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Resources for Children and Learners

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 September 2004, Official Report, columns 153–54WS, on Resources for Children and Learners what extra funding will be provided to the Increased Flexibility Programme in (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07 and (c) 2007–08; and if he will make a statement. [191815]

 
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Mr. Miliband: No decision has been taken by Ministers at this stage, but the question is currently under consideration.

Road Vehicle Safety

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many road vehicles are operated by the Department and its agencies; how many personal injury accidents involving road vehicles operated by the Department have occurred within each of the last five years; and what the Department's policy is for managing work-related road safety. [185917]

Mr. Miliband: My Department currently has a fleet of 54 vehicles. Over the last five years from 1999 to 2003, four accidents involving personal injury to five people have been reported. The Department has a long established policy involving risk assessment procedures for all aspects of vehicle and personal usage. The Minister for the Cabinet Office will provide similar information for vehicles and drivers provided to my Department by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.

School Funding

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what applications his Department has received from Buckinghamshire Local Education Authority for capital funding for school places in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [191043]

Mr. Miliband: In 2003–04 Buckinghamshire local education authority (LEA) bid for a total of 1,137 new pupil places (89 primary, 888 secondary and 160 post 16). Under the former bidding criteria, in that round, the authority received capital support for 951 places.

From 2004–05, authorities no longer have to bid for new pupil places funding. Funding is now allocated mainly on a formulaic basis, based on the actual numbers of school pupils in each authority and their forecast growth in pupil numbers.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the differences in funding regimes for (a) local authority and (b) voluntary aided schools; and what plans he has to try to reduce funding differences. [191747]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 15 October 2004]: Local authority (community) schools and voluntary aided (VA) schools receive revenue funding via their delegated budget share. This budget share is governed by the Financing of Maintained Schools Regulations.

Local education authorities are responsible for developing a local funding formula within the context of these regulations. The regulations do not allow for the formula to differentiate between categories of schools except in so far as this is justified by differences in functions.

Schools, whether VA or community, also receive a number of grant allocations from the Department, many of which are passed directly to schools. No distinction is made in these grants between community and voluntary aided schools.
 
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Capital funding for VA schools is delivered directly to schools by the Department whereas capital funding for other schools is usually allocated via local authorities. Funding from local authorities can include capital funding that is supported though prudential borrowing.

The capital funding available for investment in all Voluntary Aided (VA) schools is a fair share of the total capital budget for school buildings. Capital grant payable to individual VA schools is at the rate of 90 per cent. of the total expenditure, although the Secretary of State has the power to pay more in exceptional circumstances. Governing bodies must contribute the remaining 10 per cent. The level of grant is also increased to meet VAT costs where appropriate.

There are no plans to change these principles. However, we are discussing with representatives of the VA sector whether the associated administrative processes can be simplified and improved.

Special Needs

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what plans his Department has in place to ensure that the progress of special educational needs pupils in mainstream schools is monitored effectively; and by what criteria success will be measured; [189725]

(2) if he will monitor the (a) academic progress, (b) development of social and life skills and (c) development of self-confidence and self-esteem of special educational needs pupils in mainstream schools. [189730]

Margaret Hodge: Schools have a duty to monitor the progress of pupils with special educational needs whether the pupil is at School Action, School Action Plus or has a statement of special educational need (SEN). All schools are required to set targets for their pupils including those with SEN. Targets relate to progress in the core national curriculum subjects and are set for pupils working at all levels including, where appropriate, P-levels. Targets are not required in respect of pupils' social and life skills or their self-confidence and self-esteem, nor currently is there an accepted way of assessing progress in these capabilities, though schools may report on them informally to parents.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools and the Office for Standards in Education monitor the quality of education provided by schools for their pupils, including how well mainstream schools enable pupils with special educational needs to learn, develop and achieve.

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether teachers and support staff will be trained to a nationally agreed level to ensure that special educational needs pupils in mainstream schools receive a similar level of expertise in assessment and teaching to that which they would receive in a special school setting with specialist staff. [189728]

Margaret Hodge: New Standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) came into effect in September 2002 and new Induction Standards, for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), also came into force in 2003.
 
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In order to be awarded QTS, trainee teachers must demonstrate that they understand their responsibilities under the statutory SEN Code of Practice, know how to seek advice from specialists on less common types of SEN, can differentiate their teaching to meet the needs of individual pupils, including those with SEN, and can identify and support pupils who experience behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

The Standards for the Induction Support Programme for those awarded QTS require that NQTs can demonstrate that they can plan effectively to meet the needs of pupils in their classes with SEN, with or without a statement, and in consultation with the SEN Co-ordinator, contribute to the preparation and implementation of individual education plans or the equivalent. Once fully qualified, all teachers are expected to continue to develop their knowledge and skills according to their personal needs and the needs of those they teach. The only specific SEN qualification required by regulation is the mandatory qualification required for teachers employed by schools to teach classes of children who have either visual impairment, hearing impairment or multi-sensory impairment.

Our recently published SEN Strategy, "Removing Barriers to Achievement" encourages mainstream and special schools to share their skills and expertise so that all pupils with SEN share an inclusive and effective educational experience regardless of where they are educated. Breaking down the divide between mainstream and special schools will entail a greater outreach role for special schools and movement of staff across sectors to share expertise and experience of working with more complex or severe levels of SEN.

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how his Department will ensure that other agencies are able to deliver their services to special educational needs pupils across a range of mainstream schools in a cost-and-time-effective manner, with particular reference to health and social services. [189729]

Margaret Hodge: The Government's strategy for special educational needs Removing Barriers to Achievement, published in February, set out our commitment to improving the availability of health and social services for children and organising services around the needs of children and their families.

The Children's National Service Framework published on 15 September set new national standards for children's health and social care including disabled children. It highlighted the need for multi-agency provision of services for disabled children, in particular in schools. Implementation of the Children's NSF Standards will be an important component of inspection judgements made about children's health and social care services. Through the implementation of Every Child Matters the Government is also advocating a shift to more co-located services for example, schools and primary healthcare working together from single locations. Schools are being encouraged to become "extended schools", which can provide health, social care and other services for children and families as part of the community. The Children Bill—currently being
 
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considered by both Houses of Parliament—has a wide remit which includes encouraging integrated planning, commissioning and delivery of services.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases concerning schools in Buckinghamshire were heard by the Special Educational Needs Tribunal in each year since 2001–02, indicating in how many cases the tribunal ruled that additional support should be provided for children with special needs. [189845]

Margaret Hodge: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) has heard the following appeals against Buckinghamshire local authority since 2001–02.

Six appeals were heard in 2001–02. In five of these cases SENDIST ordered changes to be made to the provision in the children's statements. In three cases it also ordered changes to the schools named.

Four appeals were heard in 2002–03. In three of these SENDIST ordered changes to the schools named.

Three appeals were heard in 2003–04. In all three cases SENDIST ordered changes to be made to the provision in the children's statements and in one case it also ordered a change to the school named.

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to (a) collect and (b) publish statistics on the time taken to complete statements of educational needs. [190737]

Mr. Miliband: Data on the percentage of statements of special educational needs (SEN) completed within 18 weeks (with and without exceptions) are already collected and published annually by the Audit Commission. The statistics underpin two Best Value Performance Indicators that form part of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment for each local authority.

18 weeks is the maximum time allowed in the DfES SEN Code of Practice and the Department has provided the Audit Commission with guidance for this data collection.

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