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14 Jul 2004 : Column 1208W—continued
Mortgage Protection Insurance
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has commissioned on the proportion of home owners who have mortgage protection insurance against the risk of unemployment. [183672]
Mr. Pond: The Department jointly commissioned research on mortgage safety-nets and the take-up of different forms of mortgage protection with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Association of British Insurers in 2002.
The research was undertaken by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, and the results were published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in April 2004. The research report is entitled "Homeowners Risk and Safety Nets: Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI) and beyond" and is available in the Library.
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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer question number 177435 regarding vulnerable customers (payments by cheque), tabled by the hon. Member for Northavon on 27 May. [183165]
Malcolm Wicks: A reply was given to the hon. Member on 12 July.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer question number 177395 regarding girocheque payments, tabled by the hon. Member for Northavon on 27 May. [183166]
Mr. Pond: An answer was given to the hon. Member on 12 July.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Accountancy Advice
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many contracts have been let by his Department in each financial year since 2001–02 to (a) PriceWaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst & Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case. [182259]
Mr. Miliband: DfES let two contracts totalling £92,438 in 2001–02 and one contract totalling £18,620 in 2002–03 to PriceWaterhouseCoopers in respect of advice concerning private finance initiative and public private partnership issues.
In 2003–04, three contracts totalling £243,285 were let to KPMG in respect of advice concerning private finance initiative and public private partnership issues.
Bullying
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the average number of school days missed per pupil per year as a result of bullying in the Vale of York in each of the past three years. [176692]
Mr. Miliband: The department only collects the numbers of sessions missed due to authorised and unauthorised absence, and not the reasons why they are missed.
Classroom Assistants
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed introduction of single status on the pay and conditions of classroom teaching assistants; and if he will make a statement; [183136]
(2) whether local education authorities will guarantee the existing pay and conditions of teaching assistants following the introduction of single status for council employees; and if he will make a statement. [183137]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: Pay and contractual arrangements of school support staff are matters for local determination: the Government believes that this is the best way of ensuring a flexible system that can respond to local needs and circumstances. Many local authorities are reviewing school support staff pay in the light of the agreement—commonly known as the Single Status Agreement—made in 1997 by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. Local government pay negotiations between employers and Trade Unions will have taken into account the progress of equal pay and pay reviews. Consultation on the 2004 pay proposals is ongoing.
Departmenal Staff
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people have left employment in his Department because of (a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997. [175694]
Mr. Charles Clarke: My Department remains committed to providing a safe working environment and has put in place a range of measures to support managers and employees on health and welfare issues, including the provision of professional counselling, awareness sessions and support from the Department's welfare provider, Care First. This is complemented by internal procedures aimed at ensuring consistent standards of behaviour and enabling fair and prompt mediation in the event of any grievance.
My Department does not maintain records centrally of staff leaving the Department on the basis of anxiety, stress, depression, or other mental health reasons. However, I can confirm that no medical retirement certificates were issued for reasons of "mental disorder" for staff in my Department over the past four years and we have no record of any such retirements prior to that date since 1997.
Departmental Accounting Practice
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the Finance Director of (a) the Department and (b) the Office for Standards in Education is; what accountancy qualifications each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts of each in the last five years. [183426]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Finance Director for the Department for Education and Skills, appointed in January 2004, is Stephen Kershaw. He does not hold a professional accountancy qualification. The Head of the Department's Financial Accounting Division, who reports to Stephen Kershaw, is a fully qualified accountant (FCCA, ACMA).
During the four year period covering the financial years 1999–2000 to 2002–03 for which accounts have been published, the DfES Resource Accounts were qualified in two years. The qualifications related to the following accounts:
In 2000–01 the Teachers' Pensions Scheme Resource Account received a technical qualification due to a limitation of the scope of the audit. This same issue resulted in the qualification of the cash based Teachers' Superannuation Appropriation Accounts.
In 2001–02 the DfES Resource Accounts were qualified as a result of the allegations of fraud and irregular payments under the Individual Learning Accounts programme. In the same year the Teachers' Pensions Resource Account was qualified because expenditure exceeded the budget by 0.98 per cent. as a result of late changes in accounting policies.
The Office for Standards in Education's (Ofsted) Director of Strategy and Resources, Robert Green, is currently designated Finance Director. He does not hold an accountancy qualification. Ofsted's Senior Civil Service level Head of Finance reports to the Director, Strategy and Resources, and holds the FCMA qualification.
Ofsted's Resource Accounts for 2002–03 were qualified in relation to a resource overspend of 1 per cent. No other accounts have been qualified in the past five years.
The audit opinion on the DfES and Ofsted 2003–04 Resource Accounts will be available later in the year.
E-learning Credits
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received about the use of e-learning credits for purchasing hardware and computer peripherals. [183210]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 12 July 2004]: There have been a range of representations from individuals, schools, education authorities and from industry. The majority have been supportive of the policy for e-learning credits (eLCs) to provide schools with £330 million (2002–06) for the purchase of high quality digital learning materials. Some have argued, however, that there should be more flexibility over what eLCs can be used to purchase, but many believe it is too early to change the eligibility guidance.
We are therefore continuing discussions about the future of eLCs and keeping the funding criteria under constant review.
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