| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
13 Feb 2006 : Column 1566W—continued
Home Education
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2006 to the hon. Member for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins), Official Report, column 1916W, on home education, if she will commission research on the number of parents who educate their children at home. [50869]
Jacqui Smith: The research needs for my Department are currently under review, and research into the prevalence of elective home education in England is under consideration.
LEA Finance
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the funding per pupil from the Dedicated Schools Budget will be for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority for 2006–07. [51516]
13 Feb 2006 : Column 1567W
Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) on 15 December 2005, Official Report, column 2200W.
Lesley Staggs
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what reasons Lesley Staggs gave to her Department for resigning as National Director of the Foundation Stage; and who has been appointed to the post. [46133]
Maria Eagle: Lesley Staggs, the present National Director for the Foundation Stage within the Primary National Strategy, has tendered her resignation to her employer, The Capita Group plc. Her resignation from the post is a matter between Lesley Staggs and Capita.
Capita are currently undertaking a recruitment process to appoint a new Director for the Foundation Stage, with interviews scheduled for early February. The successful candidate will be announced in due course.
List 99
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to paragraph 27 of her Review of the List 99 decision-making process and policy implications document published on 19 January whether the 10 cases are regarded by the police as not posing a risk because (a) none of the individuals is currently teaching in schools or (b) the individuals themselves are regarded as not posing a risk. [46585]
Ruth Kelly: As I said in my statement and the accompanying report of 19 January, current inquiries suggest that none of the individuals concerned is working in a school. Police have been asked to visit each of these individuals to check whether any is a cause for concern. None is judged by the police to pose a current risk.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people on List 99 have been permitted, at Ministers' discretion, to work in (a) sixth form colleges, (b) colleges of further education, (c) nurseries and (d) playgroups in each of the last five years. [47215]
Ruth Kelly [holding answer 31 January 2006]: It is not possible to provide this information in the format requested.
The Secretary of State does not give permission for people to work in specific settings; employment decisions are a matter for individual employers. Any individual who appears on List 99 or the POCA List (other than provisionally) on the grounds of unsuitability to work with children is barred from working in a regulated position" within the meaning of section 36 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 which includes, for example, a position whose normal duties include caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children.
13 Feb 2006 : Column 1568W
Protection of Children Act
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people have (a) been on and (b) been removed from the Protection of Children Act List in each year since it was first compiled. [44810]
Ruth Kelly: The Protection of Children Act List is a referral system for employers who have dismissed an individual for misconduct that harmed a child or placed a child at risk of harm. For all regulated child care settings it is mandatory to CRB check individuals prior to appointment. The Protection of Children Act List provides an additional safeguard within the CRB system for a limited range of circumstances set out in legislation, for example where somebody employed in a regulated child care position has been dismissed because they harmed a child. Since the establishment of the Protection of Children Act List in October 2000 the following number of people have been added or removed from the Protection of Children Act List in each year since it was first compiled:
| Names added | Names removed | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) 2000 | 899 | 0 |
| (b) 2001 | 48 | 52 |
| (c) 2002 | 53 | 14 |
| (d) 2003 | 68 | 9 |
| (e) 2004 | 129 | 12 |
| (f) 2005 | 227 | 26 |
The names added includes people transferred from the Consultancy Service Index, which was maintained by the Department of Health prior to the introduction of the Protection of Children Act.
Pupil Exclusions
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the rates of (a) temporary and (b) permanent exclusions are at schools run with (i) exclusively public money and (ii) financial assistance from the Vardy Foundation. [44066]
Jacqui Smith: The Emmanuel Schools Foundation sponsors three schools—King's academy; Trinity academy and Emmanuel city technology college.
Trinity academy only opened in September 2005 so no exclusions data have yet been collected from this establishment. Information on exclusions during the 2005/06 academic year should be available by June 2007.
Information on fixed period exclusions from academies and city technology colleges will start to be collected on a termly basis from May 2006. Figures for the full 2005/06 academic year should be available by June 2007.
The available information relating to permanent exclusions in the 2003/04 academic year is given in the table.
13 Feb 2006 : Column 1569W
(16) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(17) Information on permanent exclusions collected from academies and city technology colleges has not been validated. Figures are as reported by schools.
(18) Permanent exclusions data are collected retrospectively. The 2005 Annual Schools Census collected information on pupils on roll as at January 2005 together with permanent exclusions in 2003/04 school year. Trinity academy opened in September 2005, so information on permanent exclusions from this establishment is not currently available.
(19) Not available.
Source:
Annual Schools Census
Regulatory Reform
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many regulatory reform orders her Department has laid before Parliament in each of the last five calendar years. [46809]
Maria Eagle: My Department laid one regulatory reform order in 2001. The order was made. The order was: The Regulatory Reform (Voluntary Aided Schools Liabilities and Funding) (England) Order 2002 (2002/906).
Safeguarding Children
Sir George Young: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to her oral statement of 19 January 2006, Official Report, columns 966–70, on safeguarding children, what arrangements are in place to ensure that teachers from overseas meet the standards set for teachers based in the United Kingdom. [45243]
Ruth Kelly: Overseas teachers are subject to the same vetting procedures as UK teachers. However, where staff are recruited from countries outside the UK, the CRB or List 99 may not be appropriate, particularly when they are newly arrived. We currently advise employers to take extra care in other checks on overseas candidates and to seek information as to any criminal history from the authorities in their country of origin wherever possible. The CRB has an information service which can help with this.
It is important that any checks we have in place are as effective as we can make them, and we are reviewing the current process for vetting overseas teachers.
13 Feb 2006 : Column 1570W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |