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10 May 2004 : Column 33W—continued
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Child Minders (Regulation)
Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of Ofsted in regulating child minders. [171303]
Margaret Hodge: The effectiveness of Ofsted in regulating child minders is a matter for the Office of Standards in Education (Ofsted) and I have asked HM Chief Inspector for Schools, David Bell, to write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of his letter in the Library.
Classroom Assistants
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new classroom assistant positions have been created in England in the last seven years. [171313]
Mr. Miliband: The Department collects information on the number of classroom assistants employed in England in January of each year. In January 2004 there were, provisionally, 132,600 teaching assistants employed on a full-time equivalent basis in maintained schools in England, an increase of 71,400 since January 1997.
Correspondence
Mr. Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many letters received during this session by (a) Ministers and (b) officials from universities enclosed letters written by hon. Members or which included details of any hon. Members' comments on, or their voting intentions in respect of, the Higher Education Bill. [171106]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Since the beginning of the parliamentary session 2003–04, the Department has received over 1,400 letters on the Higher Education Bill. Correspondence is not systematically analysed to provide this information. Scrutiny of the correspondence to provide this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Education Funding
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Oldham, West and Royton have benefited from the Excellence in Cities programme; and what the per pupil spending was in each year since the programme's inception. [170919]
Mr. Miliband: The following table shows the number of children in Oldham, West and Royton benefiting from EiC, and the annual spend per pupil for the years in question.
| Number of children | Total EiC expenditure(6)(£) | Spend per pupil (£) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 8,299 | 549,988 | 66.27 |
| 2002–03 | 8,184 | 1,833,178 | 224.00 |
| 2003–04 | 8,218 | 2,301,203 | 280.02 |
(6) All funding figures supplied by Oldham Excellence in Cities Team.
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The large increase in the rate of EiC funding in 2002–03 is due to the extra funding provided through the Behaviour Improvement Programme and the increase in 2003–04 is due to the introduction of the Leadership Incentive Grant.
Education Maintenance Allowances
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many extra people in the North West he expects to stay in education as a result of the introduction of education maintenance allowances; and what plans he has to provide extra funding to further education colleges in the North West to support these extra students. [171134]
Alan Johnson: We estimate that there will be about 3,900 extra 16 year olds in the North West Region in further education this September who would not be participating without the EMA. There will also be a significant number of extra 17 and 18 year olds in further education in the pilot areas.
The 2002 Spending Review settlement allowed for the expected impact of national EMA in further education institutions, including further education colleges.
Educational Attainment
Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 11-year-olds achieved level 4 at Key Stage 2 in England in (a) literacy, (b) numeracy and (c) science in each year since 1997, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [167566]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Failing Schools
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in Oldham West and Royton deemed to be failing since 1997 have since reached satisfactory standards. [170920]
Mr. Miliband: Two primary schools in Oldham West and Royton deemed to be failing have since reached satisfactory standards.
Free School Milk
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the local education authorities which do not offer free milk to children eligible for free school meals; and if he will make a statement. [166865]
Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 26 April 2004]: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect any data on school milk provision.
Further Education Colleges
Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to provide funding to help further education colleges in (a) Heywood and Middleton and (b) the North West specifically to refurbish and rebuild their estates. [171133]
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Alan Johnson: We have set out plans for 60 per cent. real terms increase in capital expenditure in the post-16 learning and skills sector in 2005–06 compared to 2002–03.
The Department does not provide a specific budget to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for rebuilding/refurbishing further education colleges. It is for the LSC to determine for itself the right level of capital investment in further education colleges from the funds allocated to it by the Department for capital investment. 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.
GCSE
Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 15 and 16-year-olds in Bootle achieved more than five GCSEs at grade A*-C or GNVQ equivalent in each of the last seven years. [171300]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is as follows:
| Academic Year | Bootle | England |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 24.3 | 45.1 |
| 1998 | 22.1 | 46.3 |
| 1999 | 29.5 | 47.9 |
| 2000 | 28.7 | 49.2 |
| 2001 | 31.4 | 50.0 |
| 2002 | 36.1 | 51.6 |
| 2003 | 34.7 | 52.9 |
(7) GCSE/GNVQ results are reported as standard as the results of pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August and therefore reaching the end of compulsory education at the end of the school year.
Higher Education
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on higher education in Oldham, West and Royton in each of the last seven years. [170924]
Alan Johnson:
The only publicly funded institution providing higher education in Oldham, West and Royton is Oldham College. The amounts of public funding spent in the years for which figures are available are shown in the table below. Expenditure was by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and by the Students Loans Company (SLC). The latter relates only to spending on tuition fees, student loans (cash cost) and the Dependants Grant. Data prior to 1999/2000 are not available. The figures for student support do not include spending on other additional grants, namely, Disabled Students Allowances, Care Leavers Grant and Travel Grant. These were paid through local education authorities, up to 2003/04, and figures are not held centrally.
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| Academic year | HEFCE funding | SLC funding |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 275 | n/a |
| 1998–99 | 422 | n/a |
| 1999–2000 | 908 | 409.1 |
| 2000–01 | 1,100 | 653.8 |
| 2001–02 | 1,300 | 926.1 |
| 2002–03 | 1,400 | 1,094.7 |
| 2003–04 | 1,600 | n/a |
In addition, institutions located outside Oldham, West and Royton may be undertaking activities in the area, for example outreach to raise the attainment and aspirations of potential higher education entrants, or special arrangements with schools and colleges to improve progression into higher education. This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on higher education in Burnley in each of the last seven years. [167930]
Alan Johnson: The only publicly funded institution providing higher education in Burnley is Burnley College. The amounts of public funding spent in academic years and for which figures are available are shown in the following table. Expenditure was by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and by the Student Loans Company (SLC).
| 1999/2000 | 2000/01 | |
|---|---|---|
| HEFCE funding(8) | 134 | n/a |
| SLC expenditure(9) | 0 | 4.1 |
(8) The 1999/2000 figure is the Basic Teaching Grant from HEFCE. Burnley College transferred their directly funded numbers to the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) as from 2000/01 and HEFCE do not hold information on the amount of funding passed by UCLAN to Burnley College in respect of students covered by their franchise arrangements. Figures for HNC and HND provision funded via the Further Education Funding Council prior to 1999/2000 are not held centrally.
(9) Expenditure by the Student Loans Company includes fees, loans (cash costs) and the Dependants Grant. Data prior to 1999/2000 are not available. Expenditure information on other grants (Disabled Students' Allowances, Care Leavers' Grant and Travel Grant) that were, until 2003/04, paid through local education authorities is not held centrally.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on higher education in Wigan in each of the last seven years. [169288]
Alan Johnson:
The only publicly funded institution providing higher education in Wigan is Wigan and Leigh College. The amounts of public funding spent in academic years and for which figures are available are shown in the following table. Expenditure was by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and by the Student Loans Company (SLC).
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| HEFCE funding(10) | SLC expenditure(11) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997/98 | 0.951 | n/a |
| 1998/99 | 1.2 | n/a |
| 1999/2000 | 2. 1 | 1.407 |
| 2000/01 | 1.934 | 1.098 |
| 2001/02 | 1.935 | 0.971 |
| 2002/03 | 1.621 | 0.935 |
| 2003/04 | 1.611 | n/a |
(10) This is the Basic Teaching Grant from HEFCE.
(11) SLC expenditure includes fees, loans (cash costs) and the Dependants Grant. Data prior to 1999/2000 and for 2003/04 is not available. Expenditure information on other grants (Disabled Students' Allowances, Care Leavers' Grant and Travel Grant) paid through local education authorities until 2003/04 is not available.
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