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19 Dec 2005 : Column 2423W—continued
Primary School Exclusions (South Norfolk)
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were excluded from South Norfolk primary schools for not being ready to learn in each month since January 2001. [38269]
Jacqui Smith: The requested information is not collected centrally.
Private Members' Bills
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list those Private Members' Billsintroduced under (a) Standing Order No. 14(6), (b) Standing Order No. 23 and (c) Standing Order No.57 which were (i) supported and (ii) opposed by her Department in each session since 1997–98. [36191]
Maria Eagle: The information requested is not collected.
Public Relations
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the value was of (a) public opinion research and (b) public relations contracts awarded by her Department in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London in 2004–05. [35933]
Bill Rammell: In 2004–05 the Department for Education and Skills commissioned public opinion research worth £65,521. This research was on education and skills issues and formed part of the British Social Attitudes Survey, covering Scotland, Wales and all English regions (including London).
The Department also carries out a range of research to inform the development and evaluation of specific policies, some of which includes surveys of opinion. The Department publishes its research on the last Thursday of each month and research reports are available at www.dfes.gov.uk/research. The Department also
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awarded public relations contracts worth £695,324. The contracts covered campaigns to promote higher education (the Aimhigher" campaign) and Foundation Degrees, as well as campaigns to tackle bullying and teenage pregnancy. These campaigns covered England (including London).
Qualifications
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of working age people in (a) Kettering constituency and (b) England hold a qualification at (i) degree level or equivalent and (ii) above degree level. [38096]
Bill Rammell: The following table shows analysis of the qualification levels of the working age population in Kettering constituency and England at degree level (level4) and above degree level (level 5). This is presented alongside East Midlands data for comparison. Data comes from the Local Labour Force Survey for 2004–05.
| Level 4 | Level 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Kettering | 16.0 | 4.0 |
| East Midlands | 19.3 | 4.2 |
| England | 20.8 | 5.3 |
Note:
The working age population is defined as males and females aged 16–64 and 16–59 respectively.
Source:
Local Labour Force Survey for 2004–05
Rates
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was paid by her Department in rates to each local authority in 2004–05; and how much was paid in (a) each region and (b) London in each year. [35986]
Bill Rammell: The following table lists how much was paid by the Department for Education and Skills in rates to each local authority in the UK in 2004–05; and paid in (a) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (b) London.
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Religious Services
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the statutory requirements are for schools to hold a daily religious service; and whether she plans to seek to amend the provisions. [38152]
Jacqui Smith: The current policy regarding collective worship is set out in the Department for Education and Skills circular 1/94. All registered pupils attending a maintained school, primary or secondary, should take part in a daily act of collective worship. This act of collective worship should be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.
School Admissions
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hon. Members responded to the consultation on revisions to the school admissions code of practice; and whether their views were incorporated into the summary of consultation responses published on 13 December. [38711]
Jacqui Smith: Two MPs, including my hon. Friend, responded to the consultation on the draft School Admissions Code of Practice and their views were taken into account. Their responses were included in the summary of responses.
School Choice
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of whether school choice requires over-provision of school places. [37783]
Jacqui Smith: Local authorities are responsible for planning school places in their areas. They have a duty to ensure that there are sufficient places to meet the needs of the local community and must also ensure that high quality education is provided in a cost-effective way. We expect authorities to take parental preferences into account in the planning process and, in providing for parental choice, we recognise that they will need to maintain some surplus places. The Audit Commission acknowledged this in their update to Trading Places published in January 2002.
School Governors
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies there were for (a) parent governors and (b) school governors in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [37661]
Jacqui Smith: Data on the number of governor vacancies are not routinely collected by the Department. However, individual local authorities may collect and hold their own information on the number of governor vacancies.
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the causes of variations (a) between regions and (b) within regions in vacancies for school governors. [38222]
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Jacqui Smith: Data on the number of governor vacancies are not routinely collected by the Department. However, individual local authorities may collect and hold their own information on the number of governor vacancies. No assessment has been made of the causes of the regional variation and variations between areas in vacancies for school governors.
School Meals
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether school meals in each local education authority are (a) produced in-house, (b) outsourced and (c) outsourced but being brought back in-house; and, in respect of those being brought back in-house, by what date she expects this to be done. [37892]
Jacqui Smith: The Department for Education and Skills has not until now collected information about school meals arrangements in local authorities. We have however recently undertaken an audit of local school meals arrangements and my officials are currently analysing the data we have received from the 102 authorities that responded. The results of the survey will be available in January and will provide us with a fuller picture of school meals provision in those authorities, including which school dinners are produced in-house and which are outsourced. We will not however have information on which school dinners are outsourced but being brought back in-house, nor when this will happen, as this information was not collected in the survey.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the schools in the Stroud constituency which (a) have and (b) do not have their own kitchens, broken down by type of school. [37893]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 15 December 2005]: The school premises data that my Department receives from authorities identify numbers of kitchen/dining spaces in each school that are considered by authorities and schools to be lacking or unsuitable, but kitchens are not separately identified.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the schools in Kettering constituency which (a) have and (b) do not have their own kitchens, broken down by type of school; and how many pupils attend each school. [38149]
Jacqui Smith: The school premises data that my Department receives from authorities identify numbers of kitchen/dining spaces in each school that are considered by authorities and schools to be lacking or unsuitable, but kitchens are not separately identified.
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