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7 Apr 2005 : Column 1579W—continued

Children at Risk

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are in place to monitor the effectiveness of procedures aimed at protecting children at risk when they move between England and Wales. [224951]

Margaret Hodge: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.

Civil Servants (Relocation)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many civil servants in her Department have (a) been relocated and (b) been agreed for relocation in the last 12 months; and to which areas of the United Kingdom. [223900]

Derek Twigg: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
 
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Community Family Trusts

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to make an announcement concerning community family trusts grant programmes. [224836]

Margaret Hodge: We have not completed our consideration of applications under the Strengthening Families grant programme. Applications from organisations meeting the criteria for Strategic, ongoing MARS and FSG commitments (which include Family Matters York, Poole Community Family Trust, Somerset Family Partnerships and Totnes Community Family Trust) or Infrastructure/Change Up awards have been decided.

However, other applications, including others from the Community Family Trusts will be decided later in the summer.

Deaf Students

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research she has commissioned on academic achievements of deaf and hard of hearing pupils in (a) mainstream schools and (b) special schools and units. [224925]

Margaret Hodge: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research she has commissioned on the effects of matching teaching methods to the degree of deafness on the academic achievements of deaf and hard of hearing pupils. [224926]

Margaret Hodge: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.

Departmental Budget

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the planned (a) capital and (b) resource budget for her Department is for 2011–12. [223444]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, on 4 April 2005, Official Report, column 1170 W.

Education Funding

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the capital funding was for (a) sixth form colleges and (b) further education colleges in (i) the London borough of Southwark, (ii) Greater London and (iii) England in each of the last five years. [224746]

Dr. Howells: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), including capital investment. Consequently the Department does not collect or hold the information requested.

Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's chief executive will write to the hon. Member with details of what the capital funding was for (a) sixth
 
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form colleges and (b) further education colleges in (i) the London borough of Southwark, (ii) Greater London and (ii) England in each of the last five years. A copy of the letter will be placed in the House Library.

Energy Consumption

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the private finance initiative contracts which (a) her Department and (b) local education authorities advertised in 2004, indicating in each case whether the output specification included (a) clauses specifically relating to energy consumption and energy efficiency, (b) a requirement for relevant equipment being purchased to be on the Government's energy technology list, (c) a requirement to use whole life costing to assess energy costs for any new building or major refurbishments and (d) a requirement that new buildings or major refurbishments would be constructed to a specific energy standard; and what standard was specified in each case. [221884]

Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 15 March 2005]: The Department for Education and Skills itself is not a party to any private finance initiative (PFI) contracts and therefore does not advertise such contracts. PFI projects for the provision of schools are delivered through contracts between local authorities and private sector contractors and these contracts are advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union".

The Department does not hold details of the exact energy requirements in the output specification linked to each contract. However, the Department's policy is to support the efficient use of energy in schools buildings and it expects schools PFI projects to follow departmental guidance on energy efficiency. Most output specifications quote the Department's own standard (Building Bulletin 87 Guidelines for Environmental Design in Schools", 2nd Edition Version 1 (May 2003), which is downloadable from www.teachernet.gov.uk/energy.) This standard complies with Part L2 (Conservation of Fuel and Power") of the Building Regulations.

There are a total of 109 schools PFI projects either signed or in negotiation in 88 different local authorities. Details of these projects and the local authorities involved can be found at www.teachernet.gov.uk/pfi.

Ethnic Minority Students

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the proportion of black and ethnic minority students is in (a) sixth form colleges and (b) further education colleges in (i) the London borough of Southwark, (ii) Greater London and (iii) England. [224745]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what powers she has to require universities to tackle discrimination against minority groups on campus. [224831]


 
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Dr. Howells: Universities are independent bodies which have their own procedures for dealing with incidents of discrimination against minority groups. Ministers have no powers to intervene in such matters. Universities are bound by equality and diversity legislation and it is the responsibility of their governing bodies to ensure that non-discriminatory practices are followed. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act specifically requires institutions to promote equality of opportunity, promote good relations between people of different races and eliminate unlawful racial discrimination.

FE Colleges

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what instructions or guidelines are issued to Ofsted inspectors regarding the assessment of learning resources services in further education colleges. [224835]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The current common inspection framework for post-16 providers, which sets out the principles applicable to the inspections of further education colleges, states that inspectors should evaluate the adequacy, suitability and use of specialist equipment, learning resources and accommodation. In making these judgements, inspectors should consider the extent to which, among other things, learners have access to learning resources that are appropriate for effective independent study, resources are used to best effect in promoting learning, and the extent to which learning resources and accommodation allow all learners to participate fully. Fuller details are set out in the Handbook for Inspecting Colleges", which is produced and disseminated by Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate.

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training is given to Ofsted inspectors on the operation of learning resources services in further education colleges. [224845]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Under the current inspection arrangements, Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate train all inspectors on how to cover all of the key questions in the common inspection framework for post-16 providers, which sets out the principles applicable to the inspection of further education colleges. This includes training in how to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of learning resources. Inspectors judge to what extent learning resources are fit for purpose. Under the revised common inspection framework, operating from September 2005, similar training will be provided by the two inspectorates.


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