| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Jul 2004 : Column 997W—continued
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
City Academies
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Local Government Association and (b) education trade unions about the city academy programme; and if he will make a statement. [181795]
Mr. Miliband: The Secretary of State for Education and Skills meets regularly with the Local Government Association and education trade unions to discuss a variety of issues.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his plans are for the expansion of city academies. [183630]
Mr. Miliband: The Secretary of State for Education and Skills announced on 8 July, as part of his five year strategy for children and learners, his plans for 200 Academies open or in the pipeline by 2010 in areas with inadequate existing secondary schools.
Classroom Assistants
Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans the Government have to amend the salaries of classroom assistants; how much the planned changes will cost; and whether the Government plan to give schools extra funding to meet the costs of those changes. [182874]
12 Jul 2004 : Column 998W
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 8 July 2004]: Pay and contractual arrangements of school support staff are matters for local determination: the Government believe that this is the best way of ensuring a flexible system that can respond to local needs and circumstances. Many local authorities have reviewed or are reviewing school support staff pay in the light of the Single Status Agreement introduced by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services from 1 April 1997 to harmonise the pay and conditions of all local authority staff.
In October 2003, the Secretary of State announced a package of measures that will restore stability to the school funding system, including the introduction of a 4 per cent. minimum per pupil guarantee for schools. In addition to increases in general funding, for 2004–05 £279 million for support staff salaries is included in the new School Development Grant, worth £647 million in total. Schools are free to spend their School Development Grant on any purpose that supports improvements in teaching and learning.
Copeland Schools
Dr. Jack Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total capital expenditure in all schools in Copeland has been since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [182804]
Mr. Miliband: Government support for capital investment in school buildings will reach £5.1 billion in 2005–06. This is compared to £0.7 billion that was available in 1996–97. Much of our capital support is allocated to schools and local education authorities (LEAs) by formula, and they decide how to invest in line with their asset management plans. The Department does not have complete information about capital investment at constituency level. The following table sets out the capital support given by the Government to Cumbria LEA since 1997–98, in total and by programme, including devolved formula capital grants which go direct to schools.
12 Jul 2004 : Column 999W
To date we have allocated £20.5 million in 2004–05 and £9.3 million in 2005–06.
Dentistry
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many deans of English dental schools Ministers and senior civil servants have met in the last six months to discuss the issue of the NHS dental workforce review. [181639]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
Deans of dental schools are represented on the Dental Education Workforce Committee, which met in January 2004. Senior officials are in regular discussion with representatives of dental schools, including deans. In the last six months, senior officials have visited the Eastman Dental Hospital, Guy's, Kings and St. Thomas' Dental Institute and Kings College London Dental Schools, the Royal London Dental School, Manchester Dental School and Birmingham Dental School. Discussions have ranged over a number of issues, including dental workforce and the dental workforce review. Ministers have not met with deans to discuss the dental workforce review.
Education Maintenance Allowances
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the differences in entitlement rules for education maintenance allowances are between areas that were part of the pilot schemes and the rest of England and Wales; and if he will remove those differences. [182782]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The EMA pilot in England tested different variants of EMA and all these arrangements stop when the national scheme becomes fully operational. A uniform set of eligibility criteria will apply to pilot and non-pilot areas under the national scheme. The rules for the national scheme are more generous than for most of the pilots, with more families from low-income families being entitled to the full amount.
Wales will launch its own EMA scheme in September 2004. The Welsh EMA will mirror the eligibility criteria of the English scheme.
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much of the funding allocation for the 2003 to 2006 spending review period was allocated to the national roll-out of education maintenance allowances in (a) school sixth forms, (b) sixth form colleges and (c) further education colleges. [182935]
12 Jul 2004 : Column 1000W
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 8 July 2004]: The principal of the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme is to fund the student and not the institution. The Department estimates the overall cost for the next three financial years to be:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 275 |
| 2005–06 | 403 |
| 2006–07 | 476 |
For 2004/05 £19 million of the total budget is being made available to schools and colleges to help with the implementation and delivery of the scheme in the first year.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |