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27 Feb 2006 : Column 507W—continued
Care Support Services
Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support services are available for children leaving care in (a) the Wakefield District and (b) Normanton constituency. [51942]
Maria Eagle:
The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 imposes a duty on every local authority with social services responsibilities to provide services and support for their care leavers at least until they are 21, or longer if they remain in education or training. Such services must be identified in the pathway plan that must be
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provided for every care leaver and will be co-ordinated by the young person's leaving care personal adviser. The exact services provided for each individual will depend on their specific assessed needs but include—practical and emotional support, support to access suitable accommodation, support to access education, training and employment and, where necessary, related financial assistance.
Services to care-leavers in Wakefield have been provided through Signpost"—a partnership between Wakefield Social Services and Barnardo's—for the past 12 years. Additional partners include Wakefield Supporting People Team and Connexions. Signpost works with between 200 and 230 young people, aged between 16 and 21 (24 if in continuing education) at any one time.
Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of young people who left care in the last 12 months in (a) Wakefield district and (b) Normanton constituency are in education, training and employment. [51943]
Jacqui Smith: The DfES collects information from each local authority with social services responsibilities on the percentage of care leavers aged 19, who were looked after in their 17th year, who are participating in education, training or employment. The most recent data available can be found in Table 10 of the Key Local Authorities Tables published on 31 January 2006 on the following web page: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000615/index.shtml
This information is not collected for all young people who left care, and is not available at district or constituency level.
Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children left care in the Wakefield district and Normanton constituency in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005; and how many have left care. [51994]
Beverley Hughes: The latest available information on children who ceased to be looked after at a local authority level can be found in table 15 of the Department's publication on Children Looked After by Local Authorities, Year Ending 31 March 2004". This can be downloaded from the internet at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DBA/VOL/v000569/index.shtml. This information is not collected centrally at district or constituency level.
Child Care
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what cross-departmental arrangements exist for the formation of child care policy. [43663]
Beverley Hughes:
My role as Minister for Children involves close working with other departments to develop and deliver the Government's child care policy. The 10-Year Childcare Strategy was developed and published jointly by DfES, HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Trade and Industry. Implementation of the strategy is overseen by a high level official led programme board which includes representatives of these Departments, together with Ofsted, Department of Health, and the
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Office of Deputy Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's Delivery Unit also works closely with my department to support the formation and implementation of child care policy. There is close day-to-day working at official level.
DWP and DfES are jointly accountable for achieving our public service agreement (PSA) targets on child care. The child care strategy also contributes towards the DTI PSA target on Gender Equality.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places have (a) opened and (b) closed in West Lancashire since 2003. [52782]
Beverley Hughes: We do not have information at the constituency level.
The following table shows the numbers of Ofsted-registered child care places opening and closing in the Lancashire county council area since 2003.
| Places opening | Places closing | Net growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2003 to March 2004 | 6,695 | 2,841 | 3,854 |
| April 2004 to March 2005 | 7,220 | 4,603 | 2,617 |
| April 2005 to December 2005 | 4,128 | 2,550 | 1,578 |
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research the Department has undertaken to estimate the level of informal child care provision; and what changes there have been in levels of informal child care provision in the last 30 years. [50796]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 15 February 2006]: The Department has collected national data on the level of use of informal child care provision since 1999. This information was collected in 1999 and 2001 through the Parents Demand for Childcare" surveys and more recently in the 2004–05 survey Childcare and Early Years Provision: a Study of Parents' Use, Views and Experiences" (which is due to be published in March 2006). The Department is currently in the process of commissioning a further three annual surveys (for 2006, 2007 and 2008) in the series Childcare and Early Years Provision: a Study of Parents' Use, Views and Experiences" which will continue to collect national data on the level of informal child care provision.
The Department has not undertaken any research to estimate what changes there have been in levels of use of informal child care provision in the last 30 years. However, research has been undertaken to assess levels of change over the past seven years (since 1999) and this will continue for the next three years (until 2008).
Child Contact
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the future of the New Approaches to Contact Early Intervention Project. [51202]
Maria Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer on 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 1001W.
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Child Employment
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action she has taken on the recommendations on the regulation of child employment contained in the report by the Better Regulation Taskforce. [51669]
Maria Eagle [holding answer 14 February 2006]: Guidance has been given to local authorities that directors of Children's Services should have functions relating to child employment as part of their remit, as recommended by the Task Force. No final decisions have been taken on whether and how the Task Force's other specific proposals will be implemented. They will only be implemented to the extent that they can demonstrate a clear contribution to the key outcomes which we want to see for all children, described in our Green Paper Every Child Matters.
Child Protection
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what child protection procedures are in place to ensure that community service sentences carried out in schools do not pose a risk to children. [46960]
Maria Eagle: It is important that thorough checks are carried out on those people whose work will bring them into contact with children. Some of these checks are mandatory while others are strongly recommended as good practice.
The Safeguarding Children: Safer Recruitment and Selection in Education Settings guidance issued in June 2005 states that:
Local authorities, schools and further education institutions should ensure that the terms of any contract they let that requires the contractor to employ staff to work with, or provide services for, children for whom the LA, school or FE institution is responsible also requires the contractor to adopt and implement the measures described in the guidance"
Among other things the measures described include pre appointment checks of List 99 and CRB disclosures.
Under section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 anyone who is subject to a direction under section 142 of the 2002 Act given on the grounds that they are unsuitable to work with children is also disqualified from working with children. This disqualification is not confined to individuals in paid employment, but also includes unpaid employment, people under contract and volunteers.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many appeals to the tribunal established under section 9 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 against a decision (a) to give a direction or (b) not to vary or revoke a direction under section 142 of the Education Act 2002 there were in each year since 2002; and how many of these appeals were successful in each year. [47110]
Maria Eagle:
A person who has been barred on the grounds of being unsuitable to work with children may apply to the Care Standards Tribunal for a review where they claim that they are no longer unsuitable to work with children no sooner than ten years after the issue of their direction. A review by the tribunal will be on the grounds of a material change in the circumstances of the person concerned since the earlier direction was given.
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The annual number of appeals, to the Care Standards Tribunal in respect of listing on list 99, lodged in each calendar year is as follows:
| Number of appeals | |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 3 |
| 2003 | 3 |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 0 |
The following table shows detail of the decisions taken on appeal cases heard by the Care Standards Tribunal. Three appeals cases have not yet been concluded.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of people included on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 have been permitted to work under section 142 of the Education Act 2002, subject to (a) circumstances and (b) conditions specified in the direction. [47111]
Maria Eagle: There are no people included on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 permitted to work under section 142 of the Education Act 2002. The Protection of Children Act (PoCA) 1999 ensures that any individual included on the Protection of Children Act list is also fully barred from working in a child care position or an educational institution. The individual's name will also be included on List 99, the list maintained by the Department which prevents individuals from carrying out work to which Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 applies. A person included on the Protection of Children Act list is also disqualified from working with children in a regulated position (including work in an educational institution) under section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of people included on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 are prohibited from teaching under section 142 of the Education Act 2002. [47112]
Ruth Kelly:
There are to date currently 1,339 confirmed on the Protection of Children Act list. There are no people included on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 permitted to work under section 142 of the Education Act 2002. The Protection of Children Act ( PoCA) 1999 ensures that any individual included on the Protection of Children Act list is also fully barred from working in a child care
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position or an educational institution. The individual's name will also be included on list 99, the list maintained by the Department which prevents individuals from carrying out work to which Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 applies. A person included on the Protection of Children Act list is also disqualified from working with children in a regulated position (including work in an educational institution) under section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether anyone included on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 is teaching in schools. [47113]
Ruth Kelly: The Protection of Children Act (PoCA) 1999 ensures that any individual included on the Protection of Children Act List is also fully barred from working in a child care position in an educational institution. The individual's name will also be included on List 99, the list maintained by the Department which prevents individuals from carrying out work to which Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 applies. Any individual who is included on List 99, on grounds of unsuitability to work with children, or the PoCA List (other than provisionally) is also disqualified from working with children in a regulated position (as defined in section 36 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act, including work in an educational institution) pursuant to section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.
Although employment decisions are matters for individual employers, under section 142(8) and section 143(1) of the Education Act 2002 a relevant employer should not use the services of a person who is subject to direction under section 142 to carry out work in contravention of that direction.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice her Department issues to schools on the interpretation of the criminal record checks of new staff. [47123]
Maria Eagle: The guidance Preventing Unsuitable People from Working with Children and Young Persons in the Education Service" provides advice to employers, including schools, on the interpretation of the criminal record checks. This information is available in paragraphs 41–43 and can be found by accessing the Department's teachernet website: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=2172.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) other staff working in schools have served a prison sentence exceeding one year. [47272]
Maria Eagle: The Department does not hold this information.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) other staff working in schools have a conviction for (i) violence, (ii) illegal drugs and (iii) theft. [47273]
Ruth Kelly:
The Department does not hold this information.
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Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what regulations apply to private tutors in relation in the safeguarding of children. [47283]
Maria Eagle: Where an individual is barred from working with children under section 142 of the Education Act 2002 on the grounds that he or she is unsuitable to work with children", it is a criminal offence to work or seek work in any position that includes training or being in sole charge of a child or children. A person guilty of this offence is liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for up to six months and/or a fine and, on indictment, to imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine.
The Department would strongly advise parents to verify the credentials of any person employed to provide private tuition for a child, particularly if that person is likely to be alone with the child at any time. For example, parents could ask prospective tutors to provide an enhanced disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau, where one was available, or references from a recent employer.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidelines her Department has issued on the employment of supply teachers in schools in relation to the safeguarding of children. [47284]
Maria Eagle: The Department's guidance Child Protection: Preventing Unsuitable People from Working with Children and Young Persons in the Education Service" issued in June 2005 provides current advice for employers in the education service on preventing unsuitable people from working with children and young persons.
We have made it clear that CRB checks are strongly recommended as part of the appointment process for anybody who will be working in a school, further education institution or LEA service and that checks on supply teachers should be made when they are recruited from an employment business or supply agency.
It is a criminal offence for a person who is disqualified from working with children under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 to apply for, offer to do, accept, or do any work with children in a regulated position, as defined in the Act. That work includes any position in which the normal duties include caring for training, supervising or being in sole charge of children, as well as work in any position involving unsupervised contact with children under arrangements made by a responsible person.
The Secretary of State's statement on 19 January covered the wider safeguarding agenda, as well as focusing on specific settings.
Of the immediate policy changes announced in the statement, work is in hand to make on-appointment CRB checks compulsory for all new appointments to the schools work force. This will have a direct read-across to staff provided by supply agencies and we are also looking at other options for further tightening vetting procedures for these staff.
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Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of teachers reported to her Department by the police, in accordance with Annex A, Schedule 2 of Home Office Circular 45/86, since 1997 were included on list 99. [47475]
Maria Eagle: The information is not available. There is no central record to identify what proportion of teachers reported to the Department for Education and Skills by the police since 1997 have been included on list 99.
The Department is not routinely informed of all convictions and cautions incurred by teachers. The Police do not report convictions or cautions for minor offences or traffic offences to the Department. They only report those for offences which call into question the person's suitability to teach or work with children where they know that the person is a teacher or is working with children.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received on requirements for criminal record checks on those working in (a) crèches providing care for a child for less than two hours a day and (b) after-school clubs providing services for children more than eight-years-old; and if she will make a statement. [50719]
Ruth Kelly: I have received no formal representations on requirements for criminal records checks on those working in crèches providing child care for less than two hours a day or on after-school clubs providing services for children more than eight-years-old.
Child care for under eights must register with Ofsted in order to operate, there are exemptions to this rule one of which is that care which is run for less than two hours a day is not required to register.
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill, which I announced in my 19 January statement in the House of Commons, will provide the legislative framework for a new vetting and barring scheme. Under the new scheme, employers will be required to check the barred status of all applicants whose job involves working closely with children, including those working in child care not registered by Ofsted.
The Childcare Bill currently before Parliament will extend the Ofsted registration arrangements to child care providers looking after older children, on a voluntary basis. This means that where a school wishes to provide extended services through a third party we will issue statutory guidance that they only link with Ofsted registered provision.
For those child care providers who choose not to apply for registration, it will still be necessary for them check that their employees are not barred from working with children, and it will be illegal for them to employ a person so barred.
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