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EU Students

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many EU students are expected to receive bursary support from English universities in each year between 2006 and 2010. [3240]

Bill Rammell: Reliable information on the bursary arrangements for EU students are not available centrally. The policy on bursary arrangements for EU students is set by each institution individual institutions' access agreements may or may not include this information, as it was not required by the Office for Fair Access.

Primary School Review (Gloucestershire)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions she has had with Gloucestershire education authority on its primary school review. [6337]

Jacqui Smith: The challenge of reducing the number of surplus places is one that many local authorities currently face. However, the Government believe that planning the supply of school places is best done locally by the local authority. Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient places and that high quality education is provided in a cost effective way.

Should proposals be brought forward to close schools, the School Standards and Framework Act (SSFA) 1998 includes a requirement on local authorities to consult locally and publish statutory proposals. If objections are received, local independent school organisation committees will take decisions about school closures. Ministers have no direct involvement in decisions to review provision or reorganise schools.

Consequently, neither the Secretary of State nor members of her ministerial team have entered into discussions with Gloucestershire about their review of
 
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primary schools. However, officials are in regular contact with local authority officers and are aware of the steps being taken in Gloucestershire to address the problem of surplus places in the primary sector.

Pupil Exclusions

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were excluded from (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the area corresponding most closely to the constituency of Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002, (iii) 2003 and (iv) 2004. [5859]

Jacqui Smith: The available information is given in the table. Figures on permanent exclusions in 2003/04 will be available from 23 June 2005.
Maintained primary and secondary schools:permanent exclusions by school type⁽³⁾

	Maintained primary		Maintained secondary
	Number of exclusions	Percentage(4)	Number of exclusions	Percentage(4)
2000/01	(5)—	(5)—	5	0.10
2001/02	(5)—	(5)—	8	0.16
2002/03	(5)—	(5)—	4	0.08

⁽³⁾ Permanent exclusions are collected retrospectively. The Annual Schools Census (ASC) for 2004 collected data on pupils in schools in January 2004 together with data on permanent exclusions in the school year 2002/03. Figures are as reported by schools and are unconfirmed.
⁽⁴⁾ Number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the school population.
⁽⁵⁾ 3 or less, or a rate based on 3 or less.

School Meals Trust

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the School Meals Trust. [5955]

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Friend to the response that I gave to the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb) on 7 June 2005, Official Report, column 478W.

Special Schools

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were in each category of special school in the (a) state and (b) private sector in each of the last five years, broken down by age range. [4098]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the following table.
Maintained and non-maintained special schools, independent schools approved for pupils with SEN and other independent schools:Pupils by age⁽⁶⁾—2000 to 2005 (provisional)—position in January each year

	2000				2001
	Maintained special schools	Non maintained special schools	Independent schools approved for SEN pupils	Other independent special schools	Maintained special schools	Non maintained special schools	Independent schools approved for SEN pupils	Other independent special schools
Under 5	5,916	91	74	132	5,934	74	47	151
Total 5–10	31,406	994	996	766	30,649	910	967	799
Total 11–15	47,720	2,758	3,085	1,144	47,476	2,690	3,110	1,328
Total 16–19	6,760	925	597	174	6,904	961	599	175
Total all ages	91,802	4,768	4,752	2,216	90,963	4,635	4,723	2,453

 
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	2002				2003
	Maintained special schools	Non maintained special schools	Independent schools approved for SEN pupils	Other independent special schools	Maintained special schools	Non maintained special schools	Independent schools approved for SEN pupils	Other independent special schools
Under 5	5,882	112	50	169	5,448	71	40	192
Total 5–10	29,950	885	942	899	29,162	931	810	874
Total 11–15	46,917	2,699	3,194	1,581	47,135	2,910	3,059	1,783
Total 16–19	7,048	974	608	238	7,186	1,034	616	289
Total all ages	89,797	4,670	4,794	2,887	88,931	4,946	4,525	3,138

	2004				2005 (provisional)(7)
	Maintained special schools	Non maintained special schools	Independent schools approved for SEN pupils	Other independent special schools	Maintained special schools	Non maintained special schools	Independent schools approved for SEN pupils	Other independent special schools
Under 5	4,994	79	61	107	4,620	80	50	110
Total 5–10	27,773	842	770	904	26,690	860	710	910
Total 11–15	46,622	2,809	3,136	1,925	46,260	2,790	2,980	1,850
Total 16–19	7,541	1,105	676	282	7,920	1,140	690	260
Total all ages	86,930	4,835	4,643	3,218	85,500	4,870	4,430	3,130

⁽⁶⁾ Age as at the previous 31 August
⁽⁷⁾ Provisional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Annual Schools Census

Teacher Assaults

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have been the victims of offences of violence in Coventry, South in each of the last 10 years. [6060]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what involvement his Department will have in the Groundwater and Poverty Reduction in Africa Conference being held at Burlington House on 29 June. [5186]

Hilary Benn: Sustainable management of groundwater is critical to achieving DFID's commitments in water and sanitation. An official who leads on water resource management issues, based in DFID's Policy Division, will be participating in the Conference.

Departmental Relocation

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many of his Department's posts (a) have been relocated and (b) are under consideration for relocation from London to the deprived areas of the south-east. [6259]

Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development is implementing the Lyons Review recommendations to relocate 85 posts out of London and the south-east by 2010. This will not exclude consideration of relocating some posts to relatively
 
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deprived areas in the south-east. As yet, DFID has not identified any posts suitable for transfer to deprived areas in the south-east.

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