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Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to help educators encourage responsible alcohol consumption in young adults. [74118]
Beverley Hughes: Educating pupils about the effects of alcohol and how to reduce alcohol related harm is an important priority for all schools. The Department therefore expects all schools to reflect this within their drug education programmes and this is set out in Drugs: Guidance for Schools 2004.
Drug education which includes alcohol and tobacco is compulsory at key stages 1 to 4 as part of the National Curriculum in Science but is most commonly delivered through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Through the PSHE certificate for teachers we are training teachers to deliver better PSHE including alcohol education. DfES has also issued guidance to schools on drugs which emphasizes
the importance of addressing alcohol as part of a comprehensive programme.
We also commissioned DrugScope to produce guidance for drugs and alcohol education in FE colleges, which can be found on their website.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) the start-up costs are and (b) first years budget is for the Office of the Childrens Commissioner for England. [75192]
Beverley Hughes: We are not able to quantify the start-up costs for the Office of the Childrens Commissioner as much of the costssuch as the administrative support for the Children Act 2004, the recruitment costs for the Commissioner himself and initial support for his officefall under the general administration of the Department for Education and Skills. The first years (2005-06) budget for the Childrens Commissioner was £3 million. The Childrens Commissioners Annual Report and accounts for 2005-06 must both be laid before Parliament, these will give more detail on the Commissioners expenditure.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he has given to schools since 1997 regarding the potential liability of school governors in the event of (a) a fatality, (b) stroke and (c) other adverse reaction to a pupil aged under 16 years as a direct consequence of taking the emergency hormonal contraceptive pill (i) where the drug has been supplied on school premises with the sanction of the governors, (ii) where the drug has been supplied on school premises without the sanction of the governors and (iii) where the drug has been supplied off school premises but as a result of a referral by a school nurse on school premises without the sanction of the governors. [72133]
Beverley Hughes: No specific guidance has been issued to schools on this issue. The liability for the actions of health professionals working on school sites rests with the primary care trust (PCT), or NHS trust which employs them. School governors are responsible for ensuring that the school has consulted parents on the nature and scope of any health services available in the school; and ensuring that a protocol exists with the PCT/trust that makes clear which services will be delivered by PCT/trust staff working on the school site.
In terms of the individual scenarios described in the question:
(i) where the drug has been supplied on school premises with the sanction of the governors, the nurse will be personally accountable for their practice, but the employer (PCT/trust) may also be held vicariously responsible for the nurse's actions.
(ii) where the drug has been supplied on school premises without the sanction of the governors, the nurse will be personally accountable for their practice, but will still have vicarious liability protection with their employer (PCT/trust) if acting with their consent.
(iii) where the drug has been supplied off school premises but as a result of a referral by a school nurse on school premises, without the sanction of the governors, the nurse will be personally accountable for their practice, but will still have vicarious liability protection with their employer (PCT/trust) if acting with their consent.
Emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) is a prescription-only medicine, prescribed by GPs, qualified nurse independent prescribers and nurses and pharmacists working under a patient group direction (PGD). A PGD is where a doctor has delegated authority and the supply will therefore always be under medical supervision. The safety profile of EHC for under-16s is considered to be similar to that for older women. Fatalities and strokes are not associated with use of EHC.
Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the Minister of State for Schools and 14 to 19 learners will reply to the letters dated 17 January 2006 and 22 March 2006 from the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Derek Conway). [67446]
Phil Hope: The hon. Member received responses to both letters in April.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were enrolled at each maintained school in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in January (a) 2004, (b) 2005 and (c) 2006; and how many and what percentage of pupils in each school were (i) eligible for and (ii) receiving free school meals. [75247]
Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the rate of participation in higher education by 18-year-olds was in each region in England in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06. [75291]
Bill Rammell: The current measure of higher education initial participation is the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR), which is used to measure progress against the Governments target of increasing participation towards 50 per cent. of those aged 18 to 30 by 2010. This covers English-domiciled 17 to 30-year-old first time entrants to HE courses, at UK HEIs and English FECs, who remain on their course for at least six months. The figure is expressed as a proportion of the 17 to 30-year-old population of England. The HEIPR cannot be disaggregated by smaller areas. The provisional 2004/05 figure for England is 42 per cent., and the 2005/06 figure will be available in March 2007.
The latest available figures on participation by region were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in January in Young Participation in England, which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05 _03/. HEFCE has calculated a Young Participation Rate (YPR (A)), which is the proportion of young people in a given area who go on to enter full-time higher education at age 18 or 19. This measure covers the period 1997-2000. This proportion is disaggregated by Government office region, and the figures for England are shown in the following table.
Young participation rate (YPR (A)) | ||||
Percentage | ||||
Year cohort aged 18 in: | ||||
1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/2000 | 2000/01 | |
Source: HEFCE Young Participation in Higher Education. |
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many independent children's homes are registered. [69335]
Mr. Dhanda: I understand from the Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection that as at 21 March 2006 there were 1,388 independent childrens homes registered with the Commission. These include 1,257 homes run by private providers and 131 homes run by voluntary providers.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what estimate he has made of the cost to individual schools if the draft regulations for registration and monitoring of independent schools are implemented; [75444]
(2) what discussions he has had with Ofsted on the draft regulations for registration and monitoring of independent schools; [75445]
(3) what discussions he has had with (a) individual independent schools, (b) the Headmasters Conference and (c) other bodies representing the independent schooling sector on the draft regulations for registration and monitoring of independent schools. [75447]
Jim Knight: Regulations relating to the registration and monitoring of independent schools were made in 2003. No new regulations have been, or are being, drafted.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases of fabricated or induced illness in children were notified to the Department in (a) 2005, (b) 2004 and (c) 2003 in each local authority area; and if he will make a statement. [74988]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many non-civil servant staff are working in (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies; and what the pay levels are in each case. [68630]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many overseas students there were in each higher education institution in 2005-06; and what proportion of the student body this represented in each case. [75254]
Bill Rammell: The latest available information is shown in the table.
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