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Departmental Policies (South Dorset)
Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to the South Dorset constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on the South Dorset constituency. [194970]
Mr. Miliband:
The constituency South Dorset lies within Dorset local education authority. The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) provides information by constituency, through the "In Your Area" website available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea.
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This website allows users to access key facts and local information about education and skills based on postcodes. The data available within the site offers comparisons between 1997 and the latest available year and covers five geographies. These are parliamentary constituency, ward, local authority district, local education authority, Government office region. England figures are also provided
The information available within the website is grouped in a number of broad categories including literacy and numeracy at age 11, literacy and numeracy at age 14, GCSE/GNVQ results, pupils with special educational needs, school initiatives, school work force, school funding and resources, children's social services, early years, class sizes, post 16, higher education and adult education
Additional information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, my Department is investigating ways in which we can disseminate more information about the effects of our policies at a local level. The inyourarea website will be further developed over the coming months to include additional information about adult education, school funding, school initiatives, school performance, school work force and post 16.
Departmental Staff
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many full-time equivalent jobs (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies had in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (ii) the City of York in (A) 1997 and (B) the latest year for which figures are available. [191837]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 25 October 2004, Official Report, column 1053W.
Disabled Students Allowance
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students have benefited from the disabled students' allowance in each of the last three years; how much has been spent in total on these students (a) in England and (b) broken down by local education authority; and if he will make a statement. [194784]
Dr. Howells: Data on disabled students' allowance (DSA) payments made by local education authorities (LEAs) for English domiciled students are shown in the first table. Data on DSA payments made by the Open University (OU) are shown in the second table.
| Academic year | Student numbers (Thousand) | Expenditure (£ million) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 28 | 42 |
| 2001/02 | 35 | 40 |
| 2002/03 | 44 | 50 |
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Data are collected from the LEAs to produce national estimates. The data collection exercise does not allow for the production of firm figures below this level, and therefore data by LEA are not available.
| Student numbers (Thousand) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar year | English domiciled | Welsh and Northern Ireland domiciled | Expenditure (£ million) |
| 2001 | 1,039 | 61 | 2.6 |
| 2002 | 1,438 | 92 | 2.7 |
| 2003 | 2,002 | 151 | 3.4 |
The OU's academic year is consistent with a calendar year. The OU records aggregate expenditure on DSAs for English, Welsh and Northern Ireland students.
Drug Awareness Programmes
Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money was spent within the Greater London area on drug awareness programmes in each of the last five years. [195377]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Figures for local drug awareness programmes are not held centrally. However, the Department has allocated funding to Greater London local education authorities (LEAs) to support drug education, awareness and prevention in schools, as detailed in the following table:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | (3)25 |
| 2001–02 | 2 |
| 2002–03 | 2 |
| 2003–04 | 2 |
(3) Drug Prevention was part of a larger grant which included Social Inclusion and the Youth Service.
These figures include both Government and local authority contributions. LEAs and schools are also free to spend on drug awareness programmes from within their own budgets.
A new cross Government grant, Young People Substance Misuse Partnership Grant, for 2004–05 supports drug education, prevention and early intervention for young people. The total allocated to London through the grant this year is £12.7million.
Free Milk Scheme
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his estimate is of the (a) set up and (b) recurrent annual cost of providing free chilled milk to all children at Key Stages (i) 1 and (ii) 2. [195747]
Mr. Stephen Twigg:
The Milk Development Council has helped us develop estimates. It is likely that set up costs would be around £21 million, and the cost of providing milk each year would be around £65 million. This estimate includes the EU school milk subsidy, but excludes any amount for repair and depreciation of equipment.
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Higher Education Costs
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost was of an undergraduate degree in each of the universities in the UK in the last year for which figures are available. [191506]
Dr. Howells: The data requested are not available. Universities and higher education colleges receive their funding as block grant through the funding councils. This includes funding for teaching and research. For students at institutions in England, total funding for teaching is based on the number of planned publicly funded students in the sector and for 2004–05 is on average £5,300 1 . This protects the unit of funding per student and helps maintain the quality of the student experience.
1 As published in Table 2.7 of the Departmental Report for the Department of Education and Skills 2004.
Home-School Distances
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils lived more than three miles from the school that they attended on the latest date for which data are available. [195143]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is shown in the following table:
(4) Measured as a straight line distance.
(5) Includes middle schools as deemed.
Source:
Pupil Level Annual Schools Census 2004.
New Schools (Lambeth)
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are being used in assessing the Building Schools for the Future bid in Lambeth. [195138]
Mr. Miliband: The criteria for assessing all Building Schools for the Future bid are those published in the guidance issued to local authorities in July 2003, namely that bids are prioritised in accordance with educational and social need, (as defined by GCSE rates of attainment and eligibility levels for free school meals) moderated by programming efficiency requirements.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to ensure that future demand for new school places in Lambeth is met. [195139]
Mr. Stephen Twigg:
The DfES is committed to ensuring that all parents have a choice of good schools for their children to attend. Historically, there has been a lack of provision of secondary school places in Lambeth, with up to 50 per cent. of Lambeth residents being educated outside the borough. In addition, population growth in London means that we will be
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providing 20 new schools in the capital over five years, concentrated in areas where there are currently large outflows of secondary pupils to other parts of London. Consequently, there are plans to increase provision in Lambeth substantially, to absorb demographic growth and to enable Lambeth residents to be educated locally. The Lambeth Academy, opened by Her Majesty the Queen on 26 October 2004 as a wholly new school, already provides extra places for 180 children each year. We are planning with Lambeth to make further significant increases in provision in the borough, as outlined in our joint document "A Vision for Lambeth Schools", which includes plans for at least two further wholly new schools.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proposals there are to improve the existing buildings of Lambeth's secondary schools. [195197]
Mr. Miliband: Chapter 4 of our "Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners", published in July 2004, sets out eight key reforms for secondary schools, five of which concern their buildings. Every secondary school which is up to the standard should be a specialist school, which triggers a capital grant for specialist facilities. All secondary schools will have the freedom, as foundation schools, to own their land and buildings and manage their assets, if they wish. We have introduced dedicated capital funding to encourage more places in popular schools. We will expand the academies programme to provide for 200 by 2010. Every secondary school will be refurbished or rebuilt to a modern standard through Building Schools for the Future.
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