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24 Mar 2005 : Column 1016W—continued
Selective Schools
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the costs of administering entry tests were in each local education authority retaining wholly selective secondary schools in each of the last five years. [223112]
Derek Twigg: We do not collect data on the costs of administering entry tests for selective schools. The setting and administration of these tests is a matter for the relevant admission authorities.
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local education authorities her Department defines as (a) wholly selective and (b) wholly comprehensive; and if she will list for each English local education authority retaining wholly selective schools the average percentage of pupils (i) with statements, (ii) eligible for free school meals and (iii) from ethnic minorities in (A) selective schools and (B) non-selective schools in the latest year for which figures are available. [223114]
Derek Twigg: The requested information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total payments to Electoral Reform Services for costs incurred relating to grammar school ballots and petitions have been. [223115]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The total cost so far for payments to Electoral Reform Services for all work on petitions and ballots is £2,346,193.40. This includes work completed on setting petition thresholds during the current accounting period.
Surplus Assets Sales
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the value of sales of surplus assets from her Department was in each year since 2000–01. [220976]
Derek Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills value of sales of surplus assets since 2000–01 is as follows:
| Financial year | Net book value |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 321 |
| 2001–02 | 2,843 |
| 2002–03 | 111 |
| 2003–04 | 951 |
| 2004–05 | (31)— |
(31) Figures not available.
The net book values are taken from the Department for Education and Skills Resource Accounts.
Targets
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target for 60 per cent. of those aged 16 to achieve the equivalent of five GCSEs at grades A*-C by 2008 will be met. [219217]
Mr. Stephen Twigg:
The Department publishes progress against all its outstanding public service agreement targets (PSAs) in its annual departmental report and autumn performance report. Progress against PSAs was most recently reported in the 2004 autumn report, published in December 2004, together
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with the Department's assessment towards achievement of the targets. A copy of the report is available from the House of Commons Library.
The spending review 2004 PSA target for 60 per cent, of those aged 16 to achieve the equivalent of five GCSEs at grades A*-C by 2008 was not assessed in the autumn performance report. A statistical first release published on 12 January 2005 shows the amended figure for the percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs or equivalent at grades A*-C in 2004 is 53.7 per cent.
Tomlinson Report
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the likely impact on (a) teaching standards and (b) the number of teachers of implementing the Tomlinson Report recommendations; and if she will make a statement. [223833]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: We estimate that the total increases in staff numbers in schools and colleges needed to implement the reforms set out in our White Paper 14–19 Education and Skills will be of the order of: 1,000–1,250 college staff in teaching roles; and 1,250–1,450 support staff in schools and colleges.
We expect the standards of teaching and learning to rise as a result of our reforms. Teaching staff and school and college leaders will be fully supported by training and professional development to ensure that they are equipped with the skills to deliver the new 14–19 offer.
Top-up Fees
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will estimate the cost to public funds of the subsidy provided for top-up fees in each year from 2006–07 to 2009–10; and on what assumptions this estimate is based. [223817]
Dr. Howells: The exact cost of fee loans to support variable fees will depend on the precise pattern of fee charging by institutions, the way that students respond to that pattern, and the extent to which students take up the option of deferring their fees. The Department published some estimates of the costs on a steady state basis in the Regulatory Impact Assessment published alongside the Higher Education Act 2004. We have just published revised and updated estimates for the costs of the student finance policies in a ministerial written statement on 23 March 2005, Official Report, column 71WS.
University Admissions
Mr. Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of school leavers entered higher education in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004, broken down by parliamentary constituency. [222857]
Dr. Howells:
The latest available figures on participation by constituency were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in
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January in Young Participation in England", which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/. Participation rates for constituencies based on this work, showing figures for each year between 1997 and 2000, are given on the supporting POLAR website (www.hefce.ac.uk/polar).
Woodcraft Folk
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish the criteria by which the decision was taken to end grant aid to the Woodcraft Folk. [220767]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 9 March 2005]: The criteria by which all decisions on the 160 applications for funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation (NVYO) grant scheme were made were explicit in both the application forms and guidance notes, to assist organisations through the application process.
The guidance notes clearly stated that applications should make a strong contribution to the achievement of the outcomes for young people set out in Every Child Matters".
The Department looked for bids that: (this was in paragraph 13.2 of the guidance).
identified clear and robust outcome indicators that were relevant to the outcomes the bid proposed to deliver
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the work of the Woodcraft Folk; what grants they have received from her Department in each year since 1997; what future funding is planned; and if she will make a statement. [221428]
Margaret Hodge: The organisation has received the following funding since 1997:
| Amount (£) | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 39,100 |
| 1998–99 | 33,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 38,000 |
| 2000–01 | 38,000 |
| 2001–02 | 38,000 |
| 2002–03 | 52,281 |
| 2003–04 | 52,281 |
| 2004–05 | 52,281 |
| Total | 342,943 |
Source
NVYO Grant Scheme
As part of their participation on the National Voluntary Youth Organisation Grant Scheme running from 2002 to 2005 the Woodcraft Folk have submitted progress reports, These were judged by officials to indicate that the organisation was meeting the objectives set.
24 Mar 2005 : Column 1019W
The Woodcraft Folk submitted a bid for funding under the National Voluntary Youth Organisation Grant scheme due to run from 2005 to 2008. This scheme was run as an open competition. Participation on previous schemes was not one of the criteria used to determine funding. The bid was assessed in an open and transparent way against criteria made explicit in both the application and guidance notes for the scheme and unfortunately this time the organisation was not successful.
There are no current plans for funding the Woodcraft Folk.
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