---

4 Apr 2005 : Column 1156W—continued

School Buildings (North-West)

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many schools have been refurbished since 1997 in (a) Liverpool, Riverside, (b) Liverpool, (c) Merseyside and (d) the North- West; [223982]

(2) how many new schools have been built since 1997 in (a) Liverpool, Riverside, (b) Liverpool local education authority, (c) Merseyside and (d) the North-West. [223984]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: We do not hold this level of detailed information centrally. The information will be held locally. Much of the Department's support for capital investment is allocated to local authorities and schools so that investment decisions can be made locally, based on asset management planning processes. We have, however, made available significant capital support. Last November we announced capital allocations covering the next three years. This means that schools in Liverpool, Merseyside and the North-West will benefit from the following investment:
2005–06 to 2007–08

	£ million
North-West	652.7
Merseyside	146.3
of which:
Liverpool	37.7

In addition, Knowsley, Lancashire and Manchester are in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future, and are due to receive investment under that programme from 2005–06. Liverpool will be in wave 2 (2006–07), and Salford and Tameside will be in wave 3 (2007–08). Building Schools for the Future aims to renew, refurbish and transform the secondary schools' estate over 15 waves.
 
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1157W
 

School Catering

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the reasons were for introducing a new vocational qualification for school catering managers and staff from April. [223934]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: In 2004, the Department for Education and Skills in partnership with the Food Standards Agency funded research that looked at school lunch standards in 79 secondary schools in England. It found that pupils made healthier food choices in those schools where catering staff had received training. It is for this reason that we are developing a new qualification for school catering staff.

School Funding (Wimbledon)

Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on computers for schools in Wimbledon in each of the last seven years. [224244]

Derek Twigg: The Department does not hold information on funding for ICT in schools at constituency level. However, Wimbledon is in Merton LEA and allocations for this authority since 1998 are detailed in Funding for ICT in Schools in England" which is available in the House Library.

Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding each school inWimbledon has received under the new deal for schools. [224245]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Merton local education authority (LEA) was allocated the following amounts under the four phases of new deal for schools (NDS):
£000

Period	NDS funding
1997/98	360
1998/99	1,287
1999/2000	1,217
2000/01	1,922

Of the funding included in the table, Wimbledon schools received £106,998. Information on other projects is not held centrally.

Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on repairing schools in Wimbledon in each year since 1997. [224246]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The following table indicates the level of capital funding allocated to Merton local education authority since 1997:
£000

Period	Total capital allocation
1996/97	383
1997/98	583
1998/99	2,022
1999/2000	4,214
2000/01	5,032
2001/02	12,574
2002/03	(40)71,923
2003/04	7,293
2004/05	5,836

⁽⁴⁰⁾Includes £56,600,000 of PFI credits.



 
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1158W
 

Decisions regarding how the allocation is spent are taken locally by the local education authority. Information is not held centrally on how much is spent on repairing each school in Wimbledon.

Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching assistants there were in schools in Wimbledon (a) in each of the last seven years and (b) on the latest date for which figures are available. [224247]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Information on the number of teaching assistants in service is collected in January of each year. The following table shows the number of teaching assistants in maintained schools in Wimbledon from 1997 to 2004, the latest information available.
Full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants

	Teaching assistants
1997	70
1998	80
1999	80
2000	90
2001	110
2002	100
2003	100
2004	150

Notes:
1.Figures include non-maintained special.
2.Teaching assistant figures include nursery assistants, special needs and support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff.
3.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Annual School Census.

Synthetic Phonics

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will undertake a review of the National Literacy Strategy following the publication of the Clackmannanshire research into synthetic phonics teaching of reading. [223996]

Derek Twigg: The National Literacy Strategy has constantly evolved since its introduction in 1998 in response to the latest research. This will continue to be the case.

The Clackmannanshire study is a valuable piece of research which highlights the importance of having a well structured and direct programme of synthetic phonics teaching in schools. It lends further weight to the approach to teaching reading and spelling advocated by the National Literacy Strategy which has at its heart early and direct instruction in synthetic phonics, very similar to the teaching methods trialled in Clackmannanshire.

While the pupils who took part in the Clackmannanshire study made significantly faster gains than pupils in the control group, their attainment in reading comprehension was broadly the same as that achieved by an average 11-year-old in an English school who would be taught using the National Literacy Strategy.

Teachers (Key Stage 3)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the
 
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1159W
 
number of Key Stage 3 teachers who are (a) not fully qualified in the subject they are teaching and (b) not fully qualified to teach the age group they are teaching. [223893]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Details of the qualifications held by secondary school teachers in the subject they teach are available but cannot be split by Key Stage level. The information was published in table 24 of the Statistics of Education, School Workforce in England Volume, 2004 edition, a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Alternatively it may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000554/index.shtml

No estimate has been made of the number of Key Stage 3 teachers who are not fully trained to teach at that level.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION

Referendums

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission which EU institutions may be permitted participants in a referendum, under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [224264]

Mr. Viggers: Section 105(1) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) sets out the definition of 'permitted participant' in relation to a particular referendum to which Part VII of that Act applies. Ultimately, it would be for the courts to decide whether any particular body falls within the scope of this definition in relation to any particular referendum.

As I informed the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) on 7 March 2005, Official Report, columns1666–67W, The Electoral Commission has already indicated that it does not regard the European Commission as falling into any of the categories of organisation that can be a permitted participant in a referendum on the EU Constitution. Beyond this, the Commission has not expressed any views on whether EU institutions may be permitted participants in any particular referendum to which Part VII of PPERA applies.

---