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2 Nov 2005 : Column 1195W—continued
School Sport
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what was the value of school playing fields sold in England in each of the last five years. [23535]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not held centrally.
However, the number of approved applications to dispose of an area of school playing field capable of forming at least a small sports pitch in England in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 28 |
| 2001/02 | 29 |
| 2002/03 | 19 |
| 2003/04 | 13 |
| 2004/05 | 11 |
School Teaching Methods
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) whom she has asked to conduct the research into ability grouping referred to in her Department's White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All"; [23591]
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(2) what the terms of reference were for the research into ability grouping referred to in her Department's White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All"; [23590]
(3) whether the research into ability grouping referred to in her Department's White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All", will include an evaluation of (a) within-class ability grouping, (b) between-class ability grouping and (c) accelerated and enriched learning programmes for the gifted and talented; [23589]
(4) if she will ensure that the research into ability grouping referred to in the White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All", will include evaluation of research by James A. Kulik of the University of Michigan. [23889]
Jacqui Smith: My Department has commissioned a research project on pupil grouping from a consortium of four universities: the University of Brighton, the University of Sussex, the University of Cambridge, and the Institute of Education at the University of London.
The terms of reference for the research project were to investigate the effects of different forms of organisational (between class) grouping and within class grouping on pupil learning in primary and secondary schools. This includes analysis of grouping practices in relation to gifted and talented pupils, as well as pupils with other characteristics.
The project consists of an extended literature review, which was published on 27 October 2005, and a fieldwork phase, which is expected to report in early 2006. The literature review references research by James A. Kulik and Chen-Lin C. Kulik.
School Travel
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government is taking to encourage children to walk to and from school; and if she will make a statement. [22075]
Jacqui Smith: The Government wants to reduce the number of cars on the school run and make it possible for more pupils to walk, cycle or use public transport in safety. The Departments of Transport and for Education and Skills are, through their Travelling to School" project, providing support to all local authorities in England to help them achieve this.
Schools
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who a local authority will be required to consult before deciding on a request to set up a new school; and whether that consultation will include (a) parents and (b) pupils at other schools that might be affected by such a proposal. [23333]
Jacqui Smith:
Under the proposals in the White Paper, the local authority will be under a duty to be responsive to a request from parents to set up a new school, and, where the proposals have support, to offer consultancy support to help them develop the proposals. The local authority will decide whether the proposal to establish a new school should be taken
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forward, or whether the demands can be better met in other ways. Parents will have a right of appeal to the schools adjudicator if their proposals are rejected.
The details of these arrangements, including consultation requirements, will be set out in regulations and guidance, on which we will consult following the introduction of the Education Bill.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria she will adopt to decide whether an organisation is inappropriate to run a trust school. [23334]
Jacqui Smith: All trusts will by law be charities and will be subject to regulation by the Charities Commission. We will require trusts to have specific charitable objects and all members of trusts will be under a statutory duty to conduct the trust in accordance with its objects. In the first instance it will be for the governing body to consider whether to form a partnership with a trust and to decide how that will enhance the school's ethos and character. The local authority can refer the governing body's decision to the schools adjudicator for determination if there are serious concerns.
We propose to disqualify certain individuals from being involved with trusts. These include persons disqualified under the Company Directors Disqualification but also persons who have previously been removed as charity trustees or who have been disqualified from working with children and young people. We are considering what role the schools commissioner might play and whether further safeguards are needed to prevent the entry of inappropriate trusts.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria will be adopted to decide whether a school's application for additional flexibility under the proposals in the White Paper will raise standards; and what information will be required from a school making such an application. [23335]
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Jacqui Smith: The current criteria are laid down in the Power to Innovate provisions and there are no plans to change them.
Information and guidance is published on the DfES website at:
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how parents will be consulted when a governing body proposes that its school should become a trust school; which parents will be consulted; and whether consultations will include the parents of pupils at feeder primary schools. [23336]
Jacqui Smith: The details of how parents will be consulted will be subject to regulations and guidance. We will consult on these before bringing them into effect after the introduction of the Education Bill.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether she intends that a trust running a school will be permitted to use income received or generated for charitable purposes unconnected with the school. [23683]
Jacqui Smith: We will require trusts to have specific charitable objects relating to the schools with which they are associated. Any income generated by a trust could only be used for those objects.
Trust schools' delegated budgets will be under the control of their governing bodies, and not their trusts. Similarly, income generated by a trust school from activities such as letting the school premises will also normally come under the control of the governing body, rather than the trust.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils attend each (a) primary school, (b) secondary school and (c) special needs school in the Hemel Hempstead constituency. [24021]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the following table.
(79) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(80) Excludes dually registered pupils.
Source:
Annual Schools Census
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