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26 Oct 2004 : Column 1160W—continued
Increased Flexibility Project
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how his Department proposes to continue supporting the Increased Flexibility Project for 14 to 16 learners to work with further education colleges. [192024]
Dr. Howells [holding answer 19 October 2004]: No decision has been taken by Ministers at this stage, but the question is currently under consideration.
Knives
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many reported (a) incidents and (b) accidents involving knives there have been in schools over the last 12 months. [193071]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: We believe there have been very few incidents or accidents. The YJB published a survey which suggests that 1 per cent. of pupils carried a knife in school for offensive reasons at some time, and 2 per cent. defensively, last year. The survey suggests that knife use is much rarer than knife carrying. HSE data on work-related accidents involving cutting tools do not give specific figures for schools.
Mobile Phones
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many mobile phones were used by (a) Ministers and special advisers and (b) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; how many were (i) lost and (ii) stolen; and what their cost was. [191429]
Mr. Stephen Twigg:
The total number of mobile phones in use at September 2004 is 1,120. Information on the number of mobiles in use in any given year, as opposed to the number purchased in each year, could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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The information on use of mobile phones by Ministers, special advisers and officials on a year-by-year basis could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
We have been unable to distinguish between those phones lost and stolen and the combined number is shown in the following table as is the cost of mobile services for each year.
| Lost/stolen | Cost of mobile phones (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 1 | 170,045.78 |
| 1998–99 | 0 | 168,298.72 |
| 1999–2000 | 1 | 218,889.09 |
| 2000–01 | 3 | 329,196.99 |
| 2001–02 | 3 | 374,248.87 |
| 2002–03 | 4 | 353,955.78 |
| 2003–04 | 9 | 270,547.63 |
| 2004–05 | 7 | — |
New Deal
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many personnel the Department has recruited under the New Deal in each of the past five years. [194026]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 25 October.
Office for Fair Access
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the costs of (a) establishing and (b) running the Office for Fair Access (OFFA); what the salary is of the director general of OFFA; how many staff he expects to be employed by OFFA; and what funds OFFA will have available (i) to raise standards in schools and (ii) to promote applications to universities. [192929]
Dr. Howells: The Office for Fair Access will have an average annual budget of £500,000. Staffing will vary according to the demands of overseeing access plans, but we expect it to consist of the Director of Fair Access and 4–6 staff, some of them part time. The Director's remuneration is £100,000 pro rata, as originally advertised.
OFFA will ensure that universities wishing to charge higher fees than current standard levels put some of their own resources into encouraging applications and supporting students.
Overseas Students (Glasgow)
Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of overseas students who are studying in the City of Glasgow. [190995]
Dr. Howells:
This is a matter for the Scottish Executive and my hon. Friend may wish to write to them about this issue.
26 Oct 2004 : Column 1162W
Private Language Schools
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason he decided to introduce voluntary registration for private language schools; and if he will make a statement. [191811]
Dr. Howells: The Register of Education and Training Providers has been established as a voluntary scheme following consultation with the sector.
The register will consist of education providers who are able to provide evidence of their legitimate business. It will be made available to the Home Office to support them in making decisions on granting leave to study. The Home Office have proposed that once the register is established, leave to study will not be granted to a student wishing to attend a provider not on the list.
To avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, those education providers who receive public funding or who are currently accredited by an existing accreditation scheme and have already undergone robust assurance measures will automatically be added to the register. Private English Language Schools have been encouraged to seek accreditation with existing accreditation bodies such as the British Council, the British Accreditation Council, or the Association of British Language Schools.
The Department will look to review the operation of the scheme once it is fully operational.
Religious Schools
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) membership is and (b) terms of reference are of the joint working party with the churches and others on the financing of religious voluntary aided schools; when its report is expected; whether the report will be published; and if he will make it his policy to maintain a maximum level of contribution from public funds towards the costs of such schools at 100 per cent. of running costs and 90 per cent. of building costs. [193611]
Mr. Miliband: The terms of reference are—The Voluntary Aided Capital Working Group exists to provide a consultative forum for identifying, discussing and advising on all issues relating to voluntary aided capital.
Given that most, but not all, voluntary aided schools are linked to a faith, membership consists of the Anglican and Catholic Churches, the Foundation and Aided Schools National Association, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and the Association of Muslim Schools (UK), together with departmental civil servants. There is no expectation that a report will be published, and any recommendations from the working group will be considered by Ministers in the usual way.
The flexibility to pay capital grant above 90 per cent. already exists and I have agreed that it can be applied where absolutely necessary, and on production of a rigorous business case, in respect of the small number of voluntary aided schools in the first group of areas to benefit from funding under Building Schools for the Future. This will ensure that there is no delay in
26 Oct 2004 : Column 1163W
procurement for all of the schools in those areas. The working group is to look at the options for funding future waves of investment.
Resources for Children and Learners
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his written ministerial statement of 16 September 2004, Official Report, columns 153–54WS, on Resources for Children and Learners, at what level he expects the gap between per-pupil funding for 16 to 19 year olds in schools and those in colleges to be in (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–7 and (c) 2007–08. [191812]
Dr. Howells: On 16 September, the Secretary of State announced that total funding for the post-16 learning and skills sector, excluding Higher Education, will rise to £11 billion by 2007–08. We are doing further work in partnership with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) on the details of our spending plans for further education. Details will be published at the time of release of the grant letter to the LSC. It is therefore not possible at this stage to say what impact this will have on funding for 16 to 18 year olds in school sixth forms and further education colleges.
School Internet Access (York)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of City of York (a) primary and (b) secondary schools were connected to the internet in (i) 1997 and (ii) October. [191243]
Dr. Howells: Figures for England, derived from a sample of schools, are shown in the following table. Figures at sub-national level are not available as the sample was not large enough to provide reliable estimates.
The available information on the percentage of schools connected to the Internet is shown in the following table.
| 1996 | 1998 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 5 | 17 | >99 |
| Secondary | 47 | 83 | >99 |
| Special | 8 | 31 | >99 |
The latest information on maintained schools connected to the Internet was published in Statistical Bulletin 'Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2003', which is available on the Department's web-site www.dfes.gov.uk/rsqateway
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