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5 July 2006 : Column 1123W—continued
Consultants
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what consultants are employed by his Department to work on (a) policy development and (b) cost control; and if he will make a statement. [81858]
Mr. Dhanda: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Emissions
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the total carbon emission of his Department in each year since 1997. [81910]
Mr. Dhanda: A complete answer cannot be provided as validated carbon emission information is only available from 1999. The figures presented in the following table are based on kilograms of carbon emitted per square metre of let table area in our HQ buildings.
| ( 1) kgC/m( 2) | |
| (1 )These figures exclude carbon emissions from road vehicles used for Government administrative operations as this information is not held | |
Departmental Fax Machines
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many department-owned fax machines have been issued to his staff in the last 12 months; to whom they were issued; and at what cost. [81945]
Mr. Dhanda: A complete answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but we do know that 11 fax machines were purchased at a cost of £4,137.17 in the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006.
Departmental Finance Directors
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) name, (b) professional and academic qualifications and (c) relevant experience are of the finance director of his Department. [80089]
Mr. Dhanda: The Director General of Finance of the Department for Education and Skills is Jonathan Thompson.
He is a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), a member of the CIPFA Council and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management.
He was appointed in May 2006. He was previously Director of Finance of Ofsted, and before that Director of Finance and Resources at North Somerset council. Prior to that he was senior public sector services manager with Ernst and Young.
Departmental Guidance
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pages of guidance have been issued by his Department in the last 12 months. [80038]
Jim Knight: The Department only sends hard copy publications automatically to schools in England in exceptional cases having stopped regular paper mailings in December 2004. Most recently a letter regarding the Ofsted report on staff recruitment checks was made available online and schools notified electronically by email.
Discussions with head teachers and detailed research showed that schools wanted to be able to choose the printed publications they needed, when they needed them, and to be able to order multiple copies.
The online ordering system enables schools to choose whether to download electronic copies or order the paper based publications they need at the right time for them and in the multiples they require. This system is linked directly to the fulfilment service and an existing telephone ordering line. A fortnightly email service to schools informs them of new and important publications.
This has resulted in schools being able to order a wider variety of publications from the Department, putting schools in direct control of what they receive, when they receive it.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to make copies of deposited papers available in the
(a) Vote Office and (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [81237]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 729W.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the deposited papers placed in the Library by his Department since 2000; and when they were published. [81294]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not collected.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff in his Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years; and what percentage this represented of the total number of staff in each case. [75099]
Mr. Dhanda: Annual reports for the last performance year (2005-06) are currently being collated. In the previous year, there were less than five cases of unacceptable performance and this information is therefore suppressed on grounds of confidentiality. In the 2003-04 performance year, five staff failed to achieve an acceptable mark, which represents 0.1 per cent. of all staff at that time.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of his staff are (a) under and (b) over 55 years of age. [77278]
Mr. Dhanda: A total of 3,350 staff are under 55 years of age, and 418 are aged 55 years and over.
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited into his Department in each of the last three years. [77279]
Mr. Dhanda: The information is given in the following table.
| Recruits into DfES over the age of 55 | |
| Number | |
EU Integration
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to remove from all EU legislation which he is responsible for transposing into UK law any references supporting EU integration. [82293]
Mr. Dhanda:
I have no plans to do so. In cases when EU legislation is proposed which would need to be transposed into UK each proposal will be considered
on its individual merits. However, EU competence in education and training is limited to supporting and supplementing the actions of member states, and fully respects the responsibility of member states for the content and organisation of education and training. There is therefore not a great deal of EU legislation in the education and vocational training field to be transposed into domestic legislation. In the majority of cases the Department for Education and Skills responds to EU decisions, recommendations and communications through the development of policy rather than legislative changes.
Judicial Review
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what occasions an (a) individual and (b) organisation has applied for a judicial review of decisions of his Department in each year since 1997; and what the outcome was of each case where proceedings have been completed. [80476]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Post Office
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for which services (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies hold contracts with the Post Office; and what the (i) start and (ii) termination date is of each contract. [81541]
Mr. Dhanda: A definitive answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what services (a) his Department and (b) its associated public bodies (i) make available and (ii) have made available in the last five years through the Post Office network; through how many outlets the service is or was made available; and how many relevant transactions were undertaken in each case in the most recent year for which figures are available. [79201]
Mr. Dhanda: A definitive answer could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Primary Schools
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what the most recent average cost per annum was of educating a child at primary school in England; [82076]
(2) what the most recent average cost per annum was of educating a child at primary school in each local education authority area in England; [82077]
(3) what the most recent figures are for the average cost per annum of educating a child at primary school in (a) rural and village areas and (b) town and city areas in England. [82078]
Jim Knight: The available information is given in the following table.
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