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7 Mar 2006 : Column 1459W—continued
Queen's Birthday
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans her Department has to celebrate Her Majesty's 80th birthday; what advice she has issued to her Department's executive agencies on celebrations for the birthday; and if she will make a statement. [54192]
Bill Rammell: The Department's buildings, in common with all other Government offices, will fly the Union Jack to mark the Queen's Birthday. No other formal celebrations are planned.
Racism
Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many racist incidents among pupils were recorded in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) further education
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institutions in (i) England, (ii) the Tees Valley and (iii) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland in each year since 1997. [53533]
Jacqui Smith: Data on racist incidents are best collected, analysed and acted on at the local level. The Department does not therefore collect information on racist incidents at a national level. Schools are required to record all racist incidents and report them to their local authorities at least annually.
The requirement to record and report all racist incidents in schools came into force in November 1999. Therefore there are no data available for the years 1997–99. Until 2004, Middlesbrough included data on racist incidents in schools in their consolidated racist incidents reporting scheme. On the basis of information provided by Middlesbrough, in 2004–05 there were 37 racist incidents in primary schools and 68 in secondary.
Information in relation to racist incidents among students in further education institutions in England is unavailable as statistics are not routinely collated by the Department or by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the main funding body for further education, although individual colleges and some local LSCs may do so. On the basis of information supplied by the LSC, Tees Valley LLSC recorded two racist incidents in 2003–04, one in 2004–05, and nine in 2005–06.
Reading
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the sponsors of the Every Child a Reader project; and what the results of the project were. [53553]
Jacqui Smith: Every Child a Reader (ECAR) is a three-year programme which aims to help 5,000 five- and six-year-olds learn to read by placing specialist literacy teachers, trained in 'Reading Recovery', into schools to provide intensive one-to-one support to children most in need. The programme will also explore the potential for those teachers to support tailored literacy teaching more broadly within a school. ECAR is currently funded by the KPMG Foundation, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Indigo Trust, JJ Charitable Trust, and the SHINE Trust in partnership with the DfES. Further sponsors are being sought. The KPMG Foundation are also funding the appointment of an experienced educationalist to manage the programme, working with the Primary National Strategy and the Institute of Education.
Every Child a Reader began in September 2005. It is too early to say what the overall results of the programme will be. ECAR has commissioned an evaluation study to compare the progress of 200 children in London schools supported in 2005–06 through the ECAR programme with the progress of 200 children in schools not involved. The study will also evaluate the impact of the ECAR programme on overall standards in the schools involved. The results of the evaluation study will be available in autumn 2006.
Religious Education
Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the signatories to the joint statement of 22 February between faith leaders and
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the Department on teaching religious education; and whether this commitment will include the teaching of secular ethical perspectives contained in the National Framework. [55240]
Jacqui Smith: The signatories to the joint statement are:
The Rt Rev Dr. Kenneth Stevenson—Bishop of Portsmouth, Chair of Church of England Board of Education
The joint statement signed by senior members of the faith groups represented in England sets out the importance of inclusive religious education and pledges their support for the use of the Non-Statutory National Framework for Religious Education in their schools and colleges.
Launched by the Department in October 2004, the Non-Statutory National Framework for Religious Education provides opportunities to develop pupils' knowledge and understanding of Christianity, other principal religions and religious traditions, and secular world views.
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether a decision has been made on whether to retract her Department's guidance in paragraph 104 of DfES circular 1/94 that humanists should not be appointed as members of Group A of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education. [55525]
Jacqui Smith: The current policy regarding religious education and collective worship is set out in the Department for Education and Skills Circular 1/94. There are no current plans to revise this circular.
Safeguarding Children's Boards
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many local safeguarding children's boards have been set up. [53578]
Maria Eagle:
The most recent data come from DfES investigations in October 2005 to find out how local areas were putting in place the various reforms in the Government's Every Child Matters programme. 26 Local Safeguarding Children Boards had been established at that point while in a further 94 local areas, transition arrangements to move from Area Child Protection Committees to Local Safeguarding Children Boards by the deadline of 1 April 2006 had been agreed by the Local Authority. Based on these figures and informal contacts with local authorities we expect all English local authorities to have LSCBs in place by 1 April 2006.
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School Attendance
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all local education authorities have arrangements in place for identifying children missing from education. [53582]
Maria Eagle: All local authorities now have a named individual responsible for receiving details of children found missing education, and for brokering support for them through the most appropriate agencies. From contacts with the named individuals, we know that while some local authorities and their partners have improved their wider arrangements to identify such children, progress is patchy. The Government have recently commissioned a research organisation to conduct an independent survey of all local authorities to assess in more detail their progress in this area. We expect to publish the results in the summer.
The Government are concerned about any child missing education, as it is not just the child's educational attainment that is at risk, but also potentially his/her safety and welfare. That is why we signalled our intention, in the White Paper 'Higher Standards Better Schools for All', to introduce in the Education and Inspections Bill a new statutory duty on all local authorities to make arrangements to identify children missing education.
School Buildings
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the new school in Buckshaw village in Chorley will be built; and how many school places it will provide. [53354]
Jacqui Smith: The Department makes capital allocations directly to local authorities and schools. It is the responsibility of authorities to determine how they allocate funds to capital projects, including building new schools, taking into account of local needs and priorities set in their asset management plan. I am aware that local discussions will commence shortly to investigate the need for a new school in Chorley but have no plans to intervene in what is considered to be a local decision.
For 2006–07, Lancashire county council and its schools have been allocated £51.2 million for capital projects.
In addition to the capital allocation above, Lancashire is in wave 1 of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) in which 11 secondary schools (eight in Burnley and three in Pendle) will be replaced by five 11–16 schools in Burnley and two 11–16 schools in Pendle along with a 16–19 centre in Burnley. The indicative funding for this wave is £166 million. The remainder of Lancashire's secondary school estate will be covered in five future BSF waves.
Capital allocations to local authorities and schools are higher than ever before. In 2005–06 they are £5.5 billion and they are planned to increase to £6.3 billion in 2007–08, an increase from £683 million in 1996–97.
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