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14 Dec 2005 : Column 2079W—continued
Qualifications
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of working age people in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) England hold a qualification at degree level or equivalent or above. [37825]
Bill Rammell: From the 2004/05 Annual Local Labour Force Survey, the percentage of working age people in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) England hold a qualification at degree level or equivalent or above is (a) 16.2 per cent. (10,000 people), and (b) 26.1 per cent. (7,948,000 people). This compares with 23.0 per cent. (734,000 people) in the West Midlands.
School Closures
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many primary schools have closed in England in each of the last five years; [34226]
(2) how many secondary schools in England have closed in each of the last five years. [34353]
Jacqui Smith: The numbers of local authority maintained primary and secondary schools (including middle schools) that have closed in each of the last five years, are set out in the following table.
| Primary | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 209 | 27 |
| 2002 | 197 | 26 |
| 2003 | 202 | 33 |
| 2004 | 224 | 42 |
| 2005(25) | 229 | 25 |
(25) This is includes all schools up until 2 December 2005
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The table includes all school closures including those schools that have closed as a result of an amalgamation or local reorganisation, those where a new school has opened in their place (eg a school with a religious character, an academy or a fresh start school) and those that have closed and have not been replaced.
School Exclusions
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many exclusions there were of (a) boys and (b) girls from schools in (i) Brent and (ii) London in each of the last five years; and what the (A) age and (B) ethnic origin was of each excluded child. [35578]
Jacqui Smith: Accurate local statistics on the characteristics of excluded pupils are not available for recent years due to known quality issues with the data provided by schools to the Department. An annual checking exercise carried out with local authorities confirms overall numbers of permanent exclusions but this does not extend to gender, age and ethnic origin breakdowns. The Department does hold information about the individual characteristics of the majority of excluded pupils who are permanently excluded but does not publish data in a form that identifies individuals. This practice is consistent with the Data Protection Act, the Human Rights Act 1998 and with other relevant provisions.
The available information for Brent and London is given in the table.
National estimates of pupil characteristics can be found in the Statistical First Release on 'Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools and Exclusion Appeals in England 2003/04', http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000582/index.shtml.
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(26) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(27) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools.
(28) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of pupils, excluding dually registered pupils.
(29) Figures are as confirmed by local authorities via the data checking exercise.
Source:
Annual Schools Census
School Science
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps are being taken to encourage more graduates into teaching (a) physics, (b) chemistry and (c) mathematics at (i) GCSE and (ii) A Level. [37020]
Jacqui Smith: In relation to schools, since 2000, we have provided £6,000 bursaries to PGCE trainee teachers in a range of priority subjects. We have also provided them with a £4,000 Golden Hello". From September 2005 the bursary for mathematics and science trainees rose to £7,000, and from September 2006 it will increase to £9,000 for all priority subject trainees. Mathematics and science teachers will also be provided with an increased Golden Hello" of £5,000 (£2,500 for other priority subjects).
Routes into teaching are now also much more diverse. Over 15 per cent. of newly qualified teachers are trained through employment based teacher training schemes (EBTTS)—mainly the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP), the Registered Teacher Programme (RTP), and the Overseas Trained Teacher Programme (OTTP). Each of these schemes carries its own incentives, comprising of a combination of support with the costs of training, salary grants and training grants.
We also started 'Teach First' in 2003 and this involves training top graduates from some of the UK's top universities to achieve Qualified Teacher Status. Trainees are trained to teach priority subjects in some of London's most challenging schools. The scheme began in London and will be extended to Manchester in 2006 and four other cities from 2007/08.
The TDA is also funding enhancement courses to increase the number of people able to start initial teacher training in physics, chemistry and mathematics. These courses fill gaps in the subject knowledge of participants who in all other respects meet the requirements for teaching. Following a successful pilot, these courses will be made available nationally from January 2006, and will enable up to 700 additional people per year to
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qualify to teach in these subjects. Courses are free to participants, and each participant receives a training bursary of £150 per week.
All secondary teacher training will enable participants to teach to GCSE level, and in many cases to A-Level.
In the post-compulsory sector, there are two main incentive programmes in place for attracting new teachers. Training Bursaries were introduced in 2000 and offer an additional £6,000 in shortage areas but rising to £7,000 for Maths and Science, and this will rise to £9,000 from September 2006. Golden Hellos" were introduced in 2002 and currently offer an additional £4,000 for shortage areas (e.g. ICT, engineering, construction) but rising to £5,000 for Maths and Science.
Schools (Hounslow)
Alan Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will take steps to ensure that all schools in the London borough of Hounslow are (a) rebuilt and (b) modified to meet (i) Building Bulletin Standards 93 (for insulation) and (ii) 101 (for ventilation). [36403]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 12 December 2005]: For secondary schools, the Building Schools for the Future Programme in conjunction with the Academies programme aims to renew all secondary schools in England in 10 to 15 waves starting from 2005–06. Investment available for primary schools will be increased by an additional £150 million in 2008–09 and £500 million from 2009–10 onwards. Central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996–97 to £5.5 billion this year and will rise further to £6.3 billion by 2007–08.
All new buildings and some alterations or refurbishment works are subject to the acoustic performance standards of the Building Regulations. For schools, Building Bulletin 93 is quoted in the regulations as an approved document, whereby compliance with section 1 of the Bulletin would satisfy the acoustic requirements of the regulations.
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Compliance with the Bulletin would also satisfy the acoustic requirements of the Education (School Premises) Regulations.
The Building Regulations similarly contain ventilation performance standards. Consultation on the draft Building Bulletin 101 is nearing completion and it is anticipated that this Bulletin will in spring 2006 similarly become an approved document under the Building Regulations, whereby compliance with the Bulletin would satisfy the ventilation requirements of the regulations.
The reply given on 8 December 2005, Official Report, column 1457W, by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Ms Buck), refers to the White Paper The Future of Air Transport", in which the Government stated that operators of the larger UK airports are expected to offer acoustic insulation or alternative mitigation measures for noise-sensitive buildings such as schools.
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