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3 Mar 2005 : Column 1351W—continued
Schools (Gang Culture)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received with regard to gang culture in schools. [220101]
Derek Twigg: One letter has been received from a member of the public.
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what EU funding is available to the Specialist Schools Trust; and what assistance her Department is giving to the Trust in applying for such funds. [218955]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Specialist Schools Trust may apply for EU funding on the same basis as other organisations by way of formal application. The Department has no involvement.
State Schools (Accountability)
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the means by which publicly funded schools are accountable for the academic performance of their pupils. [219372]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The accountability system revolves around externally assured tests which set the standards of academic performance; publishing the results, both through individual notification to parents and in national school achievement and attainment tables; setting targets for academic achievement at 11, 14 and 16; and school inspection.
The accountability system demonstrates whether or not schools are succeeding. Those that are, increasingly adopt leadership roles in the school system; those that require assistance because of the circumstances they face, can receive it; and where there are demonstrable failings, they can be tackled.
Student Debt
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of non-completion of courses on the capacity of students to repay tuition fees and student loans. [217550]
Dr. Howells: The average starting earnings of students, who do not complete their courses, are estimated to be around 70 per cent. of those of completing students entering repayment status at the same time. Future earnings are then assumed to increase based on average earnings growth. Borrowers are only required to start making repayments from the April following completion or withdrawal from their course and only if their earnings reach the repayment threshold.
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many student loan borrowers have been declared bankrupt in each year since student loans were introduced in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) England and Wales. [217561]
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Dr. Howells: The table shows the numbers of all student loan bankruptcies notified to the Student Loans Company in each year since student loans were introduced. As requested, the table gives the figures for (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) England and Wales. For completeness the figures for Northern Ireland are included as well.
Source:
Student Loans Company
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effects on her Department's income flow for each financial year from April 2005 if the income threshold at which graduates start to repay their student loans were to be raised to (a) £15,000, (b) £19,000 and (c) £25,000 per annum. [217564]
Dr. Howells: The Department has estimated the impact on annual repayments via the tax system of raising the repayment threshold on income contingent loans from April 2005. This is not the same as the impact on the Department's total income flow, nor on the resource cost of issuing student loans as reflected in the Department's accounts.
The following table summarises the estimated percentage reduction in annual repayments from raising the repayment threshold above £10,000 from April 2005. The estimates are based on maintenance loans only, exclude voluntary repayments, and assume that all repayment thresholds increase in line with inflation beyond 2005.
Mr. Hopkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated level of debt owed to the Student Loan Company is in 2005; what the
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level of such debt is expected to be in each of the next five years; and what estimate has been made of the amount of bad debt which the Student Loan Company will write off in each year between 2005 and 2010. [218648]
Dr. Howells: Estimates for total student loan debt owed to the Government for maintenance (mortgage style and income contingent) loans and fee loans in England and Wales are highly dependent on the future growth of student numbers, among other factors.
Estimates for 2005–06 to 2007–08 are as follows:
| At end of financial year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 16,270 |
| 2006–07 | 19,400 |
| 2007–08 | 23,160 |
Forecasts for years beyond FY07–08 are dependent on Spending Review 06 allocations. Around 5 per cent. of income contingent loans (the type of loan issued since 1998/99) in England and Wales are forecast not to be repaid. The majority of write-offs are for policy reasons, when a borrower reaches 65 years old, becomes disabled or dies.
Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will estimate the cost of deferred loan arrangements for EU students after 2006; and what arrangements are planned by (a) her Department and (b) the Student Loan Company to recover such loans. [218788]
Dr. Howells: If 75 per cent. of EU students were charged the full £3,000 fee and 25 per cent. charged the standard fee and assuming that 80 per cent. of them took out a fee loan and their repayment behaviour was similar to English and Welsh students, costs are currently estimated to be around £40 million per year (steady state at Academic Year 2006/07 terms).
The Student Loans Company (SLC) are responsible for ensuring repayments are made when they fall due and have well established procedures for recovering loans from graduates living and working outside the UK. All students taking out a loan are required to sign a declaration agreeing to repay, even if they move abroad and the SLC have a range of sanctions that can be imposed on defaulters. DfES officials and SLC are exploring ways to ensure the most robust and effective loan recovery mechanisms are in place by the time the first graduate contributions from EU students are due to be collected.
Sure Start
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what definition she uses of children's centres; and what steps areas with no history of Sure Start or Neighbourhood Nurseries can take to set up children's centres. [217222]
Margaret Hodge:
Children's centres are one-stop shops joining up services for young children and their families, including child care integrated with early learning. Children's centres are community based, responsive to local needs and focused on tackling early disadvantage. Centre staff will help parents access
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services their family needs either by offering services at the centre or linking parents with other providers in the local area. This will include:
early education and child care places that fit with families' needs, whether in group settings, with child minders, or at home;
preventative services to support children with additional needs early in a child's life, including outreach into communities; and
Children's centres are currently being developed in the most disadvantaged areas where needs are greatest. In most cases children's centres will offer early education and child care but in some less disadvantaged areas, a more flexible model may be appropriate. The services delivered at each centre will depend on local needs and existing service provision in the area.
A large number of children's centres especially those in the more disadvantaged areas will be based upon Sure Start Local Programmes and Neighbourhood Nurseries. However, children's centres can be, and already are being, based upon a much wider range of existing private and public provision including, day nurseries, schools (nursery, primary and secondary) and family centres as well as other early years settings. Local authorities should draw upon their experience delivering the full range of early years settings and services, when establishing children's centres, building on what is currently available in the immediate locality.
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