House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 16 Dec 2004 (pt 21)

16 Dec 2004 : Column 1282W—continued

Travel Costs

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total travel costs to her Department have been for (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials for each year since 1997. [203776]

Ms Hewitt [holding answer 9 December 2004]: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Agricultural Students

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Department's strategy is towards encouraging entrants to agricultural colleges and university agricultural departments for (a) farm-based courses and (b) non-farm-based rural courses. [204435]

Dr. Howells: It is a matter for prospective learners themselves to make course choices that match their achievements to date, interests and aspirations; and for providers of further and higher education to determine what courses they offer. However, the Department supports a number of developments helping those involved with, or considering, land-based education and training provision.

These developments include:

a review of further education land-based provision commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which looked at patterns of course availability and how the sector is changing in response to market demand;

support for Foundation Degrees (of the available places for 2004/06, over 200 places were allocated to the agriculture and forestry area);

development by Lantra, the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector—with industry—of a careers and recruitment strategy which will help to ensure that there is accurate information about careers, courses and providers within the sector. Lantra continues to work with awarding bodies and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to ensure that the provision of land-based qualifications are fit for purpose and based on industry-derived national occupational standards;

provision by the Department of impartial careers information to young people through publications (such as "Working in Agriculture and Horticulture" and web-based products (such as the "jobs4u" database) describing what it is like to work in the land-based sector and giving information on relevant qualifications and skills.

In addition, the Department helps support rural learners to engage with FE and HE learning. For example, Aimhigher Partnerships covering rural areas provide targeted support, such as meeting transport costs to enable schools in remote areas to engage in outreach activities with higher education institutions and exploring access routes to HE for those from rural communities. The LSC National Office monitors a range of local LSC initiatives to engage rural learners, including ones promoting access to Apprenticeships and Work Based Learning.

Departmental Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what crèche facilities are provided by his Department; and at what cost. [200827]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for its staff and supports a range of childcare provision which help staff balance family and working life. We are currently reviewing childcare provision and considering how salary sacrifice can allow staff access to further childcare support.

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Jointly with DWP, workplace nurseries provide 100 places for staff working in Sheffield and Runcorn. In addition playschemes operate during the school holidays for children in full-time education and are available for staff working in Sheffield, Runcorn, Darlington and London.

My Department also provides childcare nursery vouchers to staff working in London, Sheffield, Darlington and Runcorn for children aged 0 to 4 years.

In 2003/04 the provision was used by 321 children at a cost of £307,204.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many extra 16 to 18 years olds he expects to remain in education as a result of education maintenance allowances in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) South West England. [204907]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Since the start of the academic year, as of 30 November 2004, 1,802 young people in Gloucestershire Local Authority area have received payments under the national EMA scheme. The number is increasing at a steady rate and we expect it to continue to do so. In 2004/05 across England we expect the number of 16 to 18 year olds participating in education to increase by 35,000 (3.8 percentage points) as a direct result of EMA. By 2006/07, when EMA is available to all eligible 16 to 18 year olds, an additional 72,000 young people will be in further education. If the same participation increase is applied to the South West region an additional 7,200 16 to 18 year olds will be participating in further education by 2006/07. Estimates are not available at Local Authority level.

Employer Training Pilots

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the experience of Employer Training Pilots and its application to the national scheme roll-out. [204496]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) were launched in September 2002 to test new ways of encouraging employers to offer training, especially for their lower skilled employees. The pilots, which now cover around one third of England, have benefited over 100,000 learners, most of whom left school before the age of 16 and around 15,000 employers, of which 70 per cent. had less than 50 employees. ETPs have also been effective in encouraging more colleges and providers to deliver training on employers' premises, at a time and in a manner suited to the shift patterns of their staff.

The pilots have been independently evaluated by the Institute for Employment Studies and have also been the subject of a review by the Adult Learning Inspectorate. Both of these point to their overwhelming success and the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the PBR, the Government's intention to launch a new national employer training programme in 2006/07. The new programme will draw on the lessons learned from ETP and will incorporate key elements of the pilots including:

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free or heavily subsidised training for employees to help them overcome basic skills needs and/or to achieve their first level 2 qualification;

a similar level of support towards the cost of a level 3 qualification for those employees who can jump straight to a level 3;

brokerage to help employers identify providers who are able to deliver the training they need flexibly in the workplace, to help them locate other sources of funding for which they may qualify and to encourage them to finance other elements of training themselves;

information and advice to learners in respect of their further development.

The new programme will cover the whole of England from 2007/08.

Education Funding

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the real terms change in

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the amount of central Government funding allocated to Leicestershire education authority has been since 1997. [204737]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Since 1997, per pupil funding for pupils aged 3–19 rose by £710 in real terms from £2,670 per pupil to £3,380 per pupil—an increase of 26 per cent. This includes funding via Education Formula Spending/Standard Spending Assessment and grants allocated at an LEA level, and excludes the pensions transfer to EPS and the Learning and Skills Council.

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the spend per head has been on primary school pupils in Leicestershire in each academic year since 1997–98. [204747]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Local education authority expenditure data is collected by financial year. The information is contained within the following table:
Expenditure per primary⁽¹⁴⁾ pupil in Leicestershire LEA since 1997–98⁽¹⁵⁾ £

Primary education⁽¹⁴⁾
Pre-Primary and Primary education⁽¹⁴⁾

School based expendtiture3, 4 per pupil⁽¹⁹⁾ Combined LEA and
school based
expenditure⁽¹⁸⁾ per pupil⁽¹⁹⁾ School based
expenditure3, 4 per pupil Combined LEA and
school based
expenditure⁽¹⁸⁾ per pupil⁽¹⁹⁾

1997–98⁽²⁰⁾ n/a n/a 1,660 1,790

1998–99⁽²⁰⁾ n/a n/a 1,810 1,990

1999–00⁽²¹⁾ 1,930 2,070 2,000 2,140

2000–01 2,080 2,220 2,160 2,300

2001–02 2,260 2,420 2,420 2,590

2002–034, 9 2,190 n/a n/a n/a

n/a = Not available.
⁽¹⁴⁾ Expenditure was not distinguished between the pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of Section 52 for financial year 1999–2000.
⁽¹⁵⁾ 1999–2000 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the RO1 form collected by the ODPM to the Section 52 form from the DfES. 2002–03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) and the associated restructuring of the outturn tables. The change in sources is shown by the dotted line.
⁽¹⁶⁾ School based expenditure includes only expenditure incurred directly by the schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates. This excludes the central cost of support services such as home to school transport, local authority administration and the financing of capital expenditure.
⁽¹⁷⁾ The 2002–03 school based expenditure calculation is broadly similar to the calculation in previous years. However, 2001–02 and earlier years includes all premature retirement compensation (PRC) and Crombie payments, mandatory PRC payments and other indirect employee expenses, while in 2002–03 only the schools element of these categories is included. In 2001–02 this accounted for approximately £70 per pupil of the England total, while the schools element of these categories accounted for approximately £50 per pupil of the England total in 2002–03. Also, for some LEAs, expenditure that had previously been attributed to the school sectors was reported within the LEA part of the form in 2002–03 and would therefore be excluded, though this is not quantifiable from existing sources.
⁽¹⁸⁾ The combined LEA and school based expenditure includes all expenditure on the education of children in LEA maintained establishments and pupils educated by the LEA other than in maintained establishments. This includes both school based expenditure and ail elements of central LEA expenditure except youth and community and capital expenditure from revenue (CERA). A sector breakdown for combined LEA and school based expenditure is not available in 2002–03.
⁽¹⁹⁾ Pupil numbers include only those pupils attending maintained establishments within the primary and pre-primary sectors and are drawn from the DfES Annual Schools Census. For 1999–2000 onwards, the combined LEA and school based expenditure for pre-primary also includes private voluntary independent (PVI) under five pupil numbers drawn from the Early Years Census. All pupil numbers are adjusted to be on a financial year basis.
⁽²⁰⁾ Spending in 1997–98 reflects the transfer of monies from local government to central Government for the nursery vouchers scheme. These were returned to local government from 1998–99.
⁽²¹⁾ The 1999–2000 figures reflect the return of grant maintained schools to local authority maintenance.
⁽²²⁾ School based expenditure in nursery schools was not recorded in 2002–03.
Note: Figures are reported in cash terms and rounded to the nearest £10 as reported by the LEA.

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	Primary education⁽¹⁴⁾	Pre-Primary and Primary education⁽¹⁴⁾
	School based expendtiture3, 4 per pupil⁽¹⁹⁾	Combined LEA and school based expenditure⁽¹⁸⁾ per pupil⁽¹⁹⁾	School based expenditure3, 4 per pupil	Combined LEA and school based expenditure⁽¹⁸⁾ per pupil⁽¹⁹⁾
1997–98⁽²⁰⁾	n/a	n/a	1,660	1,790
1998–99⁽²⁰⁾	n/a	n/a	1,810	1,990

1999–00⁽²¹⁾	1,930	2,070	2,000	2,140
2000–01	2,080	2,220	2,160	2,300
2001–02	2,260	2,420	2,420	2,590

2002–034, 9	2,190	n/a	n/a	n/a

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much her Department spent on (a) pre-schools (b) primary schools and (c) secondary schools in the London Borough of Southwark in each year since 1996–97; and how much was spent by the London Borough of Southwark from locally-generated revenue in each case. [205544]

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Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department funds Local Education Authorities and it is for them to decide how that funding is allocated within their area. Information relating to the spending on pre-primary, primary and secondary schools in Southwark Education Authority is provided in the table Locally generated revenue data is not collected by my Department.
Combined LEA and school based net expenditure⁽²³⁾ by Southwark LEA 1996–97 to 2002–03⁽²⁴⁾ £

Pre-primary education⁽²⁵⁾ Primary education⁽²⁵⁾ Pre-primary and Primary education⁽²⁵⁾ Secondary education Overall LEA and school based expenditure

1996–97 ⁽²⁸⁾— ⁽²⁸⁾— 57,031,000 25,076,000 107,868,000

1997–98⁽²⁶⁾ ⁽²⁸⁾— ⁽²⁸⁾— 58,366,000 24,081,000 110,372,000

1998–99⁽²⁶⁾ ⁽²⁸⁾— ⁽²⁸⁾— 61,397,000 27,151,000 117,307,000

1999–2000⁽²⁶⁾ 4,256,000 71,167,000 75,423,000 39,843.000 133,853,000

2000–01 5,427,000 75,595,000 81,022,000 41,101,000 136,564,000

2001–02 2,999,000 94,595,000 97,593,000 58,621,000 171,473,000

2002–03⁽²³⁾⁽⁵⁾ ⁽²⁸⁾— ⁽²⁸⁾— ⁽²⁸⁾— ⁽²⁸⁾— 168,094,000

⁽²³⁾ The combined LEA and school based expenditure includes all expenditure on the education of children in LEA maintained establishments and pupils educated by the LEA other than in maintained establishments. This includes both school based expenditure and all elements of central LEA expenditure except youth and community and capital expenditure from revenue (CERA). A sector breakdown for combined LEA and school based expenditure is not available in 2002–03 due to the redesign of the Section 52 Outturn Table A where central LEA expenditure is no longer split by phase.
⁽²⁴⁾ 1999–2000 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the RO1 form collected by the ODPM to the Section 52 form from the DfES. 2002–03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) and the associated restructuring of the outturn tables. The change in sources is shown by the dotted line.
⁽²⁵⁾ Expenditure was not distinguished between pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of Section 52 for financial year 1999–2000.
⁽²⁶⁾ Spending in 1997–98 reflects the transfer of monies from local government to central government for the nursery vouchers scheme. These were returned to local government from 1998–99. The 1999–00 figures reflect the return of GM schools to local authority maintenance.
⁽²⁷⁾ In 2002–03 Southwark LEA were one of a group of LEAs whose net current expenditure was lower than expected. It is suspected that this was caused by the misreporting of funding in the income column of their 2002–03 Outturn Statement Table A.
⁽²⁸⁾ Not available
⁽⁵⁾
Note:
Figures reported in cash terms are rounded to the nearest £1,000 as reported by the LEA.

	Pre-primary education⁽²⁵⁾	Primary education⁽²⁵⁾	Pre-primary and Primary education⁽²⁵⁾	Secondary education	Overall LEA and school based expenditure
1996–97	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	57,031,000	25,076,000	107,868,000
1997–98⁽²⁶⁾	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	58,366,000	24,081,000	110,372,000
1998–99⁽²⁶⁾	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	61,397,000	27,151,000	117,307,000
1999–2000⁽²⁶⁾	4,256,000	71,167,000	75,423,000	39,843.000	133,853,000
2000–01	5,427,000	75,595,000	81,022,000	41,101,000	136,564,000
2001–02	2,999,000	94,595,000	97,593,000	58,621,000	171,473,000
2002–03⁽²³⁾⁽⁵⁾	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	⁽²⁸⁾—	168,094,000

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