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Security Industry Authority
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the average time taken by the Security Industry Authority to process licensing applications is; [214645]
(2) how many door supervisors have applied to the Security Industry Authority for a licence in the Thames Valley police area; how many have been approved; and how many rejected. [214646]
Ms Blears:
The average time taken from 1 March 2004 to date to process an application is 6.9 weeks.
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1,090 applications forms have been requested from the Thames Valley police force area. Of these, 246 have been returned and accepted as complete. 104 licences have been issued so far, and six applications refused.
Sentencing Policy
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's targets are for numbers of residential rehabilitation places in each of the next three years. [213353]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
The Department has not set targets for the numbers of residential rehabilitation places in each of the next three years.
The National Treatment Agency has conducted a needs assessment for tier 4 services, which includes residential rehabilitation; this will be reporting later this year. The findings of this assessment will be used to inform future service development.
Stop Forms
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he next expects to meet representatives of police forces to discuss the implementation of stop forms. [214832]
Ms Blears: I meet police representatives regularly when progress on the introduction of 'stops' recording requirement is reported to the Lawrence Steering Group. Police representatives also sit on the Stop and Search Action Team (SSAT) Delivery Board that oversees the introduction of this measure.
Torture-obtained Information
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has used information obtained by the use of torture by another country since May 1997. [211635]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 11 January 2005, Official Report, column 413W.
UN Office on Drugs and Crime
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime contribution, in terms of development of knowledge and policies, to the reduction of cultivation and consumption of narcotic drugs; and if he will make a statement. [214485]
Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has played a significant role in the development of international policies aimed at tackling
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the cultivation and consumption of illicit drugs. In particular, UNODC's research and analysis has helped to increase public knowledge and understanding of illicit drugs issues.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Academy Schools
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what requirements in (a) class size and (b) pupil-teacher ratios apply to academy schools. [208012]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Statutory requirements regarding class sizes and pupil-teacher ratios apply only to children up to the age of seven in maintained schools. As independent state schools, academies with pupils of this age (for example all-age academies) are free to take their own decisions on class size and pupil-teacher ratio.
Civil Servants (Retirement)
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost of the enhanced early retirement scheme for civil servants in her Department and its agencies was in each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 and what the estimated cost will be in each year from 2004–05 to 2007–08; and if she will make a statement. [211648]
Derek Twigg: The cost of releases to my Department in the financial years 1997–98 to 2003–04 were:
| Financial year | Total cost to DfES (£ million) |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 5.145 |
| 1998–99 | 2.73 |
| 1999–2000 | 4.237 |
| 2000–01 | 4.06 |
| 2001–02 | 6.142 |
| 2002–03 | 5.57 |
| 2003–04 | 2.54 |
The estimated cost of releases in the financial years 2004–05 and 2005–06 are:
| Financial year | Total cost to DfES (£ million) |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 17.5 |
| 2005–06 | 11.6 |
There are no current plans for any further early releases beyond 2005–06.
Departmental Policies (Burnley)
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Burnley constituency, the effects on Burnley of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [214699]
Mr. Stephen Twigg:
The Burnley constituency lies within Lancashire local education authority. The most
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recent Key Stage 2 and GCSE and equivalents achievement for pupils attending schools in Burnley are given in the following tables:
(2) Pupils attending schools in Burnley constituency.
(3) The average for all schools in England (including independent schools).
(4) For 2004 only results incorporate GCSEs, GNVQs and a wide range of other qualifications approved pre-16. Prior to 2004 results are based on GCSEs and GNVQs only.
(5) As standard the results reported relate to pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August, and therefore reaching the end of compulsory education at the end of the school year.
Further information by constituency, is provided within the Department's In Your Area" website available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea. Where information is not available at the constituency level it has been provided at local education authority level.
This website allows users to access key facts and local information about education and skills based on postcodes. The data available within the site offer comparisons between 1997 and the latest available year and cover 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 'In Your Area' web site 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.
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