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14 Feb 2006 : Column 1921W—continued
Community Schools
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the total value of public assets which would be transferred from local authorities to independent trusts if (a) all community secondary schools and (b) all community primary and secondary schools chose to become trust schools. [47237]
Jacqui Smith: No estimate has been made of the value of those public assets that would transfer to and vest in the trustees of a new trust school. Measures similar to those already in place to protect publicly funded assets that have transferred to existing foundation schools will be introduced. These will require the trustees to obtain the appropriate consent before disposing of any assets transferred to them from the local authority.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department are taking to promote community schools. [50507]
Jacqui Smith: The Government expects all schools to sit at the heart of their communities and to work with other schools and services to meet the needs of those communities, regardless of their category.
The Government wishes to promote a diverse range of schools, reflecting the diversity of the communities that they serve. We have accordingly introduced legislation to require a competition to be held wherever a new secondary school is required so that a variety of providers can bring forward proposals and local people have the opportunity to make their views known about a number of options. The White Paper envisages extending this requirement to apply to new primary schools. The Secretary of State has recently made clear that where a local authority believe a community school is the right option for a particular area they will be able to seek the Secretary of State's consent to publish proposals for such a school. The final decision on proposals made by a local authority will be for the independent schools adjudicator.
Departmental Assets
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the items of departmental property worth over £100 that have been reported as (a) lost and (b) broken in the last 12 months. [47684]
Maria Eagle: My Department has no record of any items worth over £100 being reported as lost in the last 12 months. The following chart shows items of IT equipment that have been replaced in the last 12 months due to their being broken, either accidentally or due to normal wear and tear.
| Item | Number | Total value (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Laptop computers | 186 | 148,800 |
| Personal computers | 117 | 46,800 |
| Laserjet printers | 33 | 28,050 |
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Departmental Catering Budget
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much and what proportion of her Department's catering budget was spent on fair trade produce in the last period for which figures are available. [49915]
Maria Eagle: The information could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students in Bristol were in receipt of education maintenance allowance at the rate of (a) £30, (b) £20 and (c) £10 per week in the last year for which figures are available. [44130]
Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate Education Maintenance Allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 30 January 2006:
I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked how many students in Bristol were in receipt of education maintenance allowance at the rate of (a) £30, (b) £20 and (c) £10 per week in the last year for which figures are available."
During the academic year 2004/05 the number of young people who had received one or more EMA payments in City of Bristol Local Education Authority area was 1,484.
EMA is awarded in three defined payment bands of £30, £20 and £10, depending on household income. In Bristol Local Education Authority area the take-up of EMA by payment band is split as follows: 1,138 on £30 per week, 168 on £20 per week and 178 on £10 per week.
I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Chris Bradley at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4512 or Christopher.Bradley@lsc.gov.uk
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of students in receipt of education maintenance allowance who have continued into further education who otherwise would not have continued in education. [48936]
Maria Eagle: Education maintenance allowance (EMA) was subject to a very comprehensive evaluation. It was piloted by following two cohorts of 16-year-olds in 10 areas for four years from 1999/2000. It was rolled out to a further 36 areas in 2000/01, meaning that it was operating in around one third of the country. The evaluation showed an increase in participation of 16-year-olds in full-time education of 3.8 percent pts. This remains our most robust estimate of the impact of EMA on participation.
EMA was rolled out for 16-year-olds across the remaining two thirds of the country in September 2004. Administrative figures indicate that there was a 1.9 percent. pts increase in 16-year-old participation
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between 2003/04 and 2004/05, which is almost in line with the increase that would have been expected from the further roll out of EMA. Therefore, while it is not possible to attribute all of the increase to the roll out of EMA we remain confident in the evaluation estimate of 3.8 percent. pts. 3.8 percent. pts of the 16-year-old cohort in 2004/05 represents just over 25,000 young people.
Examinations
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many 15-year-olds took Level 2 Key Skills and Basic Skills qualifications regarded as functional equivalents to a GCSE in mathematics or English in the last year for which figures are available. [36025]
Jacqui Smith: The figures requested are included in the following table:
Key skill/basic skill qualification(25) | Number of 15-year-old pupils(26) achieving(27) level 2 in 2005 |
|---|---|
| Application of number/Adult Numeracy | 3,186 |
| Communication skills/Adult Literacy | 3,754 |
(25) These qualifications are included in the definitions for 5 A*-C including functional English and mathematics.
(26) The figures shown relate to pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year (i.e. 31 August 2004).
(27) The Department only holds information on the number of pupils achieving-not attempting-key skills and basic skills.
Failing Schools
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many failing schools there were in each local education authority area in each year since 1997. [48130]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Former Teachers
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have left the profession in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) subject and (b) length of service. [48131]
Jacqui Smith: The following table provides the number of full and part-time regular qualified teachers who left maintained sector service in England, including retirements, by length of service in each year between 1999–2000 and 2003–04, the latest year available.
A subject breakdown is not available.
Some of these teachers may have subsequently re-entered service or gone to teach outside of the English maintained sector.
Although the numbers of teachers leaving service has risen over the period, the number of new entrants has shown a greater increase. As a result the number of teachers in service has risen continually since 1998 and the full-time equivalent number of teachers in service is now 32,700 higher than in 1997. Between 2004 and 2005 the increase was 4,200. Teacher numbers are now at their highest level since 1981.
(28) Provisional estimates.
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Database of teacher records.
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