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School Trusts

Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list categories of companies which would not be permitted to set up a school trust because of the nature of their business. [25416]

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.

It will be for the governing bodies of individual schools to decide whether to form a partnership with a trust and to publish proposals setting out how that partnership 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 about the impact of the acquisition of the trust on school standards. We intend to issue guidance to governing bodies and the schools adjudicator in due course about the factors to take into account when considering proposals.

Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the types of person who would not be permitted to set up a school trust. [25417]

Jacqui Smith: We will produce illustrative regulations to accompany the passage of the forthcoming Bill. The list of persons who would not be permitted to set up a school trust or to be members of such a trust will be similar to the list of individuals who cannot be members of a school company in the School Companies Regulations 2002.
 
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Truancy

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the most recent truancy levels are for (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in the Hemel Hempstead constituency. [25810]

Jacqui Smith: These data are provisional: they are currently in the process of being checked by schools and, therefore, may change as a result of this process.
Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised⁽⁴⁶⁾ absence in maintained schools

	Hemel Hempstead	England
Primary	0.29	0.43
Secondary	0.99	1.25

⁽⁴⁶⁾ Unauthorised absence includes other forms of absence such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.

Science

Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many qualified teachers of (a) the sciences, (b) English, (c) modern foreign languages, (d) physical education, (e) drama, (f) media studies, (g) mathematics and (h) information and communication technology there have been in secondary schools in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement; [22912]

(2) how many qualified teachers of (a) biology, including human biology, (b) chemistry, (c) physics and (d) dual science there have been in the state sector in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [22924]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Information on subject teaching is collected through periodic secondary school staffing surveys. The following table shows the numbers of full-time teachers who provided some tuition in the subjects ¹ shown. Information is provided for maintained secondary schools in England, from the two most recent sample surveys.

¹ Teachers are counted once against each subject taught.

	November 1996	November 2002
Mathematics	25,200	28,200
English	28,400	29,400
Combined/General Science	27,300	28,300
Biology	5,100	5,600
Chemistry	4,600	5,200
Physics	4,400	4,700
Other Sciences(47)	1,600	1,600
French	16,200	16,000
German	8,100	6,900
Spanish	2,700	3,600
Other Modern Languages	1,300	1,400
Information and Communication Technology 10,700		18,900
Drama(48)	8,900	8,100
Physical Education	20,000	21,400

⁽⁴⁷⁾ Includes geology, environmental science, rural science, agricultural science and science in society.
⁽⁴⁸⁾ Includes media studies, communication skills and expressive arts



 
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Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of existing science teachers will have reached retirement age by (a) 2006, (b) 2008 and (c) 2010. [22913]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available in the format requested.

Skills for Life Courses

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of people taking Skills for Life courses have previously taken leisure courses. [24962]

Phil Hope: The information requested is not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Learners participating in Skills for Life courses may have previously taken leisure courses but evidence suggests that for most Skills for Life learners, their Skills for Life courses will have been their first entry back into education since school.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Skills for Life courses at Entry Level 1 cover elements of the Skills for Life course at Entry Level 2. [24979]

Phil Hope: All Skills for Life courses funded by the Learning and Skills Council for England are referenced to the National Standards for Literacy and Numeracy, which cover Entry Levels 1, 2 and 3 and Levels 1 and 2. This ensures that there is consistency in a learner's studies across the country, whatever their environment or situation. The standards are constructed to facilitate progression from one level to the next in order to promote high quality learning which naturally leads the learner through the levels and where each level sets the context for higher level work in the next. Entry Level 2 Skills for Life courses build on the work done at Entry Level 1 but broaden and raise the expected levels of achievement. For instance, in literacy the contexts are extended from forms, lists, messages, notes and records" at Entry Level 1 to also include e-mails and simple narratives" at Entry Level 2.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many adults on the Skills for Life programme have achieved (a) two Skills for Life qualifications, (b) three Skills for Life qualifications and (c) four or more Skills for Life qualifications since the programme began. [24980]

Phil Hope: From April 2001 to July 2005, a confirmed 1,130,000 adults have achieved a qualification in literacy, language or numeracy and have counted towards the Skills for Life Public Service Agreement (PSA) target. However, the Department currently only has detailed and complete information on Skills for Life achievements from April 2001 until July 2004. During that period approximately 865,000 learners achieved at least one Skills for Life qualification in literacy, language or numeracy and therefore counted once towards the Skills for Life PSA target. The total number
 
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of Skills for Life achievements of these learners was approximately 1,280,000 achievements, which is an average of 1.48 per learner. Therefore, a significant number of learners will have gained two or more achievements. The specific information requested is not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Special Schools

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the White Paper, High Standards, Better Schools for All" what the issues are that arise for special schools from Trust status; and if she will make a statement. [24952]

Maria Eagle: The White Paper Higher Standards, Better Schools for All" states that to spread innovation and diversity across the whole school system, we will promote the establishment of self-governing Trust schools. We acknowledge in the White Paper that Trust status for special schools raises a number of complex issues and we will continue to work with schools to decide the best way forward.

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