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Education Act 1996
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the operation of section (a) 444 and (b) 509 of the Education Act 1996; what recent representations he has received about the operation of this Act; and whether he has plans to amend this Act. [80417]
Jim Knight: These sections of the Education Act 1996 deal with school attendance and school transport. We believe that parents must take responsibility for their children’s attendance at school. Where children do not attend school regularly, a prosecution or a penalty notice under section 444 may be needed if parents are not doing their best to ensure that their child attends school.
The Department receives representations from a range of sources, including pupils, parents, local authorities and MPs about the operation of sections 444 and 509. There is widespread agreement that the transport provisions are out of date.
The Education and Inspections Bill includes amendments to sections 444 and 509 of the Education Act 1996. These will confirm that it is for a parent to prove that they have a good reason for failing to ensure their child attends school. The Bill also extends the right to free transport for low-income groups, and clarifies local authority duties relating to school transport.
Education Legislation
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) Green Papers, (b) White Papers and (c) Bills on education have been produced since May 1997. [80455]
Jim Knight [holding answer 26 June 2006]: The following table shows a list of Green and White Papers. Information on all Bills produced is not readily available, but a list of Acts on education is included.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students aged 16 years or above were receiving education maintenance allowances in each (a) school and (b) college in the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (i) at the start of the school year in 2005-06 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available. [75214]
Mr. Dhanda: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council’s Chief Executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked “how many students aged 16 years or above were receiving education maintenance allowances in each (a) school and(b) college in the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (i) at the start of the school year in 2005-06 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available”.
By the end of April 2006, 3,113 young people received one or more EMA payment with schools or colleges in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne area during the academic year 2005/06.
The attached table displays the data for EMA take up for all schools and colleges in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne area at the end of October 05 and at the end of March 06. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payment in the academic year 2005/06.
| School/college | Take up at September 2005 | Take up at April 2006 |
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many residents of Stroud constituency are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of education maintenance allowance. [77821]
Mr. Dhanda: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate Education Maintenance Allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, has written to the my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Rob Wye, dated 28 June 2006:
I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questionthat asked “how many residents of Stroud constituency are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).”
Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received EMA is available at Local Authority (LA) level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payment in the academic year 2005/06.
Projections of the number of young people eligible for EMA are formed by applying income distributions (derived from the Family Resources Survey) and expected numbers in full-time further education. When applied to individual localities the figures may be subject to some variation but they provide a useful estimate.
The following table displays the data for Gloucestershire.
| Eligibility for EMA in 2005/06 | |
| Gloucestershire LA | |
| (1
)By end of June
2006. | |
In practice, not all eligible young people will take up EMA. For modelling purposes we therefore take account of what the actual take-up was in the previous year. In 2004/05 the take-up in Gloucestershire was 2,125 and on this basis we expected take-up in 2005/06 to be 3,850.
I trust this information is helpful.
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