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Failing Schools
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are taken to deal with failing schools. [24562]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 3 November 2005]: When a school is judged, by Ofsted, to be failing the local authority is under a duty to prepare, within 10 working days, an action plan to improve the school. There are then termly visits from Ofsted to monitor the implementation of the action plan and the school's progress. Since 1998 the number of failing schools has more than halved and the average time to turn round such a school has reduced from 24 to 21 months. The Schools White Paper published last month includes proposals to ensure that school failure is remedied even more quickly. In particular, we propose to extend the range of intervention powers available to authorities and to require them to consider the full range of their powers immediately on receipt of an adverse Ofsted inspection report on a school.
Faith Schools (Admissions)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to her oral answer of 27 October 2005 to the hon. Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough (Jeff Ennis), Official Report, column 442, on the Education White Paper, whether her policy that looked-after children will have top priority in admissions applies equally to faith schools. [25294]
Jacqui Smith: We are committed to laying regulations before Parliament to require admission authorities to give top priority to looked-after children in their published admission arrangements. We intend that schools designated as having a religious character will, as a minimum requirement, give first priority to looked-after children of their faith, but we expect many of these schools to provide in their admission arrangements for all looked-after children to have priority unless their trust deeds prevent them from doing so.
Further Education
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will initiate a publicity campaign to persuade adults and employers that there is a need to pay higher fees for courses provided by further education colleges; and if she will make a statement. [24409]
Bill Rammell: The recent Learning and Skills Council publication Priorities for Success: Funding for Learning and Skills" made the commitment that
Government and the LSC with partners in the skills alliance will make sure that (adult learning funding) priorities are communicated nationally and locally to explain and reinforce work with learners and employers at institutional level"
Government, Learning and Skills Council and other partners' publicity campaigns over the coming months will meet this commitment by demonstrating the many
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different rewards to individual learners, employers and the community that can be achieved through investment of time, effort and money in learning.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage secondary school leavers to go into further education. [25183]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Gas and Electricity Supply Contracts
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have interruptible contracts for gas and electricity supply; and if she will make a statement. [25544]
Jacqui Smith: We have contacted some local authority energy managers and doubt if there are any schools on an interruptible gas tariff due to the relatively low level of consumption in schools. This tariff is usually associated with the business or commercial sectors where there are dual fuels in place.
You cannot interrupt electricity supplies to properties therefore there are no such tariffs for electricity.
GCSE Results
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to her oral answer of 27 October 2005, Official Report, column 440, to the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent (Hugh Robertson), on GCSE results, what the evidential basis is for her statement that improvements in reading, writing and arithmetic followed after 50 years of no progress at all in raising primary school standards. [25295]
Jacqui Smith: The statement made in the answer to the oral question referred to is based on the conclusions from the research Standards in Literacy and Numeracy" conducted by Greg Brooks, Derek Foxman and Tom Gorman, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), published by the National Commission on Education in December 1992. Updates to this research, Standards in Literacy and Numeracy 1948–1994" and Trends in the Standards of Literacy in the United Kingdom: 1948—1996" were published in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
One of the main findings of this research was that in the period between 1948 and 1996 average levels of performance of primary school children had remained much the same.
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what average number of A and A* grades at GCSE was achieved in all schools in each year from 1997. [23397]
Jacqui Smith:
The information requested is given in the following table.
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(43) Pupils aged 15 at the beginning of the academic year (i.e. 31 August).
(44) Figures for 2005 are provisional. All other years are final.
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Gifted and Talented Youth
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (a) how many and (b) what proportion of secondary school pupils are members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (i) in total, (ii) broken down by local education authority and (iii) in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency. [23818]
Jacqui Smith: The White Paper Higher Standards, Better Schools For All" makes clear our commitment to offer membership of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth to the full cohort of eligible 11–19 year olds.
The National Academy has to date recruited 70,982 members from secondary schools. This is 1.78 per cent. of secondary school pupils in England. Figures for local education authorities are in the following table. The Academy has 67 secondary members in the Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.
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