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25 Jan 2006 : Column 2210W—continued
Sex and Relationships Education
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what training staff at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have to undertake in order to teach sex and relationships education; [45110]
(2) what requirements there are in the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory element of the sex and relationships education syllabus on issues of sexuality; [45111]
(3) what her latest estimate is of the proportion of parents who withdraw their child from the non-statutory elements of sex and relationships education in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England; [45112]
(4) how much authority a school has to determine its own sex and relationships education policy. [45115]
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Jacqui Smith: All teachers of sex and relationship education are encouraged to undertake the Government funded teachers' certificate in personal social and health education (PSHE). The certificate supports standards in the delivery of PSHE teaching including sex and relationship education and is available to both primary and secondary school teachers. Almost 5,000 teachers have undertaken the certificate since 2002. A PSHE certificate programme is also available to school and community nurses who support sex education in schools. Over 600 nurses have undertaken the certificate.
The statutory requirements for sex education are outlined in national curriculum science. In addition, secondary schools must teach about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Other discretionary elements of sex and relationship education are included in the non-statutory PSHE framework. Schools are able to develop their own sex education programmes beyond the statutory minimum taking into account the views of parents and the needs of pupils. Schools are free to determine their own sex education policy taking account of the requirements of the national curriculum and guidance issued by the Secretary of State.
We do not collect data centrally on the numbers of parents withdrawing pupils from the non-statutory elements of sex education. Ofsted (Sex and Relationships, 2002") estimates 0.04 per cent. of parents exercise this right.
Sex Offenders Register
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people who (a) are working for and (b) have worked for her Department in Coventry in the last 10 years (i) are on and (ii) have been on the Sex Offenders Register. [44630]
Ruth Kelly: My statement and the accompanying report explain the work under way to establish how many people on the list of registered sex offenders are currently employed in schools in England and Wales.
It is not the Government's policy to reveal publicly information that may lead to the identification and whereabouts of any individual on the Sex Offenders Register. Identifying individuals in this way does not enhance child protection.
Special Measures
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools were under special measures in 2005. [44656]
Jacqui Smith: The following table shows the number of schools in special measures at the end of each month during 2005.
| Number of schools in special measures | |
|---|---|
| 2005 | |
| January | 303 |
| February | 297 |
| March | 288 |
| April | 281 |
| May | 262 |
| June | 248 |
| July | 248 |
| August | 242 |
| September | 238 |
| October | 247 |
| November | 222 |
| December | 224 |
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Teachers' Pensions
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will assess the cost-effectiveness of unifying teachers' pension benefits for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. [45440]
Jacqui Smith: There are no plans to assess the cost-effectiveness of unifying teachers' pension benefits for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In practice there is a great deal of commonality across the UK pension schemes for teachers but, as part of the Devolution arrangements, it is important that Ministers in each country's Education Department have the freedom to adapt teachers' remuneration packages, of which pensions form a part, to meet differing recruitment and retention needs.
Truancy
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many pupils were recorded as having at least one incidence of truancy in 2005; [41041]
(2) how many pupils were recorded as having at least one incidence of truancy in 2004–05. [41667]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested on unauthorised absence 2005 is shown in the table:
| Number of day pupils of compulsory school age | Number of pupils absent(26) | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | 3,565,048 | 583,859 |
| Secondary | 3,037,013 | 774,347 |
(25) 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. Truancy forms only one part of the unauthorised absence figures.
2 Number of pupils that missed at least one session due to unauthorised absence
Information on unauthorised absence in England 2004/05 can be found in table 6 of SFR 56/2005, Pupil Absence in Schools in England 2004/05 (Revised). This can be found at the following website: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000626/index.shtml.
University Degrees
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost is of educating a university student through a degree course in the 30 most popular subjects. [39916]
Bill Rammell:
DfES provides funding for HE institutions through annual grants to the Higher Education funding council (HEFCE). In allocating grant to institutions, HEFCE reflect the fact that
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different levels of resource per student are required for different subject groups. The table shows the unit of resource per full-time equivalent student per year. Figures relate to grant for teaching plus assumed tuition fee income only.
William Gibson
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement about the future employment of William Gibson. [44854]
Ruth Kelly:
My statement to the House on 18 January made it clear that it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.
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TREASURY
Child Benefit
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are in receipt of child benefit allowance in the Crosby constituency; and what percentage they constitute of the total population of the constituency. [44966]
Dawn Primarolo: The information is as follows:
8,300 families in the Crosby constituency were receiving child benefit at August 2004 (for further details, see
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_benefit/cb_geog_aug04_aug05.pdf).
This represents 15 percent. of the 56,374 electors in the Crosby constituency at 1 December 2004 (for further details, see
www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8887.xls)
Child Tax Credit
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the (a) family element and (b) child element of child tax credit has increased in each year since they were introduced. [43762]
Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows the rates for the family element and child element of the Child Tax Credit in the years since it was introduced.
| 2003–04 rates | Change | 2004–05 rates | Change | 2005–06 rates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child Tax Credit | |||||
| Family element | 545 | (+0) | 545 | (+0) | 545 |
| Child element | 1,445 | (+180) | 1,625 | (+65) | 1,690 |
Rates and thresholds for tax credits for 2005–06 and 2006–07 can be found on the HMRC website at: http://www.hmrcgov.uk/rates
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