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24 May 2004 : Column 1328W—continued

Prison Education

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget was in each of the last five years for prisoners undertaking (a) distance learning courses, (b) Open University or other degree courses, (c) basic skills qualifications, (d) GCSE qualifications and (e) A-level qualifications. [172423]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Funding for the Offenders' Learning and Skills Unit is ring-fenced and administered jointly by DfES and the Home Office. Prisons are allocated a total education budget and have flexibility to use this to purchase education to meet their learners' needs.
 
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Budgets are not disaggregated by level of course or qualification. Core funding for prisoners' education for the last five years is:
£ millions

Financial year	Education expenditure
1999–2000	40.9
2000–01	41.9
2001–02	52.6
2002–03	59.4
2003–04	70.9

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many prisoners in each of the last five years successfully completed (a) distance learning courses, (b) Open University or other degree courses, (c) basic skills qualifications, (d) GCSE qualifications and (e) A-level qualifications. [172425]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The table as follows shows all prisoner achievements in Open University courses over the past five years.

	Completed	Passed
1998–99	185	160
1999–00	220	189
2000–01	245	211
2001–02	250	213
2002–03	343	307

We do not hold information on the completion of Distance Learning courses and current data collection systems do not allow us to report on awards gained across the prison estate at GCSE and A level.

The table as follows shows prisoner achievement in basic skills against national targets over the past four years. In 2000–01 and 2001–02 targets were set at level 2 because qualifications at this level are considered key to enhancing individual employability.

We widened targets from 2002–03 to cover all levels to enable prison establishments to be more responsive to the range of learning needs among their population.

	Target	Achievement (percentage)
2000–01	(21)14,500	12,500 (86)
2001–02	(21)18,000	16,000 (88)
2002–03	(22)28,800	41,518 (144)
2003–04(23) (provisional)	(22)36,631	46,517 (127)

⁽²¹⁾ Level 2
⁽²²⁾ All levels
⁽²³⁾ Provisional

Recycling

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will introduce measures to promote recycling in schools. [173198]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Citizenship curriculum includes teaching pupils about issues that impact on the society and the environment. Pupils should learn about what improves and harms their local environment and about the importance of recycling. This is part of
 
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Education for Sustainable Development which is a statutory requirement in the Science, Geography, Design and Technology and Citizenship curricula.

School Councils

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to promote school councils in primary schools. [173330]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: To support schools to introduce a school or class council, the Department has funded School Councils UK to produce a primary schools toolkit to help teachers and pupils to set up effective councils. The primary toolkit was made available to schools in September 2000. The Department has just   issued statutory guidance to LEAs and school governing bodies ("Working Together: giving children and young people a say") on pupil participation, which promotes the value of school councils in actively engaging pupils in decision making processes.

The National Assembly for Wales which has responsibility for Education there has decided to make school councils mandatory in all Welsh schools.

School Governors

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to give special recognition to school governors with 25 years' service. [175430]

Mr. Miliband: The Department is currently examining ways in which the profile of school governors can be raised and their efforts celebrated and better recognised. A project board has been established and will hold its first meeting early in June. The board's representatives are drawn from the National Governors' Council, the National Association of Governors and Managers, the National Co-ordinators of Governor Services, the Trades Union Congress, the Confederation of British Industry, HSBC Bank, The Rayne Foundation, The Education Network and the School Governors' One-Stop Shop. Long-service awards are being considered as part of this initiative.

School Nurses

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he issues to (a) primary care trusts and (b) local education authorities on the employment of school nurses. [170372]

Mr. Miliband: The Department for Education and Skills has not issued specific guidance to primary care trusts or local education authorities on the employment of school nurses, as school nurses come within the remit of the Secretary of State for Health. We do, however, recognise that school nurses play an important role in offering health and nursing advice and support to schools, such as in advising and training staff on managing pupils' medical conditions. This is acknowledged in the joint DfES and Department of Health good practice guide 'Supporting pupils with medical needs'.
 
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Schools (Capital Investment)

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 May, Official Report, column 709W, on schools (capital investment), what priority will be given in subsequent waves to schools excluded from a wave one bid which   did not cover all schools in a local education authority. [175235]

Mr. Miliband: Schools in a local authority that have been successful in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future which are not in its wave 1 project will not be given any special priority in subsequent waves of investment. Decisions on prioritisation of all groups of schools submitted by local authorities for the next waves of investment will be taken on the basis of the published criteria.

Schools (South Ribble)

Mr. Borrow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the effects on schools of changes since 1997 in the level of investment in schools in South Ribble. [171673]

Mr. Miliband: Details of investment in education initiatives in schools in the South Ribble constituency have been placed in the Library.

Secondary Transfer (Barnet)

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on secondary transfer in Barnet, with reference to children whose birthdays fall close to 31 August. [173927]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: I am aware that in Barnet some parents are encountering problems in transferring their child to secondary school because the child has been educated below its chronological year group. My officials have written to the Local Education Authority to ask it to work with its schools to broker a solution. We understand that an established Working Party, set up by the Admissions Forum, has agreed to look into the issue, and to consider strategies for dealing with the current situation.
 
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All admission authorities have a duty to consider applications for places at their schools in accordance with their published admission arrangements. Where places are sought for children who are out of their normal year groups, the School Admissions Code of Practice advises admission authorities to consider such requests fully and to make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case, even if it is not their general practice to educate children out of year group.

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