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17 May 2004 : Column 706W—continued

Recycled Paper

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he has put in place to ensure that his Department meets the quick win targets set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure that all paper for printed publications bought by the Department is 60 per cent. recycled of which a minimum of 75 per cent. is post-consumer waste content. [166792]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The "quick win targets" set by   DEFRA were communicated widely within the Department, particularly to procurement sections, in October 2003. Due to a lack of re-contracting opportunities since that date it has not so far been possible to implement specific measures to ensure the Department meets the quick win targets. Procurement sections have undertaken to introduce these as soon as re-contracting opportunities arise.

School Sports (Preston)

Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will make a statement on the effects on schools of changes since 1997 in the level of investment in school sports in Preston; [168138]
 
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(2) how much money has been allocated to develop school sports in Preston since 1997. [168711]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: This information is not held in the format requested.

Within the context of the statutory National Curriculum, where Physical Education (PE) is compulsory for pupils aged 5–16, it is for individual schools to use their budgets as they judge appropriate.

The Government are investing more than £1 billion in England to transform PE, school sport and club links. The funding will help deliver an ambitious Public Service Agreement target, shared with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to increase the percentage of 5–16 year olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006.

The Department is providing just over £440,000 to support the delivery of a School Sport Partnership in Lancashire LEA area. The partnerships includes five secondary and 21 primary schools and provides enhanced sports opportunities for all young people to ensure that their pupils spend a minimum of two hours a week on high quality PE and School Sport. A key objective for all School Sport Partnerships is to ensure that the improvements and enhanced opportunities that they deliver are sustainable and embedded within schools to ensure a lasting legacy. The New Opportunities Fund has provided schools in the Lancashire LEA area with nearly 12 million specifically to enhance PE and school sport facilities.

Latest research, published by the Departments on 4 March 2004 shows that 68 per cent. of pupils in schools that have been in a Partnership for three years, are taking up the two hour entitlement, rising to 90 per cent. at Key Stage 3. Data has been collected from the remaining partnerships and will be published in April.

Schools (Capital Investment)

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many wave 1 approvals under Building Schools for the Future involved (a) local authorities other than in their capacity as local education authorities, (b) learning and skills councils, (c) primary care and other NHS trusts and (d) other public sector bodies. [172906]

Mr. Miliband: The following table shows the number of local education authorities in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future who made specific reference to the requested categories in their proposals.
Local education authoritiesNumber
Other local authority services1
Learning and Skills Councils12
Primary care and other NHS trusts4
Other public sector bodies9

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria were used in issuing invitations to local education authorities to submit bids
 
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for consideration for wave one of Building Schools for the Future; and what criteria were used to assess the bids. [172959]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested is contained in guidance to local authorities, issued in July 2004. A copy is in the House of Commons Library.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the local education authorities which applied to wave one of Building Schools for the Future; and what the reasons were for each unsuccessful bid. [172962]

Mr. Miliband: The following list shows those authorities which applied for wave one funding in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Projects that were successful in wave one were those which best met our criteria for prioritisation. The criteria for prioritisation were fully set out in the guidance on applying for prioritisation in the BSF programme which we published last July.

We have discussed with all unsuccessful authorities the reasons why their proposals meet our criteria less well, usually in face to face meetings with my officials.


 
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Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of   the performance of Pathfinder local education authorities in Building Schools for the Future. [172963]

Mr. Miliband: Partnerships for Schools is monitoring and supporting the pathfinder local authorities. By their nature as pathfinders, we are working with authorities to develop Building Schools for the Future, identifying and resolving issues along the way. The pathfinder projects are progressing well and will be submitting outline business cases shortly for formal assessment.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of each successful local education authority's secondary schools in wave one of Building Schools for the Future are covered by its bid. [172965]

Mr. Miliband: The following table shows the proportion of schools in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future as a percentage of each local authority's total number of secondary schools.
LEATotal schools in LEA 1Of which:
included in BSF wave		Percentage
Knowsley1111100.0
Lancashire1342619.4
Leeds684261.8
Leicester2626100.0
Manchester251352.0
Newcastle-upon-Tyne1111100.0
Newham1515100.0
Solihull23939.1
South Tyneside1313100.0
Stoke-on-Trent2323100.0
Sunderland18950.0
Waltham Forest19947.4


(4) Total number of schools that have been included by the LEA in their submissions to Building Schools for the Future; this may include special, middle and other schools, or units such as pupil referral units, in addition to secondary schools.


Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many local education authorities participating in wave one of Building
 
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Schools for the Future have (a) identified city academies as an integral part of the plans and (b) included provision for 14–19 education. [172966]

Mr. Miliband: Six local education authorities (LEAs) participating in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future mentioned planned or established Academies in their proposals. We now expect all projects to provide a proper evaluation of Academy options.

All proposals submitted included provision for 14–19 education.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Department's financial commitment is for each successful bid in wave one of Building Schools for the Future, broken down by (a) private finance initiative credits and (b) cash grants. [172967]

Mr. Miliband: Total funding available for pathfinder and wave one Building Schools for the Future projects is over £2.2 billion. This includes PFI credits, capital grant and supported borrowings. Details of allocation will not be made until authorities have submitted satisfactory outline business cases, which is expected later this year.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many projects in wave one of Building Schools for the Future will use the exemplar building design. [172968]

Mr. Miliband: It is too early to say how many projects Wave 1 will use any one of the exemplar designs in their entirety. However, all authorities in Wave 1 have warmly welcomed all the exemplar designs and are actively using them in their deliberations with schools to develop their educational vision.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of preparing the exemplar building designs in Building Schools for the Future. [172969]

Mr. Miliband: The cost of preparing 11 Exemplar Designs to RIBA Stage C—Scheme Design, including fees, securing copyright for the designs, publishing and dissemination was £3.45 million. We expect that through the stimulation of exemplar designs a number of standardised processes, including strategic partnerships, along the supply chain and off-site fabrication will develop to meet the demands of an increased building programme and secure savings on the costs of new schools of around 10 per cent.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local education authorities have indicated that they wish to participate in wave 2 of the Building Schools for the Future programme. [172970]

Mr. Miliband: Local authorities were invited to submit a proposal for wave 1 and/or an expression of interest for the programme as a whole. All have done so. We will use this information to prioritise projects for the next waves of investment.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who owns (a) new and (b) refurbished schools built under the Building Schools for the Future programme. [172971]


 
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Mr. Miliband: Ownership of schools will not usually change when schools are built or refurbished in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Exceptions to this are where investment is through a Private Finance Initiative contract, where ownership of the buildings will pass to the public sector provider for the length of the contract, and then revert to the previous owner, and also where an Academy is created. In this case, the Academy Trust' will own the buildings for as long as the Academy remains in operation. If the Academy ceases to exist, ownership of the Academy land, and any buildings on it, will revert to the previous owner, which would be either the LEA or the voluntary aided sector body.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the pathfinders for Building Schools for the Future were originally private finance initiative schemes. [172972]

Mr. Miliband: An offer to all local education authorities in 2003 to submit projects which would access Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits in 2004–05 also invited expressions of interest to be pathfinders in the Building Schools for the Future programme. Part, but not all, of the funding to support pathfinder Building Schools for the Future projects will be PFI credits.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what controls there are to ensure that a wave 1 Building Schools for the Future scheme develops plans for secondary schools, once accepted. [172973]

Mr. Miliband: The development of each local authority project will be monitored by Partnerships for Schools. The Department will also see their plans at two formal points, when the outline and final business cases for each project are submitted for approval. We are also   encouraging local authorities to use the local government gateway review process.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to announce the results of the second round of the Building Schools for the Future initiative. [173005]

Mr. Miliband: We hope to announce the next waves of investment under Building Schools for the Future later in the year—probably in the autumn. We are working to provide this information as soon as possible, once the Secretary of State has decided how to allocate the spending review settlement.

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