---

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1212W—continued

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1213W

Education and Skills

Building Bulletin 100

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress with the Building Bulletin 100 review. [77455]

Jim Knight: Public consultation on Building Bulletin (BB) 100, “Designing and Managing Against the Risk of Fire in Schools”, concluded in November last year. There were 66 responses to the 12 questions asked and many included additional comments, some extensive. An analysis of these responses has been completed and will shortly be published on the Department’s website.

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1214W

This feedback has now been incorporated into a new draft of BB 100, which is being internally reviewed. We hope to publish the final, agreed version before the end of this year.

Class Sizes

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on class sizes in the London borough of Havering. [75443]

Jim Knight: Information on class sizes in Havering local authority area is given in the table. This shows that the average size of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 classes has decreased since 2002. The average size of classes in secondary schools has remained the same.

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1215W

14 Jun 2006 : Column 1216W

Classes taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools (by Key Stage 1 and 2) and secondary schools( 1,2,3) —position in January each year: 2002 to 2006 (provisional)—Havering local authority area
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006 (provisional)
Key Stage 1 classes( 4)
Average class size	26.6	26.7	26.6	26.1	26.2
Number of classes	294	291	273	284	277
Percentage of classes with:
1-30 pupils	99.3	100.0	100.0	100.0	98.9
31 or more pupils	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.1
Number of pupils	7,823	7,762	7,268	7,416	7,249
Percentage of pupils in classes with:
1-30 pupils	99.2	100.0	100.0	100.0	98.7
31 or more pupils(5)	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.3
Key Stage 2 classes
Average class size	27.5	27.5	27.6	27.3	26.8
Number of classes	402	392	368	384	390
Percentage of classes with:
1-30 pupils	71.9	77.6	80.2	81.8	87.2
31 or more pupils	28.1	22.4	19.8	18.2	12.8
Number of pupils	11,058	10,764	10,159	10,501	10,434
Percentage of pupils in classes with:
1-30 pupils	67.2	73.7	77.3	78.4	84.7
31 or more pupils	32.8	26.3	22.7	21.6	15.3
Classes in primary schools
Average class size	27.1	27.1	27.1	26.7	26.5
Number of classes	719	706	686	692	686
Percentage of classes with:
1-30 pupils	83.2	87.0	88.0	89.2	91.7
31 or more pupils	16.8	13.0	12.0	10.8	8.3
Number of pupils	19,506	19,137	18,613	18,509	18,181
Percentage of pupils in classes with:
1-30 pupils	79.9	84.4	85.8	86.8	89.9
31 or more pupils	20.1	15.6	14.2	13.2	10.1
Classes in secondary schools
Average class size	21.8	21.7	22.0	21.9	21.8
Number of classes	709	731	732	724	708
Percentage of classes with:
1-30 pupils	94.6	94.1	94.4	93.2	92.5
31 or more pupils	5.4	5.9	5.6	6.8	7.5
Number of pupils	15,457	15,878	16,087	15,846	15,399
Percentage of pupils in classes with:
1-30 pupils	92.2	91.4	91.9	90.2	89.2
31 or more pupils	7.8	8.6	8.1	9.8	10.8
(1) Classes as taught during a single selected period in each school on the day of the census in January. (2) Includes middle schools as deemed. (3) For secondary schools, excludes sixth form colleges. (4) Includes reception classes. (5) Key Stage 1 classes of 31 or more may contain pupils who have been admitted as exceptions. Source: Schools’ Census

Education Act 1996 (Prosecutions)

Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many prosecutions were brought under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 in the last year for which figures are available; and how many such prosecutions involved children with cerebral palsy. [76949]

Jim Knight: Home Office data for 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, show 8,140 prosecutions in England and Wales under the Education Act 1996. These include:

3,393 prosecutions for truancy under section 444(1);

1,091 prosecutions for truancy under section 444(1A) (the aggravated offence);

3,654 prosecutions for various offences under the Education Act. These are likely to include some prosecutions under sections 444(1) and (1A); and

two prosecutions for child employment offences.

Prosecutions related to section 7 for truancy are brought under section 444 of the Act. Information is not collected on the characteristics of pupils or their families.

Examinations

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which organisations are permitted to submit (a) GCSE and (b) A-level examinations for approval by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. [76235]

Jim Knight: The awarding bodies AQA, Edexcel and OCR are the only organisations that currently submit GCSE and A-level specifications to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), which regulates qualifications in England. Any other organisations that wished to submit such a specification would have to show that it could abide by the relevant regulations.

---