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Education (Southend-on-Sea)

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what percentage of pupils in Southend-on-Sea achieved level 4 or above in 2005 in (a) English and (b) Mathematics at key stage 2; [34814]

(2) what percentage of pupils in Southend-on-Sea achieved level 5 or above in 2005 in (a) English and (b) mathematics at key stage 3. [34815]

Jacqui Smith: Information on the attainment of pupils in the 2005 key stage 2 and key stage 3 tests are published on the Department's research and statistics website in two Statistical First Releases (SFR). Figures for key stage 2 are available at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/
 
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rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000618/index.shtml. Figures for key stage 3 are available at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsqateway/DB/SFR/s000599/index.shtml.

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in Southend-on-Sea achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE in 2005. [34816]

Jacqui Smith: 1,229 pupils in Southend-on-Sea local authority achieved the level 2 threshold (the equivalent of five or more grades A*-C) in GCSE and equivalent qualifications in 2005 out of a total of 2,014 pupils, i.e. 61.0 per cent.

Notes:

1. These figures are provisional, and may be subject to change.

2. The coverage of these local authority level figures is maintained mainstream and maintained special schools only; including city technology colleges and academies but excluding hospital schools and pupil referral units where these occur within the local authority.

3. These figures relate to pupils at the end of key stage 4 in the 2004/05 academic year.

4. Figures include achievements of pupils in previous academic years.

5. These figures are adjusted for pupils recently arrived from overseas.

Education Funding

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her most recent estimate is of how much money is spent per child each year in (a) state schools, (b) private schools and (c) special schools. [32764]

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not split its unit costs into (a) state schools, (b) private schools and (c) special schools. However, the available information for local authority maintained schools for 2003–04 is given in the following table.

	£
Primary	2,750
Secondary	3,550
Special schools	14,050

My Department does not collect information on the money spent per child at private schools.

Notes:

1. The information was taken from section 52 outturn statements for 2003–04, as reported by LEAs.

2. School based expenditure includes only expenditure incurred directly by local authority maintained schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates.

3. In addition to any school based expenditure, combined local authority and school based expenditure per pupil also includes all elements of related central local authority expenditure and was £3,890 per pupil in England in 2003–04. It is not possible to disaggregate this figure into mainstream and special school costs and consequently this figure includes all expenditure on the education of children in local authority maintained establishments and any expenditure on pupils educated by the authority other than in maintained establishments.

 
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Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the per pupil funding was in 2004–05 in (a) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (b) England. [33558]

Jacqui Smith: Total funding per pupil aged three-19 years (cash terms) for 2004–05 was £3,670 for East Riding of Yorkshire, and £4,030 for England.

Between 1997–98 and 2004–05, funding per pupil in East Riding increased by 34.3 percent. in real terms, compared with the England average of 34.4 percent. over the same period.

Notes:

Price base—Cash and real terms at 2004–05 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 28 September 2005.

Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of education formula spending settlements. The cash figures include the pensions transfers to EFS and the Learning and Skills Council from 2003–04. The real terms series, and the increase quoted, exclude this transfer so that all years are comparable.

Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged three-19 years and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and education grants not allocated at an authority level.

The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC three year-old maintained pupils and estimated 3–4 year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.

Rounding—Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Status—2004–05 figures are provisional as some grants have not yet been finalised/audited.

Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what response she has made to the representations made by the F40 group of local authorities on school funding. [33570]

Jacqui Smith: I met representatives of the F40 group of authorities in June 2005 and listened to their presentation about the funding model which the group supports, and subsequently wrote to the group's chair following my statement to the House of 21 July 2005 about the new school funding arrangements to be introduced from April 2006. My department has recently replied to the group's request for a further meeting about the funding model, indicating that officials will be happy to meet representatives of the group as part of the longer term review of the school funding arrangements announced in my statement of 21 July. We will announce in the new year the terms of reference for the review and our detailed proposals for engagement with individual local authorities, their representative organisations and special interest groups, including the F40 group, and with other key stakeholders.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 26 October 2005, Official Report, column 389W, on education funding, if she will make a statement on the benefits to private sector sponsors of contributing to academy start up costs; and when she expects those benefits to accrue. [33753]

Jacqui Smith: Sponsoring an academy is an act of philanthropic giving. Sponsors contribute up to 10 per cent. of the capital costs of a new academy (to a maximum of £2 million), but their contribution is not
 
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just financial. More importantly they bring an experience of success, a personal commitment, energy, drive and ambition, as well as a whole new set of skills and experience. The 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers evaluation found strong confidence in the role of sponsors", with 78 per cent. of staff surveyed in academies agreeing that the sponsor brings expertise that would not otherwise be available to the academy, and 82 per cent. of staff agreeing that the sponsor's resources had a positive impact on pupils' learning.

The benefit that sponsors derive from their involvement in the programme is entirely personal and generally motivated by a desire to give something back to the community or from a sense of corporate responsibility.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in each local authority are in receipt of the education maintenance allowance for 2005–06. [17814]

Phil Hope: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Failing Authorities

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the date of (a) inspection, (b) report and (c) receipt of action plan by her Department for each local education authority found to be failing by Ofsted in 2004–05; what the date was of second (i) inspection, (ii) report and (iii) receipt of action plan by her Department in each case; and what the date was of subsequent milestone events. [34217]

Jacqui Smith: Ofsted inspections since April 2004 have found the overall efficiency of two local education authorities to be unsatisfactory. An action plan from Torbay council received in December 2004 responded to Ofsted's September 2004 report of its May 2004 inspection. An action plan from North East Lincolnshire received in April 2005 responded to Ofsted's December 2004 report of its October 2004 inspection. Both authorities' education services will be inspected in 2006–07, in joint area reviews of children's services carried out by Ofsted with other inspectorates and commissions.

The Department issued a direction to North East Lincolnshire council on 1 June 2005, under the Education Act 1996, to contract with North East Lincolnshire Children First to provide assistance to the council in the delivery of its children's services. The first annual performance assessments of children's services, issued by Ofsted and the Commission for Social Care Inspection on 1 December 2005, judged North East Lincolnshire's education services to remain below minimum requirements, but its children's services, including education, to have good capacity to improve. Torbay's education services were found to meet minimum requirements, and children's services to have good capacity to improve.
 
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