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28 Apr 2004 : Column 1030W—continued
Civil Servants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each civil service grade within his Department, the total number of staff employed, broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnic group; and how many are registered disabled. [166403]
Mrs. McGuire:
Data on staffing levels in the Civil Service are collected by the Cabinet Office and published in "Civil Service Statistics". A copy of "Civil Service
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Statistics 2002" is available in the Library, and at: www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics. The 2003 edition will be published in summer 2004.
More recent staffing information is available in the Scotland Office Departmental Report 2003.
CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT
Cinema Facilities
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what requirements there are on cinemas to provide facilities for deaf people. [168898]
Estelle Morris: The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) requires service providers to ensure access to their goods and services. However, such things as the provision of subtitles are likely to fall under the remit of product or service design, which is not currently covered under the auspices of the DDA.
As part of its £500,000 National Lottery funded Cinema Access Programme, the UK Film Council's Distribution and Exhibition Fund has allocated £350,000 towards a pilot project for the installation of captioning and audio-description equipment in 78 cinemas across England.
A web-based film information service, www.your localcinema.com<http://www.yourlocalcinema.com/> has also received £50,000 over three years to inform those with sensory impairments about films being screened at local cinemas in England.
£60,000 has been allocated to assist distributors films with lower marketing budgets meet the cost of audio description and subtitling of prints.
Finally, £40,000 has been earmarked for a research project that will look into consumer issues relating to the current technical means of overcoming the barriers faced by customers with sensory impairments.
Libraries (Digitisation)
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much money has been spent on the digitisation of content in libraries in Preston since 1997. [168140]
Estelle Morris: This information is not held centrally.
The New Opportunities Fund £50 million Digitisation of Learning Materials Programme has delivered 150 projects across the UK to enable resources which support learning of all kinds held in libraries as well as museums, archives and other public-sector institutions, to be made available online through the People's Network and the National Grid for Learning. This initiative has created a body of material containing over 2 million images, tens of thousands of sound and video clips and documents and over 1,000 learning packages. All projects can be accessed via the EnrichUK portal at: http://www.enrichuk.net
Information on grants awarded to individual local authorities and their expenditure can be obtained from the relevant authority.
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EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Adult Education (Bootle)
Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what public funding has been spent on adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Bootle in the last five years. [169178]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The estimated total spend on Skills For Life (the Government's strategy for literacy, language and numeracy needs of all post-16 learners from pre-entry level up to and including level 2) and on Key Skills (essential skills of communication, application of number and information technology), from April 2001 to July 2003, in the Greater Merseyside Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area is set out in the table.
| Basic skills | Key skills | |
|---|---|---|
| April 2001 to July 2001 | 3,803 | 1,094 |
| August 2001 to July 2002 | 6,575 | 1,564 |
| August 2002 to July 2003 | 10,677 | 1,755 |
Note:
The figures for April to July 2001 include costs incurred from August 2000 on learning aims continuing into April 2001.
From the information available to the LSC it has not been feasible to obtain estimates at constituency level or separate figures by subject without incurring disproportionate cost. Likewise it has not been feasible to obtain comparable figures for periods before April 2001 when the Skills for Life strategy was launched and the LSC was formed, but information shows it was considerably less than at present.
Class Sizes (Preston)
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Preston were taught in classes of more than 30 on the latest date for which figures are available. [168132]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is shown in the table.
| January 2003 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total pupils in all classes | Number of pupils in classes of 31 or more | ||
| Number of pupils | Percentage of pupils | ||
| Maintained Primary | 7,736 | 1,686 | 21.8 |
| Maintained Secondary | 3,627 | 646 | 17.8 |
(12) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(13) Percentage of pupils in those classes expressed as a percentage of pupils in all classes taught by one teacher.
Source:
Annual Schools' Census
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Computers
Mr. Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in Liverpool, Walton have received a computer to assist in seeking employment or retraining. [166963]
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in Manchester, Gorton have received a computer to assist in seeking employment or retraining. [167434]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: At present no centrally funded schemes exist that provide people with a free or low cost computer to assist in seeking employment or retraining.
Condover Hall School
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he made of the educational effects on students of closing Condover Hall School. [168008]
Mr. Miliband: All pupils currently attending Condover Hall School have statements of special educational needs. Local education authorities placing pupils at Condover Hall have a duty to arrange the educational provision specified in their statements. That responsibility will continue after Condover Hall has closed and the children have transferred to alternative schools.
Education (Heywood and Middleton)
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how much funding each school in Heywood and Middleton has received from the New Deal for Schools; [168499]
(2) how much public money was spent on repairing schools in Heywood and Middleton in each year since 1997. [168497]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 23 April 2004]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Heywood and Middleton have benefited from the Excellence in Cities programme; and what the per pupil spending was in each year since the programme's inception. [168500]
Mr. Miliband: The table as follows shows the number of children in Heywood and Middleton benefiting from EiC, and the annual spend per pupil for the years in question.
| Number of children | Total EiC expenditure(14) (£) | Spend per pupil (£) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 5,856 | 410,307 | 70.07 |
| 2001–02 | 7,640 | 688,572 | 90.13 |
| 2002–03 | 7,753 | 1,074,454 | 138.59 |
| 2003–04 | 7,679 | 2,074,823 | 270.19 |
(14) Funding figures were supplied by the Senior Finance Officer for Rochdale
The large increase in the rate of EiC funding in 2002–03 is due to the extra funding provided through
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the Behaviour Improvement Programme and the increase in 2003–04 is due to the extra funding provided through the Leadership Incentive Grant.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in Heywood and Middleton deemed to be failing since 1997 have since reached satisfactory standards. [168501]
Mr. Miliband: Two schools in Heywood and Middleton, one primary and one secondary, have been deemed to require special measures since 1997 and have since recovered and reached satisfactory standards.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 15 and 16-year-olds in Heywood and Middleton achieved five or more GCSEs at grade A*-C or GNVQ equivalent in each of the last seven years. [168504]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is as follows:
| Academic year | Heywood and Middleton parliamentary constituency | England |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 33.1 | 45.1 |
| 1998 | 35.9 | 46.3 |
| 1999 | 38.2 | 47.9 |
| 2000 | 37.3 | 49.2 |
| 2001 | 40.9 | 50.0 |
| 2002 | 39.5 | 51.6 |
| 2003 | 43.5 | 52.9 |
(15) GCSE/GNVQ results are reported as standard as the results of pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year ie 31 August and therefore reaching the end of compulsory education at the end of the school year.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many women in Heywood and Middleton have visited an information and communications technology training centre in order to learn skills to return to work. [168510]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In the period October 2003 1 —March 2004, 3,030 people visited a UK online centre in the Heywood and Middleton constituency. 1697(56 per cent.) of these people were women.
Since learndirect was launched in 1999, 1,411 people from the Heywood and Middleton Constituency have enrolled on a learndirect course. 769 (55 per cent.) of these people were women. Of the total number of women who enrolled on a course, 2 per cent. did so in order to learn skills to return to work.
1 Please note the complete statistics are not available for UK online prior to September 2003 as the DfES did not collect this data on a centre by centre basis.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many residents of Heywood and Middleton have undertaken apprenticeships in each of the last five years. [168514]
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not available at parliamentary constituency level. Nor is the information available on a consistent geographical basis over the last five years. However, the following table shows the number of starts on modern apprenticeships in the Greater Manchester Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area between April 2001 and the end of July 2003, as well as the number of starts from April 1996 to March 2001 in the six Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) that amalgamated into Greater Manchester LSC—Bolton and Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport and High Peak and Wigan.
| Time period and TEC/LSC | Advanced MAs | Foundation MAs |
|---|---|---|
| April 1998 to March 1999 | ||
| Bolton and Bury CCTE | 800 | 600 |
| Manchester | 2,400 | 700 |
| Oldham CCTE | 400 | 300 |
| Rochdale CCTE | 500 | 100 |
| Stockport and High Peak(16) | 800 | 100 |
| Wigan CCTE | 700 | 300 |
| April 1999 to March 2000 | ||
| Bolton and Bury CCTE | 900 | 1,000 |
| Manchester | 2,800 | 1,800 |
| Oldham CCTE | 500 | 500 |
| Rochdale CCTE | 500 | 600 |
| Stockport and High Peak(16) | 700 | 700 |
| Wigan CCTE | 700 | 600 |
| April 2000 to March 2001 | ||
| Bolton and Bury CCTE | 700 | 1,200 |
| Manchester | 3,200 | 2,600 |
| Oldham CCTE | 500 | 700 |
| Rochdale CCTE | 400 | 700 |
| Stockport and High Peak(16) | 800 | 1,000 |
| Wigan CCTE | 900 | 800 |
| April 2001 to July 2002 | ||
| Greater Manchester LSC | 4,800 | 9,800 |
| March 2001 to July 2002 | ||
| Greater Manchester LSC | 2,900 | 6,800 |
(16) TEC also became part of Derbyshire LSC.
Note:
TECs reported the figures in financial years. LSC reports figures in academic years. The first LSC 'year' was 16 months in order to bring the financial year figures into line with academic years.
Sources:
TEC management information.
LSC Individualised Learner Record.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what public funding has been spent on adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Heywood and Middleton in each of the last five years. [168577]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
The estimated total spend on Skills For Life (the Government's strategy for literacy, language and numeracy needs of all post-16 learners from pre-entry level up to and including level 2) and on Key Skills (essential skills of communication, application of number and information technology), from April 2001 to July 2003, in the Greater Manchester Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area is set out in the table:
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| Basic skills | Key skills | |
|---|---|---|
| April 2001 to July 2001(17) | 8,925 | 2,598 |
| August 2001 to July 2002 | 15,369 | 3,586 |
| August 2002 to July 2003 | 27,258 | 4,210 |
Note:
(17) The figures for April to July 2001 include costs incurred from August 2000 on learning aims continuing into April 2001.
From the information available to the LSC it has not been feasible to obtain estimates at constituency level or separate figures by subject without incurring disproportionate cost. Likewise it has not been feasible to obtain comparable figures for periods before April 2001 when the Skills for Life strategy was launched and the LSC was formed, but information shows it was considerably less than at present.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in Heywood and Middleton on the latest date for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce them. [168578]
Mr. Miliband: Information on teacher vacancies is not available by constituency as it is collected at local education authority level. In January 2003, the latest information available, there were 13 full-time teacher vacancies in Rochdale local education authority.
Like other areas, since 1997 Rochdale has benefited from the initiatives that the Government have 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 the former Lancashire LEA area has risen by 60, from 1,830 to 1,890 in 2003. Over the same period, the number of full-time equivalent school support staff in the area has grown by 610 from 510 to 1,120 in 2003.
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there were in schools in Heywood and Middleton (a) in each of the last seven years and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [168579]
Mr. Miliband: The following table gives the numbers of full time equivalent teaching assistants in maintained schools in Heywood and Middleton constituency for each year between 1997 and 2003, the latest year for which data are available.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 110 |
| 1998 | 120 |
| 1999 | 130 |
| 2000 | 150 |
| 2001 | 240 |
| 2002 | 300 |
| 2003 | 320 |
Source:
Annual Schools' Census.
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