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Primary Schools (Haringey)

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Key Stage 2 results were in each primary school in Hornsey and Wood Green in each year since 2000; and if she will make a statement. [36757]

Jacqui Smith: This information is published on the Department's website at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetables/.

They are also available in the House Library.

Public Service Agreements

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what timescales have been set for achievement of the 2004 public service agreement target number 5. [29182]

 
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Maria Eagle: PSA target 5 runs until 2008. As set out in the target's accompanying technical note, progress on placement stability will be measured through the DfES annual data collection about looked after children, which measures the position at 31 March each year. Progress on the educational achievement of looked after children is measured each autumn, once the public examination results are available for this group of young people. We are in the process of amending the technical note to reflect this.

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the data required to measure the 2004 public service agreement target number 2 are taken from consistent data sources. [29183]

Beverley Hughes: PSA 2 has three elements. The first element of the target—to increase the stock of Ofsted registered childcare by 10 per cent.—is measured using Ofsted registration data. This is administrative data resulting from the process of registering and de-registering childcare providers. It is available quarterly and has been used to monitor childcare places since 2003.The second element—increase the take up of formal childcare by lower income working families by 50 per cent.—is measured using Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data which is sourced from the Department for Work and Pension's Family Resources Survey (FRS). The third element of the target—introduce, by April 2005, a successful light-touch childcare approval scheme—is measured through data provided by the CAS contractor, Nestor. Nestor are managed under contract by the DfES.

These methods of measurement are the most appropriate for each of the elements and are broadly consistent. Both Ofsted registration data and the FRS track formal childcare although the FRS makes use of a marginally wider definition.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanisms the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority uses to monitor examination standards over a period of time. [38471]

Jacqui Smith: QCA has a rolling programme of standards reviews, which began in 1997. The reports are available on the QCA website.

QCA has also established an Independent Committee to advise it publicly on examination standards. A report by the Independent Committee on Examination Standards report was published in December 2004.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has for the Independent Committee on Examination Standards; and what consultation it is carrying out with regard to this. [38472]

Jacqui Smith: Two of the three members of the Independent Committee on Examination Standards, Dr. Barry McGaw (Chair) and Professor Caroline Gipps, have stood down from the Committee due to
 
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other work commitments. Dr. McGaw is now working in Australia and Professor Gipps was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton. The Committee will be reconstituted next year and QCA will then ask the Committee to undertake a new programme of work, which will be agreed in advance by the QCA Board.

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions she has had with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on its location; and if she will make a statement. [38568]

Jacqui Smith: Ministers and officials have regular discussions with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) on a range of issues, including its location. In response to the Lyons Review, the Department has agreed to relocate out of London and the South East around 800 posts from the Department and its partner organisations by 2010. We continue to work with our partners on their business cases for relocation.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions she has had with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) on (a) the abolition of the Independent Committee on Examination Standards and (b) alternative methods of presenting results of tiered examinations; what the outcomes were of the QCA/departmental risk workshop on 6 September; and if she will make a statement. [38569]

Jacqui Smith: I have had no discussions with QCA on (a) the abolition of the Independent Committee on Examination Standards; (b) alternative methods of presenting results of tiered examinations.

Officials from the Department and the QCA held a joint workshop on 6 September 2005, to discuss the management of risk in projects and programmes.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what methods the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority uses to monitor the effective functioning of its Regulation and Standards Division. [40371]

Jacqui Smith: The management of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is a matter for the chief executive of the QCA, Ken Boston. He will write to the hon. Member.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many members of the Regulation and Standards Division of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority are independent of her Department. [40372]

Jacqui Smith: The Regulation and Standards Division is one of seven into which, with the National Assessment Agency, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is organised. The staff of the Regulation and Standards Division are employed by the QCA and are accountable to the chief executive and through him to the QCA Board.

As a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education and Skills, the QCA is accountable to Ministers, including for the regulation of qualifications, which it undertakes independently of the Department.
 
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Religious Services

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2005, Official Report, column 2425W, on religious services, what assessment she has made of the level of compliance with DFES circular 1/94. [40423]

Jacqui Smith: Circular 1/94 sets out the legal requirements for religious education and collective worship in maintained schools.

Under the current Ofsted inspection framework, schools are inspected across a range of areas, including those covered by Circular 1/94. In schools which are designated as having a religious character, the content of collective worship is inspected separately along with the teaching of denominational education where this is delivered.

My Department does not make any other assessment of the level of compliance with DfES Circular 1/94.

School Admissions

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 13 December 2005, Official Report, column 135WS, on school admissions, when she expects her Department to lay the revised codes of practice on school admissions and school admission appeals. [39461]

Jacqui Smith: We have not set a date for the laying of revised codes of practice. The existing codes will remain in force for the 2007 admission round.

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of secondary school selection was by aptitude in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) local authority, (b) school category and (c) subject; and how many pupils this involved in each case. [40615]

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.

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