Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 20 June 2006
Education and Skills
Child Care
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what steps he is taking to promote choice and diversity in the provision of pre-school child care; and if he will make a statement; [78575]
(2) what steps he is taking to assist local authorities to deliver affordable pre-school child care; and if he will make a statement; [78576]
(3) what steps he is taking to increase parents’ access to flexible pre-school child care; and if he will make a statement. [78577]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 19 June 2006]: The Government are committed to maintaining a diverse and vibrant child care market where providers from the private, voluntary, independent and maintained sectors work together in support of children and families. The new duties in the Childcare Bill will require local authorities to assess child care needs within their area, find out what parents want, and try to meet their needs. This will deliver choice and maintain diversity, responding to the needs of parents who—perhaps because they work atypical hours—are looking for flexible child care.
All three and four-year-olds are currently entitled to 12 and a half hours of free early learning and child care, and by 2010 this will have increased to 15 hours. Parents will be able to use the free entitlement flexibly enabling them to balance work and family life more effectively. From later this year pathfinders will test delivery mechanisms to ensure that parental demand for increased flexibility can be met without driving smaller settings out of business. The findings from the pathfinders will inform the roll out of the extension in hours and flexibility by 2010.
The duty in the Childcare Bill to secure sufficient child care which is eligible under the child care element of the working tax credit will help to improve the affordability of child care by providing greater access for families to the financial support available through the tax credits system. During 2005-06, the level of investment in the child care element of the working tax credit was more than £2.4 million a day, benefiting around 356,000 families. This year the maximum proportion of costs that can be claimed through tax credits increased from 70 per cent. to 80 per cent. We are also tackling high child care costs in London through a pilot programme being run jointly with the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority which will deliver an additional 10,000 child care places for families on lower incomes.
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will recommend Hertfordshire’s model for the delivery of Phase 2 child care centres to other county councils and public sector providers; and if he will make a statement. [78578]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 19 June 2006]: I understand that Hertfordshire county council is still developing its children’s centres implementation plan. Each local authority has strategic responsibility for developing children’s centre services in its own area. We have issued guidance to help local authorities do this, including examples of good practice. However, detailed plans will be based on an individual authority’s own assessment of the needs of children under five and their families in the area, including the levels of disadvantage they face.
Head Teachers
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) head teachers and (b) deputy head teachers have taken early retirement in each of the past three years. [78574]
Jim Knight [holding answer 19 June 2006]: The information is not available in the format requested.
The following table provides the number of teachers in the leadership group, comprising head, deputy and assistant head teachers, who have retired early (defined as before the normal pension age of 60) on premature, actuarially reduced (ARB) or ill health grounds in each year from 2002-03 to 2004-05, the latest information available.
| Early retirements( 1) of teachers in the leadership group by year and type of award in the local authority maintained sector | ||||
| Premature | ARB | Ill-health | Total | |
| (1) Includes only teachers awarded pension benefits under the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme. Note: Data are provisional. Source: Database of Teacher Records (DTR) and Pensioner Statistical System. | ||||
Higher Education
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applicants aged (a) 21 to 25 and (b) over 25 had applied for courses in higher education institutions in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2006-07 in the April before the start of each academic year; and what the percentage change was in each year. [76271]
Bill Rammell:
The available figures are shown in the table. They are taken from press releases issued by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in April each year which summarise applicant numbers as at 24 March, for each of the age bands of under 21 years, 21-24 years, and over 24 years. The figures reinforce our view that the long-term trend of increasing university applications will continue. There
was a larger than expected increase in the number of applicants for entry in 2005 and although the number of applicants for 2006 are down compared to 2005, they are above the numbers for 2004 entry. We experienced a similar dip in applications in 1998 when tuition fees were introduced, but numbers returned to their usual levels the following year and continued upwards thereafter. We expect this to be the trend going forward.
| English-domiciled applicants by 24 March of each year, by age | ||||
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) Press Releases. | ||||
Post-16 Learning (Medway Towns)
Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what Government funding has been made available for post-16 learning in the Medway Towns local authority area for each year since 1997, broken down by education provider; and how many young people in the area have attended courses providing key skills for employability. [78273]
Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) allocated nearly £108 million to providers in the Kent and Medway area for 2005/06, an increase of more than 5 per cent. compared to 2004/05. This does not include the funding for work based learning or Personal Development and Community Learning (formerly Adult and Community Learning). Information on the individual funding allocations for providers dating back to 2001 is available from the LSC website. Since 1997 this funding has increased nationally by around £2.5 billion—equivalent to 48 per cent. in real terms.
Training for key skills is provided through the Key Skills Support Programme and aimed at post-16 learners. Up to September 2004, a total of 940,000 key skills qualifications had been awarded to over 570,000 individual learners.
Research Assessment
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he plans to hold research assessment exercises in 2008. [77908]
Bill Rammell: On 13 June, as part of the launch of the Government’s consultation on future arrangements for higher education research assessment and funding, I announced that the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise would proceed as planned. The panels responsible for assessing individual subjects will be able to make greater use of research metrics alongside or instead of academic peer review if they deem this appropriate, provided that this would not place new data collection burdens on institutions.
University Admissions
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of A-level students from the London borough of Havering secured a place at university in 2004-05. [75453]
Bill Rammell: The information requested is not held centrally.
In 2004 there were 1,419 16 to 18-year-old A-level candidates in maintained schools and colleges in Havering local authority.
The latest available figures on participation in higher education by local authority were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in January 2005. The report, “Young Participation in England”, shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by local authority, for the years 1997 to 2000.
The figures for Havering local authority, and the comparable figures for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced figures beyond 2000.
| Young participation rate (YPR (A)) in higher education in the UK | ||||
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | |
| (1) Participation rates for local authorities are reported to the nearest whole number. Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England. | ||||
The report is available from the HEFCE website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/
The total number of entrants from Havering for each year since 2001/02 are given in the table.
| Entrants to undergraduate courses at UK HE institutions, from the London borough of Havering | ||||
| 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | |
| Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | ||||
The Department uses the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18-30 in higher education towards 50 per cent.: the latest provisional figure for 2004/05 is 42 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at local authority level.
University Applications
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many university applications have been made by students in the London borough of Havering in each year since the introduction of tuition fees; and if he will make a statement. [75446]
Bill Rammell: The information requested is not held centrally.
The available information covers the number of actual entrants to higher education, from the London borough of Havering, and is given in the table.
| 18-year-olds domiciled in the London borough of Havering entering higher education at UK higher education institutions | |
| Academic year | Number |
| Note: Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | |
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