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10 May 2004 : Column 37W—continued

Medical Students

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment he has made of the criteria for selecting students to participate on medical courses under his programme for widening participation in medicine; and what opportunities there are for students with 30 or more points at A Level who have failed to obtain a place to study medicine to participate in this programme; [168202]

(2) how much funding has been allocated by the Government to the widening access programme in medical education in the current academic year; how much he plans to allocate in subsequent years; and if he   will break down such funding by individual institution; [168203]

(3) how much funding has been allocated to the improving retention pot for university medical schools for (a) the academic year 2004–05 and (b) subsequent years. [168204]

Alan Johnson: The admission and selection of students is a matter for individual institutions. Admissions should always be based on individual merit. Professor Steven Schwartz, Vice-Chancellor of Brunel University, is leading a review which will produce a set   of high level principles on admissions and help universities learn from best practice at home and abroad.

We know that both the new and existing medical schools are themselves doing excellent work to address some of the access and diversity issues that surround the application and selection process. One of the criteria for the establishment of new medical schools in recent years has been the need to demonstrate an active commitment to widening participation from a broad range of social and ethnic backgrounds to reflect the patterns of populations which are served by the NHS.

In addition, there are projects under the Government's Aimhigher programme aimed at the healthcare professions. Aimhigher, the national outreach programme which operates most intensively in   disadvantaged areas, provides funds to local partnerships to increase the attainment levels of young people and raise their aspirations towards university and progression.
 
10 May 2004 : Column 38W
 

In addition, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has earmarked £273 million for widening participation in 2004–05, which is allocated as part of the block grant to institutions. Included in this sum is £49 million for widening access and £213 million for improving retention. The breakdown by institution is published in the HEFCE document, "Recurrent Grants for 2004–05" (March 2004/12). No decisions on allocations after that date have yet been made.

The HEFCE widening participation allocation provides some assistance to universities with the additional costs of recruiting and retaining students from non-traditional backgrounds. The allocation is not an incentive. It is paid to the institution, not to individual schools or departments, towards the support costs of students from non-traditional backgrounds who complete a year of their studies. How the funds are used is entirely a matter for the institution.

Middle Schools

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for   Education and Skills in which local education authorities there are middle schools as part of a three tier school system. [171162]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 5 May 2004]: The following local education authorities have middle schools as part of a three tier school system:

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

Devon

Dorset

Harrow

Hertfordshire

Isle of Wight

Kent

Kirklees

Leicestershire

Milton Keynes

Newcastle upon Tyne

Norfolk

North

Tyneside

North Yorkshire

Northamptonshire

Northumberland

Poole

Somerset

Staffordshire

Suffolk

West Sussex

Wiltshire

Windsor and Maidenhead

Worcestershire

Music and Dance Scheme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what the annual budget is of the Music and Dance scheme; [171406]

(2) if he will make a statement on the remit of the Music and Dance scheme. [171408]

 
10 May 2004 : Column 39W
 

Mr. Miliband: The budget for the Music and Dance scheme in the current financial year 2004–05 is £15.9 million.

The scheme currently supports over 800 exceptionally talented children at eight independent specialist schools, four music schools and four dance schools, which are regarded as centres of excellence in their field. In addition, around 80 choristers are helped each year through a subset of the scheme, the Choir Schools Scholarship scheme. Through outreach and partnership working the schools share their expertise and provide music, singing and dance experiences and training for many who would not otherwise get the chance. From September 2004, the scheme is being extended to give greater opportunities for talented children to receive the specialist training they need. A new national grants scheme will enable them to gain access locally to such training out of school hours at four new centres for advanced training and at the junior departments of the six music conservatoires.

Parliamentary Questions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) Ordinary Written and (b) Named Day Questions his Department received in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) this parliamentary session, broken down by month. [171185]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The information appears in the following tables.

	Named Day Questions	Ordinary Written Questions
Year 2002
November	23	12
December	82	213
Year 2003
January	58	320
February	45	294
March	51	296
April	53	343
May	48	248
June	87	445
July	37	359
August	0	3
September	41	236
October	62	323
November	43	312
Total	630	3,404

Current session	Named Day Questions	Ordinary Written Questions
Year 2003
November	10	36
December	84	331
Year 2004
January	98	451
February	89	360
March	122	525
April	48	509
Total	451	2,212

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of Ordinary
 
10 May 2004 : Column 40W
 
Written Questions to his Department were answered within five sitting days of tabling, and what proportion of Questions for a Written Answer on a named day received a substantive answer on that day, in (a) the 2002–03 parliamentary session and (b) this parliamentary session, broken down by month. [171186]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The requested information is listed in the following tables. DfES Ministers take their   parliamentary responsibilities very seriously and endeavour to reply to all Parliamentary Questions within the specified deadline.
2002–03 parliamentary session Percentage

	Percentage of ordinary written questions answered within five sitting days of tabling	Percentage of named day questions receiving a substantive answer on named day
November	45	57
December	68.87	37
January	81.33	24
February	63.71	27
March	74.64	42
April	52.43	26
May	57.75	50
June	70.33	22
July	80.92	26
August	n/a	n/a
September	82.15	54
October	76.82	42
November	92.46	52

Current parliamentary session 2003–04 Percentage

	Percentage of ordinary written questions answered within five sitting days of tabling	Percentage of named day questions receiving a substantive answer on named day
November	—	(12)n/a
December	65.6	21
January	71.47	20
February	70.47	22
March	81.45	38
April	80.74	20

⁽¹²⁾ The current Parliamentary session began on 28 November. No questions were due for answer between then and 30 November

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