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9 May 2006 : Column 178W—continued
RU Thinking About It?
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department has given to the RU Thinking About It? website in each month since its inception; and if he will make a statement. [66864]
Beverley Hughes: The Department's expenditure on the RU Thinking website since taking over responsibility for it from the Department of Health is as follows:
| Financial year | Expenditure (£) |
These figures break down to average monthly costs of £4,366 and £7,727 respectively and include reporting, hosting and maintenance, design and development and the creation/addition of new articles and features. Figures are exclusive of VAT.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with the organisers of the RU Thinking About It? website about (a) the type of material and (b) the accuracy of the information contained on the website; if she will request that the abortion section be amended to read that doctors can only offer an abortion if the criteria in the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended) are complied with; and if she will make a statement. [66865]
Beverley Hughes: The information is as follows.
(a) As Minister for Children and Young People, I have discussed the approach and role of the website within the campaign strategy. However, it is the role of departmental officials to liaise with the website providers over the detail of the content, which I would expect to be consistent with the key messages of the campaign.
The RU Thinking website provides information to support the key messages of the national campaign to reduce teenage pregnancy: encouraging young people to resist peer pressure and delay early sex; raising awareness of risks of unprotected sex; and highlighting the importance of seeking early advice, The breadth of information on the site reflects the full range of issues on which young people contact the service.
(b) I am confident that the governance of the site adheres to high standards on clinical and legal accuracy and that it is endorsed by officials from both the Department of Health and DfES. All medical information is checked for accuracy with sexual health professionals.
The website makes clear that an abortion can only be performed with the agreement of two doctors. We believe that it is more appropriate to explain the further eligibility criteria for an abortion under the Abortion Act 1967 (as amended), in the medical consultation.
School Finance
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the overall budget for schools was spent on (a) departmental administration and contractors and consultants and (b) local authority administration in each year since 1997. [68082]
Jim Knight [holding answer 2 May 2006]: The Department does not collect the information in the way it has been requested at (a). However, the following table gives a breakdown of the available data for (b) local authority administration. Similar data are not available before 1999-2000.
| ( 1) Central administration (£) | ( 2) Total education spending (£) | Percentage | |
| (1) Net current expenditure on central administration covers the overall management of a local authority's responsibility in relation to education. Central administration figures are drawn from local authorities' Section 52 Outturn Statement s and include expenditure on insurance and joint use arrangements. Central Administration expenditure is shown as a percentage of total education spending. (2) 1999-2000 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the RO1 form collected by the ODPM to the Section 52 form from the DfES, directly comparable figures are not available from this source. The closest comparison available would give percentages of 3.2 per cent. for both 1997-98 and 1998-99. 2002-03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) and the associated restructuring of the Outturn tables. The change in sources is shown by the blank row. Up to 2001-02 figures were taken from the net current expenditure before recharges row, management and support statutory / regulatory duties column. For 2002-03 onwards the net current expenditure column for the central administration line has been provided. (3) Since 2003 the Schools Budget has been separate from the LEA Budget. Note: Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 28 April 2006. |
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the education budget for schools was in each year since 1997. [68083]
Jim Knight [holding answer 3 May 2006]: The available information is contained within the following table. Similar data are not available before 1999-2000.
| £ | ||
| of which: | ||
| Budgeted education revenue expenditure | Total school budget | |
| n/a = not available Notes: 1. Total schools budget and budgeted education revenue expenditure is drawn from local authorities Section 52 Budget Statements submitted to DfES. This is calculated as the gross elements of any grant lines plus the net elements of the remainder of the budget. 2. Budget education revenue was split to show local authority and schools' budget separately from 2003-04 onwards. 3. Cash figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000. As reported by local authorities as at 2 May 2006. |
School Sports Partnerships
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects all schools to be part of a school sports partnership; what progress has been made towards this target; and if he will make a statement. [67416]
Jim Knight: All maintained schools will be within a school sport partnership from this September (2006). There are currently 411 school sport partnerships encompassing 80 per cent. of maintained schools in England.
Sure Start
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new Sure Start centres his Department plans to open by the end of 2008. [69351]
Beverley Hughes: The Government have set a target of 2,500 Sure Start children's centres being open by March 2008 and 3,500 centres by 2010.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget for Sure Start will be in 2008-09, expressed in terms of funds (a) per Sure Start centre and (b) per head of anticipated child users. [69352]
Beverley Hughes: Funding for Sure Start for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be subject to the outcome of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR). Details of the budget allocated to Sure Start for 2008-09 will not be available until the CSR has been completed.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many under-fives entitled to free nursery places on the Sure Start scheme are on waiting lists in Tamworth constituency; [68349]
(2) how many available places there are in Sure Start schemes in Tamworth constituency. [68350]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the availability of places and the number of children on waiting lists for Sure Start services are not collected centrally.
However, Sure Start Tamworth has the potential to deliver a range of integrated services to 448 children under four and their families.
Sure Start Tamworth is set to become a children's centre during phase 2 of the children's centre programme (2006 to 2008) bringing Sure Start services to children under five and their families in the area. Staffordshire local authority is in the process of finalising proposals for the future development of children's centres.
Teachers
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary (i) head teacher and (ii) deputy head teacher posts in England had been vacant for more than three months in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [67403]
Jim Knight [holding answer 2 May 2006]: Information is not collected in the form requested.
Provisional information on teacher vacancies and temporarily filled head teacher posts for January 2006 was published in tables 4, 5 and 9 of the School Workforce in England Statistical First Release 18/2006, on 27 April 2006. The SFR provides a snapshot of vacancies and temporarily filled posts as at January and is available on the department's website at the following URL:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000653/index.shtml
A copy has been placed in the House of Common's Library.
Truancy
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the truancy levels were in schools in (a) Carlisle constituency, (b) Cumbria and (c) England in each year since 1996. [65752]
Jim Knight: The Department does not hold data on the levels of truancy. However, the figures for the percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence (of which truancy forms a part) in maintained mainstream schools can be found in the following tables:
| Percentage of half days missed in maintained primary schools due to unauthorised absence | ||||||||
| 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | |
| Percentage of half days missed in maintained secondary schools due to unauthorised absence | ||||||||
| 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | |
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost of truancy programmes has been since 1997; and what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of each programme. [68605]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 6 March 2006, Official report, column 1235W to the hon. Member for South-West Hertfordshire(Mr. Gauke).
As a result of our investment and reforms, school absence has fallen for four consecutive years and is now at a record low, with 10,000 fewer pupils absent from school every day compared to last year and 60,000 fewer than in 1996/97. Overall absence in 193 secondary schools, targeted with extra Government support because of their high levels of absence, reduced in 2004/05 by 6.45 per cent. compared to1.98 per cent. in other schools.
We plan to publish a report on the effectiveness of electronic registration systems in secondary schools at the end of May.
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