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Academics (EU Funding)

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list UK academics who have been in receipt of EU funds over the past three years. [204178]

Dr. Howells: We do not hold information on EU funding awards to individual academics. Most academics receive such funding via their institutions.

Barnet Schools and Colleges

Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he is taking to eliminate the funding gap between schools and colleges in the London borough of Barnet. [203994]

Dr. Howells [holding answer 13 December 2004]: For the academic year 2003/04, base funding rates per qualification increased by 3 per cent. for school sixth forms and by 4.5 per cent. for further education colleges on a broadly comparable basis. In 2004/05, funding rates for colleges meeting their targets increased by 5 per cent., while those for school sixth forms rose by 4 per cent. We expect to see this trend continue in the 2005/06 academic year.

Bullying

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what schemes to counter bullying have received public funding in the last seven years. [203202]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department funds a number of key voluntary sector organisations to support anti-bullying work. The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), an umbrella group of over 50 voluntary sector organisations, professional associations and leading authorities, has been provided with funding of £600,000 to link with the work of the Department on addressing bullying behaviour.

In 2004/05, the Department has given just over £190,000 to Parentline Plus to support their helpline for parents and we have also provided ChildLine in Partnership with Schools Programme (CHIPS) with £164,000 for anti-bullying work involving peer support. This autumn the Department has provided a grant for the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Award to create a dedicated anti-bullying award for schools to recognise the achievements of young people who are leading on work in tackling bullying in their schools and communities. It has not been possible to obtain details of previous years' funding in the time available. But I will place these details in the Libraries shortly.

CAFCASS

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the turnover of CAFCASS staff was in each family court area in the last year for
 
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which figures are available; what the turnover of staff at each contact centre was; and how many and what percentage of no-shows for arranged contacts there were in each contact centre. [202710]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 8 December 2004]: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Children's Commissioner for England

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how much will be spent per head of child population by the Children's Commissioner for England in 2005–06. [203277]

Margaret Hodge: Our Explanatory Note for the Children Bill gave our estimate that the Children's Commissioner's budget will be in the region of £2.5 million. We are reviewing the position in the light of the final provisions in the Act following Royal Assent The figure reflects the nature of the Children's Commissioner's duties in England, and the economies of scale not available to his colleagues elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to confirm the appointment of a Children's Commissioner for England. [203278]

Margaret Hodge: We hope to be able to announce the name of the Children's Commissioner at the end of February 2005, with the successful candidate taking up the post in the early summer.

Correspondence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the target time is in 2004–05 (a) to reply to letters from hon. Members and (b) for the officials in the Office to reply to letters received directly from members of the public. [200826]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department's target for the 2004 calendar year is to reply to correspondence within 15 working days of receipt. This target is the same for correspondence from hon. Members, and for officials in the Department to reply to correspondence received directly from members of the public.

Information on the departmental handling of correspondence from Members of Parliament/Peers is published annually by the Cabinet Office. The 2003 annual report is available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Advertising

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many television advertisements his Department has commissioned on (a) terrestrial and (b) satellite television channels in the last 12 months; and what the cost was in each case. [201311]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: In the financial year 2004/05, the Department has produced the following television advertisements.
 
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Campaign	Number	Cost of buying advertising space (£000)
Educational Maintenance Allowance	4	3,167
Adult Basic Skills	2	3,905

It is only possible to differentiate costs between Terrestrial TV and Satellite channels at disproportionate cost. TV advertisements have been transmitted across both medium in most cases.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what criteria are used by his Department to determine (a) on which satellite television channels advertisements on behalf of his Department and its agencies are screened and (b) the frequency of screenings of advertisements. [201312]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The criteria used by my Department for all campaigns are individually assessed to take into account the campaign objectives, the target audience and any specific regional factors.

The aim is always to secure the most effective advertising slots, to match the brief at the most competitive prices, within the budget allocated.

Frequency of screening will depend on a consideration of how many times an audience needs to see the message before it will achieve the desired effect and the size of the audience for any particular television spot.

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what discussions he has held with the devolved administrations relating to the content, frequency and timing of television advertising placed by his Department on UK-wide satellite television channels. [201321]

Mr. Twigg: We do not discuss content, frequency and timing of television advertisements with the devolved administrations. Advertisements appearing on satellite channels avoid possible confusion by stating that they apply to England only.

Departmental Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of (a) in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by his Department in each of the last two years. [200823]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The cost to my Department for in-house canteen in 2002–03 was £11,701 and in 2003–04 £42,316. These costs include all contract costs but exclude associated accommodation and utility costs.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total external spending by his Department was on public-private partnership consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PPP consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement. [200835]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The only Public Private Partnership my Department is involved with is for the delivery of the Connexions Card and no consultants have been used in the last two years.
 
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