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17 Oct 2005 : Column 696W—continued
Prisoners
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of prisoners completed an educational course at a single facility in each of the last five years. [18695]
Phil Hope: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Special Needs Education
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent, as a proportion of total budget, by Essex local education authority on special needs education in each of the last seven years. [18783]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is only available from 2000–01 onwards and is contained within the following table:
(13)Total education revenue expenditure is the combination of the total schools budget and the total local authority budget.
(14)2005–06 data are provisional and are subject to change by the local authority.
Notes:
1.Includes planned expenditure on the provision for pupils with statements and the provision for non-statemented pupils with SEN, support for inclusion, inter authority recoupment, fees for pupils at independent special schools and abroad, educational psychology service, local authority functions in relation to child protection, therapies and other health related services, parent partnership, guidance and information, the monitoring of SEN provision and inclusion administration, assessment and co-ordination. Also included is the funding delegated to nursery, primary and secondary schools identified as notional SEN" and the individual schools budget (ISB) for special schools.
2.The ISB for special schools will include some general education costs for pupils with SEN in addition to those costs specifically for SEN while the figures recorded against notional SEN" are only indicative of the amount that might be spent by schools on SEN and, from 2004–05 onwards, notional SEN" delegated to nursery schools was reported on section 52 for the first time and this accounts for £13,000 and £14,000 of the 2004–05 and 2005–06 totals respectively. In 2005–06, Essex also budgeted £13.5 million for SEN transport expenditure but this is not included in the budgeted net expenditure on SEN as figures are not available prior to 2005–06.
3.Figures are as reported by the LEA in cash terms as at 13 October 2005 and are rounded to the nearest thousand pounds and may not sum due to founding.
17 Oct 2005 : Column 697W
Student Finance
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether mature students are eligible for financial support in undertaking a five-year degree in medicine. [17190]
Bill Rammell: Mature students have the same access to financial support for the undergraduate degree in medicine as do younger students. If entering higher education in 2005–06, they could be eligible during the first four years of the course for tuition fee support, the Higher Education Grant, a student maintenance loan and any more specialised grant like the child care grant (which in fact is mainly received by mature students). Currently the only restrictions on funding for eligible students are on tuition fees if a student has previous study and on the maintenance loan if a student is aged over 55 (or 50 if not going into work subsequently). From 2006–07 there will be no age limit applied to the fee loan and the age limit on maintenance loans will be increased to age 60. The Department of Health pay tuition fees and provide bursaries in the fifth and any subsequent year of the course.
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the exclusion of graduate students from tuition fee deferment on the graduate student population's (a) ethnic diversity and (b) diversity of financial background. [18401]
Bill Rammell: The HE Act 2004 does not change the funding position of post-graduate students. Tuition fees for post-graduate courses remain unregulated, with students paying their own fees or receiving research council awards.
A Race Impact Assessment was carried out and equality issues were considered in the policy development of variable fees in relation to full-time undergraduate students. No separate assessment was made for part-time or post-graduate students as fees for these students were already unregulated.
The new arrangements, including extra financial support, for undergraduates should increase and broaden participation at that level and feed through over time into extra demand for postgraduate study including among students who might not otherwise have entered HE at all.
HOME DEPARTMENT
ASBOs
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were issued in North Yorkshire in each of the last three years. [17364]
17 Oct 2005 : Column 698W
Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table.
Bruche Police Training Centre
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what value was placed on the land and buildings at Bruche Police Training Centre prior to their transfer to Centrex. [16888]
Hazel Blears: The Bruche site and buildings were transferred to Centrex at the written down value in the Home Office accounts according to the practice defined by HM Treasury for asset transfers between government entities. The written down value on 1 April 2002 was £3 million.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions have been held with Centrex about the future use of the site of the police training centre at Bruche. [16890]
Hazel Blears: Discussions have taken place between officials and Centrex about planning for options for disposal. Any substantive options around future use of the site will depend on who is interested in purchasing the site.
Compact Mediation Scheme
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of the compact mediation scheme in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many complaints it received in each year. [16514]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The costs for the mediation scheme have been:
April 2005 to date: £250 for administering the scheme. The contract running from April 2005 and April 2006 has been agreed on a call off basis for each case of mediation. There was one case that went to mediation. This also resulted in costs of £1,000 shared between the parties concerned.
April 2004 to April 2005: £10,000. This was a flat rate for administration of the scheme for the year.
January 2003 to April 2004: £15,000 flat rate for administration of the scheme. There was one case that went to mediation, attracting additional costs of £2,000 for the parties concerned.
The number of complaints or inquiries dealt with averaged at around 25 each year. Precise figures have not been kept.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the aims are of the compact mediation scheme. [16515]
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Mr. Charles Clarke: The compact mediation scheme is independent service which aims to resolve disputes between voluntary and community sector and government bodies. Through the scheme neutral advisors are available to mediate between the parties.
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