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27 Feb 2006 : Column 542W—continued
Head Teachers
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment her Department has made of the level of morale among head teachers. [52502]
Jacqui Smith: Current indicators suggest that head teacher morale is generally good. A recent independent MORI survey published in 2005, found that the majority of head teachers were positive about their leadership role: nine in 10 said they felt confident in what they did and enjoyed it. However, we know the job is challenging which is why we have the NCSL to support and develop school leaders.
Higher Education (Pay)
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance was given to the Higher Education Funding Council for England on how the second round of Rewarding and Developing Staff funding should be allocated to higher education institutions. [49139]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 6 February 2006]: The Department's guidance to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on the allocation of round 2 Rewarding and Developing Staff (RDS) funding was included in the 22 January 2003 Grant Letter to HEFCE, as follows:
The £170 million will be consolidated into institutions' core grants from 2004- 05 and, in addition, I am making available an extra £50 million in 2004–05 and £117 million in 2005–06. I expect the Council to make the new funding conditional on universities and colleges continuing to develop and implement
- their human resource strategies, and in particular on their taking steps to move towards market supplements or other means of recruiting and retaining staff of the right calibre; and committing themselves to rewarding good performance. I am particularly concerned that good teaching should be identified and rewarded. The Council should also make clear that postdoctoral and other researchers should be included in these strategies. Therefore the Council should ask each institution to revise its human resource strategy to focus on these points, and reiterate the need for improvements in equal opportunities for higher education staff. Where the Council is satisfied that the strategy is sound and is being implemented properly, I look to the Council to add the additional funding to that institution's baseline. Where the Council has doubts, the additional funding should remain earmarked until the revised human resources strategy and its implementation satisfy the Council."
In accordance with this guidance, HEFCE asked HEIs to submit extended plans to encompass the additional priorities, including approaches to teaching career progression and recognition schemes for relevant staff groups, as well as consolidating work on human resource systems arising from the round 1 investment.
For both rounds of funding, HEFCE allocated the RDS fund to each HEI on a formula basis. Round 1 was based on the institution's teaching and research funding in the previous year, and round 2 based on teaching funding only. Each institution determined its own spend across the identified priority areas.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what sum has been allocated under the Rewarding and Developing Staff initiative to the Higher Education Funding Council for England's priority area of implementing institutions-wide job evaluation to tackle unequal pay; and what proportion of total Rewarding and Developing Staff funds from rounds 1 and 2 this represents. [49140]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 6 February 2006]: The aim of the Rewarding and Developing Staff (RDS) initiative has been to enable higher education institutions (HEIs) to develop their human resource (HR) capability. To secure allocations of funding under round 1 of the initiative (2001–02 to 2003–04), HEIs were asked to submit human resource strategies to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Institutions were asked to address six priority areas: recruitment and retention; staff development and training; equal opportunities targets (including plans for job evaluation); reviews of staffing needs; performance review; and tackling poor performance.
For both rounds of funding, HEFCE allocated the RDS fund to each HEI on a formula basis. Round 1 was based on the institution's teaching and research funding in the previous year, and round 2 based on teaching funding only. Each institution determined its own spend across the identified priority areas.
KPMG was commissioned by HEFCE to undertake an evaluation of round 1 of the scheme (2001–02 to 2003–04), its main objective being to assess the impact of the initiative on the development of HR management. KPMG's findings were that the distribution of expenditure between the six priority areas was as follows.
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Note:
Data derived from HEIs' Annual Monitoring Statements.
It is not possible to identify separately expenditure on job evaluation which is included in the category Equal Opportunities", though the KPMG report identified that 85 per cent. of HEIs were implementing or piloting a job evaluation scheme during round 1. Further details of the KPMG evaluation report can be found at http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rdreports/2005/rd14_05/ Analysis of expenditure in round 2, which finishes in July 2006, will be published in 2007.
Higher Level Teaching Assistants
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many higher level teaching assistants are working in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each local education authority. [50770]
Jacqui Smith: Information on the number of staff working as higher level teaching assistants (HLTA) in schools is not available. The latest data from the Training and Development Agency for Schools show that approaching 9,300 people have achieved HLTA status to date.
Home-Start
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the role of Home-Start in supporting families; how much funding will be provided for Home-Start in 2006–07; and if she will make a statement. [52618]
Beverley Hughes: Home-Start is a voluntary organisation helping families, with at least one child under five, who are facing serious difficulties. It matches parents with trained volunteers who provide friendship, practical and emotional support. Additionally, where families have more complex needs, Home-Start volunteers are able to refer families on to appropriate service providers.
To date Home-Start have worked with over with 25,000 families and over 55,000 children through a network of 245 community based schemes in the UK. We have increased our funding for Home-Start UK to enable the continued delivery of high quality home visiting support to families, from £874,000 in 2003–04 to £2.73 million for 2006–07.
Human Resources Strategy
Mr. Hayes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what was the cost of developing the human resource strategy Delivering Through
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People; which consultancies were involved; what projects have followed; and if she will make a statement. [53121]
Maria Eagle: The Department's HR Strategy Delivering Through People" was launched in April 2003 following consultation with key stakeholders, including staff at all grades and trade union side.
The Strategy was well received with widespread support for the need to develop a HR vision for the Department that would enable the challenges set out in the Department's Strategic Framework to be met.
The Strategy was developed, consulted on and implemented by the Department's HR Strategy team, all of whom were permanent employees, as part of their responsibilities at an approximate cost of £30,000. No external consultants were involved at any stage of the project, and there were no other direct costs involved.
The Strategy was, and continues to be, embedded through a wide range of projects, supported by a Corporate Services Portfolio Board, and HR Business Partners to support the delivery of the Department's five year strategy for Children and Learners.
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