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14 Jun 2006 : Column 1216W—continued
Information and Communication Technology
Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress the e-Strategy Programme Board is making on integrating the use of IT in education; and if he will make a statement. [76124]
Jim Knight: The Department established a high level Technology Group in October 2005 to oversee the system wide implementation of the e-Strategy in England. The Department is supported in this role by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)—lead delivery partners for the e-Strategy.
The e-Strategy is being delivered through four interlinked transformational programmes:
Strategic Technologies—strategic and cost effective deployment of technological infrastructure.
E-Maturity—building people and institutional capacity for effective use of technology.
Personalised Content—multimedia resources adaptable to learners’ needs and learning styles.
Knowledge Architecture—improving the way in which information is shared and managed to support more personalised learning.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was allocated to schools for the purchase of information community technology equipment in each year since 1997. [76161]
Phil Hope: There was no specific funding allocated for the purchase of ICT equipment in 1997. ICT funding allocations for schools in England in each year from 1998 to 2006 are detailed in ‘Funding for ICT in Schools in England’ which is available in the House Library.
From 2006-07 we have moved to a new method of funding for ICT equipment and there is no specific amount for ICT. The amounts previously allocated specifically for ICT have been included in allocations for Devolved Formula Capital and School Development Grant. Schools may use their overall resources, including their Devolved Formula Capital grant and their Schools Development Grant, to purchase ICT equipment and services. This supports schools in their financial management and provides greater flexibility on how they spend funding to target their priorities.
Maintained Schools
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many maintained schools in England offered (a) general and (b) vocational qualifications at level 3 or above in the national qualifications framework to pupils in the fourth key stage in the latest year for which figures are available. [76493]
Jim Knight: The Department does not hold information on whether schools offer level 3 qualifications to pupils in Key Stage 4.
School Fires
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the annual cost of fires in schools was in each year since 1995. [77454]
Jim Knight: The earliest figures we have from the Department for Communities and Local Government are for 2000 and the latest are for 2004. These cover school fires in England and Wales.
| Number—fires | Total costs (£ million) | |
The costs are rounded to the nearest million and are derived from the (then) ODPM publication “Economic Cost of Fire, estimates for 2004”. They cover property damage and the costs of the fire and rescue services attending the fires.
School Sprinkler Systems
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the average additional cost of sprinkler systems in new school buildings built by local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [77456]
Jim Knight: Last autumn, the Department commissioned the Building Research Establishment to carry out a cost benefit analysis study of installing sprinklers in schools. This will include a quantitative assessment of the costs and benefits of fitting automatic fire suppression systems in new schools, based on actual system costs and proposed system costs. It should therefore provide reliable figures for the costs of installing sprinklers in schools.
The study is continuing and we expect to receive the final report within two months.
School Uniform Grants
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local authorities do not provide school uniform grants. [76723]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected by the Department for Education and Skills.
Science Laboratories
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the recall of funding promised for science laboratories. [62969]
Jim Knight: Capital investment underpins the Government's drive to raise standards of education and we are fully committed to taking forward our programme to renew and improve all schools. Funding for investment in schools is £6.8 billion this year and it will rise to over £8 billion by 2010-11. This compares to under £700 million in 1996-97.
Our aims include rebuilding or renewing all secondary schools through the Building Schools for the Future programme, including their science laboratories, in fifteen waves of investment which started last year. Already about 350 schools have been prioritised in the first three waves, and we aim to include up to a further 600 schools in the next three waves. We also aim to have 200 Academies open or in the pipeline by 2010. In all, by 2010 almost a third of all secondary schools will be funded to improve their science teaching facilities.
Building Schools for the Future is only one of our capital programmes, and is allocated just over a third of the total capital funding for schools. All schools and authorities get additional funding for their priorities. This includes the funding which schools get directly—a typical secondary school will get over £100,000 of its own money this year, which can be rolled over to allow larger projects such as science facilities to be addressed.
We are providing the resources to improve school laboratories where this is the priority. What is now important is to ensure that the new laboratories are designed not just to teach the curriculum, but that they have 21(st) century facilities and are inspiring places to teach and to learn. Our aim is to enthuse pupils with an interest in science, both as a subject and a possible career. Therefore we are planning shortly to launch a “School Science Labs of the Future” project which will bring together teams of leading designers and bodies with specialist interest in, and practical knowledge of, the teaching and learning of science to develop a range of exemplar designs. The most exciting of these will be built in schools around the country so that there is a range of practical examples to act as benchmarks and to disseminate the learning.
Although this is over a longer timescale, we believe that this is the best way of ensuring comprehensively that all young people have the opportunity to learn in high quality facilities which inspire them to pursue their dreams and achieve their potential, and not be turned off by science.
Standards Fund Grant
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the value was of Standards Fund Grant 31a in each year of its existence, broken down by local education authority. [76160]
Phil Hope: Standards Fund Grant 31a existed in 2004-05 and 2005-06. The following table shows the allocations to local authorities in those years (including local authority matched funding).
| Grant 31a | |||
| £ | |||
| LEA name | DfES grant | LA | Total |
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