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Prisons (Education)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the prison population are studying for qualifications at (a) Level 1, (b) Level 2 and (c) Level 3. [182776]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: We hold information centrally on prisoner achievement against national targets: for achievements in "Skills for Life" (literacy, language and numeracy) up to Level 2 and in vocational qualifications which prepare them for work. The latter are not recorded by level. Information on achievements is not held centrally on an individual prisoner basis.

Since 1 April 2004 prisoners have achieved 3,505 "Skills for Life" qualifications at Level 1 and 2,254 qualifications at Level 2. They have also achieved 22,928 work skills.

In 2003–04, prisoners achieved 46,517 "Skills for Life" qualifications across all levels against a target of 36,631, and 109,237 work skills.

These figures cannot be expressed as a proportion of annual throughput, as overall information on prisoner participation and achievement in education is collected at establishment level in terms of the overall number of qualifications gained.
 
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Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many prisoners are studying for degrees. [182777]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: 872 prisoners registered for Open University courses in 2003–04.

Private Finance Initiative

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list private finance initiative contracts operating in schools in England, broken down by local authority area, indicating in each case (a) the contractor, (b) the value of the contract, (c) whether it is for construction or maintenance and (d) the expected completion date for construction contracts. [183007]

Mr. Miliband: The Department publishes a document called the Project List which lists all the schools Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects that are currently in procurement, under construction or operational. The projects are listed by local educational authority area, the nature of the project and, where the contract has been signed, details of the contractor, the value of the contract in terms of PFI credits and the completion date. This list is updated on a regular basis and can be accessed via the website www.teachernet.gov.uk/pfi.

School Building

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on discussions with the (a) Church of England and (b) Roman Catholic Church on Building Schools for the Future. [182508]

Mr. Miliband: Discussions with both Churches are continuing. We have set up a working group, which will meet later this month, to look in particular at the funding of Voluntary Aided schools in Building Schools for the Future.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 711W, on schools (capital investment), who is responsible for determining the procurement route under Building Schools for the Future. [182512]

Mr. Miliband: In line with Government policy (The Treasury Green Book and Meeting Investment Challenge) the procurement route is determined on the basis of value for money. The Local Education Partnership (LEP) has to submit a business case in support of the procurement route chosen that is then scrutinised by Partnership for Schools and DfES to ensure value for money.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 711W, on schools (capital investment), what mechanism is in place to manage potential conflicts of interest when Partnership for Schools is both monitoring local education authorities and acting as a director of and equity participant in a Local Education Partnership. [182514]

Mr. Miliband: Partnerships for Schools will be an investor in a Local Education Partnership (LEP), commercially incentivised along with the local education authority and the private sector partner to
 
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ensure that the LEP takes forward proposals that meet both local requirements and national programme objectives. As a non-departmental public body (NDPB), Partnerships for Schools will only act in the interests of the public sector—and by being a co-investor along with local authorities in LEPs, its interests will consist solely of furthering national or local programme objectives. No conflicts of interest are therefore anticipated.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 710W, on schools (capital investment), who will be responsible for monitoring the cost-effectiveness of the building programme. [182516]

Mr. Miliband: The Local Education Partnership (LEP) is a vehicle being developed to deliver Building Schools for the Future at a local level. Its joint venture partners are incentivised to make sure that the building programme is delivering value for money since Partnership for Schools will be able to monitor all bid prices and benchmark them against market norms. Value for money is achieved because any work by the LEP is contingent upon price and quality performance as outlined in the Strategic Partnering Agreement and compulsory periodic benchmarking.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimates have been made of the running costs of the Partnership for Schools. [172905]

Mr. Miliband: Partnership for Schools is a company limited by shares and a non-departmental public body established on 2 April 2004 to deliver the Building Schools for the Future programme. In 2005–06, this programme will invest around £2 billion in renewing the English secondary schools estate.

The forecast running costs are as follows:

	£ million
2004–05	10
2005–06	9.5
2006–07	9.8

The estimates for 05–06 and 06–07 are based on 04–05 activity with an estimate for inflation, and are indicative as Building Schools for the Future itself is still being developed. In particular, work on the creation of local education partnerships is still subject to consultation with stakeholders.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the expected life of local education partnerships is where they do not take an equity stake in schools. [172907]

Mr. Miliband: The local education partnership (LEP) will be the special purpose vehicle set up for the procurement of schools buildings and maintenance contracts let within Building Schools for the Future (BSF). The expected life of the local education
 
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partnerships is expected to be around 10–15 years, regardless of the quantum of equity held by the LEP in the underlying contracts.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which organisations and individuals have expressed interest in participating in local education partnerships as private sector partners. [172964]

Mr. Miliband: There have been no formal expressions of interest as the procurement process for Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects is not yet under way. However, a large range of private sector entities have responded either formally or informally, and on their own account or through representative bodies, to the DfES/PfS consultation paper on local education partnerships and there has been a range of meetings with public and private sector BSF stakeholders.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons Partnership for Schools has been established as a non-departmental public body. [182511]

Mr. Miliband: Building Schools for the Future (BSF) represents the most complete investment in school buildings infrastructure ever seen in England, with around a projected spend of £2.2 billion in its first year 2005–06.

In order to create a strong focus for change in the way that school buildings and infrastructure are obtained, introducing private sector disciplines, developing and retaining specialist procurement knowledge and allowing the DfES to concentrate on its policy role, at a national level the best delivery vehicle is a national procurement body. Partnerships for Schools(PfS) has been set up as a non-departmental public body (NDPB) to fulfil these challenges and to be the dedicated BSF delivery arm.

PfS has been set up as an Executive NDPB to give it the ability to employ its own staff, responsibility for its own budget and a focused mission while at the same time ensuring that there is a clear framework for achieving proper standards of propriety and accountability as though it was a Government Department.

PfS will work with local procuring agencies to set up Local Education Partnerships (LEPs) with which the procuring agencies would have strategic partnership agreements. PfS will facilitate strategic planning, develop PFI and PPP models for schools infrastructure and reduce transaction costs relative to the value of the investment procured. This in turn will help to provide a steady flow of school projects for the private sector and PfS will offer the opportunities to reduce the unit costs of schools projects.

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