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Video Conferencing

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many video conferencing units are installed in (a) his Department and (b) each agency of the Department; what percentage of offices have these facilities in each case; and what plans there are to increase the number of such facilities. [18464]

Nick Ainger: The Wales Office has two video conference units, one in the Cardiff office and one in the London office. There are no plans to increase the number of such facilities.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Broadband

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list each constituency which contains a proportion of the 0.2 per cent. of telephone lines in England which cannot at present get broadband. [20352]

Alun Michael [holding answer 20 October 2005]: The information is not available in the form requested.

Regional Industrial Development Boards

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2005, Official Report, column 1063W, on regional industrial development boards, what the budget of each board was in each year of their operation. [22306]

Alun Michael: The question is based on a misapprehension. Boards are not allocated a budget. Details of the regional spend dealt with by the Boards can be found in the Industrial Development Act 1982 Annual Report which is available in the Libraries of the House.
 
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Telephone Nuisance

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what factors are affecting the timing of the publication by Ofcom of new guidance on reducing the level of telephone nuisance from predictive diallers. [21826]

Alun Michael: The timing of any announcement is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is the independent regulator for the communications sector, deriving its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from the Secretary of State, and accountable to Parliament in its own right. My officials have asked the Chief Executive Officer of Ofcom to reply to the hon. Member and to send me a copy for his response. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will press Ofcom to use its powers to prevent silent calls. [21828]

Alun Michael: I am confident that the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the independent regulator for the communications sector, will do everything in its power to prevent silent calls. Ofcom derives its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, so it is accountable to Parliament in its own right. The Government take the issue of silent calls very seriously because of the distress they cause to consumers. My officials are in regular contact with Ofcom and encourage us to use its powers effectively to the fullest extent.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

School Leavers (Basic Skills)

3. Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures her Department is taking to improve the standard of basic skills of school leavers. [22043]

Jacqui Smith: A grounding in functional skills is essential. The 14–19 Education and Skills White Paper set out our plans to toughen GCSEs so that no-one can get a higher grade in English and maths without achieving mastery of the functional basics. We are also introducing a general diploma to recognise those who achieve five good GCSEs or equivalent, including English and maths. Functional English and maths will be a core element of our new specialised diplomas.

Classroom Assistants

13. Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many classroom assistants were employed in (a) Nottinghamshire and (b) England in (i) January 1997 and (ii) January 2005. [22053]

Jacqui Smith: In January 1997 there were 1,300 teaching assistants employed in the Nottinghamshire area. This number had increased to 3,100 by January 2005. The equivalent figures for England were 60,600 in 1997 and 148,500 in 2005.
 
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Post-16 Funding

14. Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the difference in funding levels between school sixth forms and post-16 provision in further education. [22054]

19. Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the differences between the funding formulas for colleges and school sixth forms. [22059]

Phil Hope: We have acknowledged that despite significant investment in Further Education and a narrowing of the difference between funding rates, there remains a funding gap between school sixth forms and colleges. We have been clear that continuing progress on narrowing the gap will not be easy and will depend on the resources available. However, we are committed to exploring the scope for addressing the technical anomalies between the school sixth form and further education funding systems and will set out the way forward in the near future.

GCSE Mathematics Results

15. Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the 2004–05 GCSE mathematics results. [22055]

Ruth Kelly: Provisional 2005 results show that the percentage of pupils achieving A*-C grades in maths GCSE increased by 2 percentage points to 52 percent.—the biggest increase since 1997. That means that around 53,000 more pupils are now achieving a good pass in maths than did so in 1997.

These results represent excellent progress. But we recognise there is further to go and that is why we are continuing to push for even higher standards in the basics.

Teacher Training (PE)

16. Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to improve teacher training for physical education. [22056]

Jacqui Smith: The Training and Development Agency for Schools has put in hand a three year programme to improve the quality of initial teacher training for physical education. It has engaged Liverpool John Moores university—the leading provider of PE teacher training—to work with the British Association of Advisors and Lecturers in PE and the Physical Education Association to identify good practice in the training of PE teachers and to disseminate this to other providers. This programme will be completed by March 2007.

Part-time Students

17. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on financial support for part-time students. [22057]

 
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Bill Rammell: Part-time undergraduate provision is important to hundreds of thousands of individual students and to the economic success of this country. We are determined to see the vibrant part-time sector sustained. From 2006, the maximum available support available to low-income part-time students to help them meet the cost of tuition fees will increase by 27 percent. from £885 to £1,125. Resource from the access to learning fund will increase from £3 million to £12 million to provide still greater additional fee support and general hardship support for students in the most challenging financial circumstances.

Sure Start

18. Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to extend the Sure Start programme. [22058]

Beverley Hughes: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts).

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) in how many local Sure Start programmes are (a) 0 to 5, (b) 6 to 10, (c) 11 to 15, (d) 16 to 20, (e) 21 to 25, (f) 26 to 30, (g) 31 to 35, (h) 36 to 40, (i) 41 to 45, (j) 46 to 50 and (k) 50 and over per cent. of registered children were attending at least one Sure Start activity per month on the latest available date; [22001]

(2) what assessment she has made of the performance of each local Sure Start programme in reaching new families and children in the relevant local area; [22003]

(3) how many Sure Start local programmes are using a centralised database to collect information on (a) new babies and (b) new families in the local area. [22004]

Beverley Hughes: Sure Start local programmes are expected to visit all new babies in their area within the first two months of their life. However, we do not expect programmes to see every child and family each month. On average we would expect fully operational programmes to see over a quarter of children living in their area, with 20 per cent. of these being new children.

Sure Start local programmes are not required to collect data on the percentage of children attending at least one Sure Start activity per month.
 
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Each Sure Start local programme is required to submit an annual data return which includes figures for families and children reached during one specified month within the year. At March 2005 the national average for children aged under four seen by local programmes was 23 per cent. of which 13 per cent. were new children.

Sure Start local programmes are not required to use a centralised database to collect information on new babies and new families in the local area. Some Sure Start local programmes have formal data sharing arrangements with local health trusts, but local programmes also access a variety of sources for gathering data on new babies and new families from schools, health visitors, midwives, parent support networks and outreach work with local community organisations.

Each Sure Start local programme is expected to carry out an evaluation of its services, including whether they are reaching all local children, and to improve their working practices and processes where appropriate.

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