾ Data Source: Children's Day Care Facilities.
⁽²³⁾ Not available.
⁽²⁴⁾ Data Source: Ofsted.
⁽²⁵⁾ From 1999, places at holiday schemes were counted once for each school holiday during the year. Prior to 1999, places were counted once only.
⁽²⁶⁾ Includes schemes which were exempt from registration.
⁽²⁷⁾ Places may have been counted once only. See footnote 5.

	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Day nurseries⁽²²⁾	⁽²³⁾—	600	620	770	860	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—
Full day care⁽²⁴⁾	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	1,600
Playgroups and pre-schools⁽²²⁾	680	680	630	590	560	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—
Sessional day care⁽²⁴⁾	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	600
Child minders	1,540	1,430	1,300	1,300	1,100	⁽²³⁾—	1,300
Out of school clubs⁽²²⁾	130	200	210	190	260	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—
Holiday schemes2,5	140	190	2,300	⁽²⁶⁾1,500	⁽²⁷⁾180	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—
Out of school day care⁽²⁴⁾	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	700
Crèche day care⁽²⁴⁾	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	⁽²³⁾—	200

With the introduction of the National Day Care Standards and the transfer of responsibilities for registration and inspection to Ofsted, child care places are classified according to whether they are full day care, sessional day care, childminder, out of school day care or crèche day care places. Previously, child care places were classified according to whether they were provided by day nurseries, playgroups and pre-schools, childminders, out of school clubs or holiday schemes. Figures for 2003 are not directly comparable with figures for earlier years because they are collected on a different basis. Some playgroups and pre-schools provide full day care and some former playgroups and pre-schools have converted to day nurseries.

Statistics on the number of childcare places registered in England were published on 19 February 2004 in a report by Ofsted "Registered Childcare Providers and Places in England, 31 December 2003". The report is available on the Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications.

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