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14 Nov 2005 : Column 933W—continued
Classics
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of specialist humanities colleges have chosen classics as a subsidiary specialist subject. [28301]
Bill Rammell: Humanities specialism was first introduced in 2004. There are 83 operational Humanities Colleges of which: 60 have humanities as a main specialism, 11 chose humanities as part of a combined specialism, and 12 schools chose humanities as a second specialism. Two out of the 83 operational Humanities Colleges have chosen classics as a subsidiary specialist subject. This represents 3 per cent. of schools with humanities as a main specialism or 2 per cent. of all operational Humanities Colleges.
Counselling Services
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent on counselling services in (a) Ribble Valley and (b) Lancashire schools in each of the last five years. [24129]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Departmental Skills Development Plan
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's skills development plan. [23870]
Maria Eagle: I have placed the skills development plan for 2005–06 in the House Libraries.
Education
Mr. Lancaster: 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 Milton Keynes. [27204]
Jacqui Smith:
The information requested on unauthorised absence 1 in Milton Keynes local authority 2004/05 can be found in table 2 of SFR 40/2005, Pupil Absence in Schools in England 2004/05 (Provisional).
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This can be found at the following website: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsqateway/DB/SFR/s000602/index. shtml
1 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.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been allocated to homework clubs in schools in Tamworth constituency in each year since 1997. [27487]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not available. Homework clubs may form part of a school's or local authority's study support (out of school hours learning) programme, for which funding is available through their base budgets, and the School Development Grant (SDG). Schools and local authorities may use their SDG for any purposes linked to school improvement, and it is for them to determine the amount to be allocated to study support.
Study support forms an integral part of the government's extended services agenda, which will require schools to offer a varied menu of activities from 8am to 6pm year round, including during school holidays. Additional funding of £680 million is being made available up to 2008 to support the start up of extended services in schools.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in West Lancashire have been removed from the Admissions Register because of (a) extended family holidays and (b) long-term absence in each year since 1997. [27656]
Jacqui Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the early question from the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 24 October 2005, Official Report, column 150W.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school children in West Lancashire whose families are in receipt of child tax credit are eligible for free school meals. [27701]
Jacqui Smith:
The information is not collected centrally.
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Free school lunch eligibility is limited to children whose parents receive:
Child Tax Credit, provided they are not entitled to working tax credit and have an annual income, as assessed by the Inland Revenue that does not exceed £13,910 2005/06 FY);
Children receiving IS or IBJSA in their own right are also entitled to a free school lunch.
Prior to 2003, the numbers known to be eligible for a free school meal were those pupils who had, or whose parents had, satisfied the relevant authority that they were receiving income support (IS) or income based jobseekers allowance (IBJSA) or support provided under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. From 6 April 2003 onwards this definition was modified:
to include the necessity for a request for the provision of a free lunch to be made by, or on behalf of a pupil; and to take account of changes made in 2003 to the tax credit and welfare payments' system, adding an additional eligibility category relating to the receipt of specified tax credits.
From April 2005 an additional eligibility category was added—parents who receive the guaranteed element of state pension credit.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in West Lancashire have re-taken A-level modules (a) once and (b) more than once in each of the last five years, broken down by subject. [27710]
Jacqui Smith: The Department does not hold information on the number of students re-taking modules at A Level.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of children in the West Lancashire area left school at the minimum age in each of the last five years, broken down by ward. [27712]
Jacqui Smith: The earliest that a young person can leave school is on the last Friday in June after they turn 16. There is no information available on how many pupils leave from this point in the academic year. The most readily available figures are for young people in post-compulsory education at the end of the calendar year.
The percentages of 16-year-olds not in post-compulsory education or work-based learning (WBL—e.g. apprenticeships) in Lancashire local authority (LA) are given in the table. Figures are provided for 1999/2000 to 2003/04 (the latest available). Participation estimates are not available below LA level.
(11) Provisional.
(12) Total of all full-time and part-time education and WBL, less WBL provision in education institutions.
Source:
The latest Statistical First Release Participation in education and training by 16 and 17-year-olds in each local area in England".
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Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hon. Members have written to (a) her, (b) the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education and (c) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills since February about (i) adult education and (ii) funding for 16 to 19-year-olds in schools and colleges. [23621]
Bill Rammell: Since February (a) the Secretary of State for Education and Skills has received 178 letters from hon. Members on adult education and 108 on funding for 16 to 19-year-olds in schools and colleges, (b) the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education has received 188 on adult education and 40 on funding for 16 to 19-year-olds in schools and colleges, and (c) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills has received 149 on adult education and 49 on funding for 16 to 19-year-olds in schools and colleges.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the funding of the new National Employer Training programme to be introduced from 2006–07. [27184]
Bill Rammell: The National Employer Training programme (NETP) will be funded through the Learning and Skills Council and will be rolled out across the country from 2006–07. The programme will be a powerful, demand-led mechanism for changing the way in which training for adults is delivered. Employers will have greater choice of high quality provision, and colleges and providers will need to deliver high quality training programmes at a time, place and pace determined by the employer. A sum of £230 million has been made available for the programme for 2006–07 and £399 million for 2007–08.
By 2010 the programme should have delivered over half a million first full level 2 qualifications representing a significant contribution to the PSA target to reduce by 40 per cent. the number of adults without a qualification at that level.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools are part of education improvement partnerships. [27186]
Jacqui Smith: We believe that education improvement partnerships are best run at local level by schools for schools based on local needs. Education improvement partnerships are not a centrally run programme and this Department does not operate a process of official approval, nor maintain records of participating schools.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what improvements to the data collection system have been made as part of the New Relationship with Schools. [27187]
Jacqui Smith:
There have been a number of improvements based on the principle of collecting data once and sharing many times, primarily to help reduce burdens. The introduction of the Pupil Level Annual
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School Census (PLASC) in 2002 has enabled individual pupil data to be collected electronically from schools and simplified the pupil registration process for national curriculum tests. The quality of data for both local and central use has also improved.
My Department is continuing a programme to streamline data collections and include them wherever possible within an enhanced school census. By 2007, six separate surveys will have been brought within the school census.
My Department has also developed a process by which data can be transferred automatically and securely between schools, local authorities and other agencies. The site is used to transfer statutory returns, national curriculum teacher assessments, and relevant data when a pupil moves to a new school. For the latter the New Relationship with Schools programme has facilitated every school being able to access missing information about their pupils to aid their learning plans.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effect of the issue by her Department of a non-statutory national framework for teaching religious education. [27192]
Jacqui Smith: The non-statutory national framework for religious education was introduced in October 2004. Local authorities are now working to embed the framework in their locally agreed syllabuses. We expect preliminary data on its implementation to be available by spring 2006.
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students who failed to obtain a Level 2 qualification at their first attempt studied (a) five, (b) six, (c) seven, (d) eight, (e) nine, (f) 10, (g) 11, (h) 12, (i) 13, (j) 14, (k) 15 and (l) 16 or more GCSE subjects or equivalent qualifications in the last year for which figures are available. [25036]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not centrally available.
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