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10 July 2006 : Column 1443W—continued
Trident
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the Trident nuclear weapons programme cost in each of the past five years. [83114]
Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 July 2006, Official Report, column 713W, to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone).
Education and Skills
Academies
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of academies’ educational achievement in areas of educational deprivation. [82742]
Jim Knight: We have commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out an independent five-year evaluation of the academies programme. The third annual report is due to be published later this month. The 2005 report concluded that there is a “significant difference in the learning culture in new Academies, compared to their predecessors” and that 97 per cent. of staff think that the principal really believes that the academy can make a difference to the pupils’ learning whatever their family background. It also highlighted:
A generally positive endorsement of the sponsors’ role, particularly in terms of establishing a vision for academies and bringing to bear additional resources and expertise.
Strongly positive feedback, particularly amongst pupils, of the role played by academy principals in terms of transforming the learning culture and raising pupils’ aspirations
Clear evidence of innovative approaches being adopted by academies to the curriculum, staffing, teaching and learning and timetabling
Evidence of the new academies impacting positively on some aspects of pupil behaviour; and
innovative approaches being adopted in relation to the design of new academy buildings, and broadly positive feedback from staff, pupils and parents about the overall impact of the new buildings on teaching and learning.
In 2005, academies improved results by nearly 8 percentage points compared to 2004. This is three times the national average increase of 2.4 percentage points. The average five or more A*-C GCSE results of the 14 academies with pupils sitting GCSEs was 36.4 per cent. in 2005, compared to an average 21 per cent. in their predecessor schools in 2002.
David Bell, formerly Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools said last year about standards in academies that “in some cases, what has been achieved in a short time is nothing less than remarkable”.
Adult Learners
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research his Department has commissioned into the social profile of adult learners in West Lancashire. [83545]
Bill Rammell: The Department has not commissioned research into the social profile of adult learners specifically in West Lancashire. However, we do have some social profile information on West Lancashire adults who have been taking part in learning funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The following information is based on providers' returns to the LSC's Individual Learner Record database for the 2004/05 academic year.
A total of 6,196 adults (aged 19+) from the West Lancashire constituency took part in LSC-funded further education courses in the 2004/05 academic year. In addition, 478 West Lancashire adults took part in work-based learning courses; and 2,079 West Lancashire adults took part in adult and community learning courses. The breakdown of these adults in terms of gender, age, ethnicity and disability is shown in the following tables.
| Table 1. Participation by gender | ||
| Percentage | ||
| Women | Men | |
The proportion of women in West Lancashire who took part in work-based learning is higher than the national average. The proportion of women who took part in further education is also slightly higher than the national average, whereas the proportion of women in adult and community learning is the same as the national average.
| Table 2. Participation by age band. | |||
| Percentage | |||
| 19-24 | 25-59 | 60 and over | |
The age profile of students in West Lancashire in these three types of learning is very similar to the
national age profile of students in these three types of learning.
| Table 3. Participation by ethnicity | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| White British | Any other white background | Non-white background | Not known/not provided | |
The proportion of West Lancashire people from non-white backgrounds in all three types of learning is much lower than the national average. This reflects the low proportion of non-white people in the West Lancashire constituency.
| Table 4. Participation by disability | |||
| Percentage | |||
| Learner has a disability or learning difficulty | Learner does not have a disability or learning difficulty | No information provided by the learner | |
The proportion of disabled adults in West Lancashire who took part in these three types of learning is close to the national average. Note that these learners reported their own disability status and were not assessed.
Many other aspects of the social profile of adult learners are analysed on a national basis in the Department's National Adult Learning Survey. The latest version (for 2002)(1) is available from the House of Commons Library, and the Department plans to publish the 2005 version in September.
(1) Fitzgerald R, Taylor R & LaValle I. National Adult Learning Survey 2002, DfES Research report RR415.
A-levels
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many A-levels, on average, were achieved by pupils whose parents (a) both have A-levels and (b) have none in the last period for which figures are available. [84208]
Jim Knight: The following table shows estimates from the Youth Cohort Study (YCS) of the average number of A/AS-levels held by young people at academic age 18 broken down by the number of their parents who are qualified to at least A-level.
| A/AS-level of attainment by academic age 18 by parental attainment | |
| Number of parents reported as qualified to at least A-level | Average number of A/AS levels( 1) attained by young person |
| (1) AS-levels count as 0.5 A-levels Source: Youth Cohort Study, Cohort 11, sweep 3, spring 2004 | |
British Empire
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the draft changes to the key stage 3 curriculum about the British Empire; and whether there are plans to extend these changes to teach more on the British Empire at (a) key stage (i) 1 and (ii) 2 and (b) GCSE. [83111]
Jim Knight: The key stage 3 review is still in the early stages and these are early drafts of the new curriculum which will need further work before they are agreed. A formal consultation on the new curriculum will not begin until February 2007 and the new curriculum is not due to be implemented in schools until September 2008. It would be inappropriate to comment on the detail of any draft proposals until the QCA has carried out this further work and submitted formal advice to the Department.
There are no plans to make changes to key stage 1 and 2 or GCSE history at the moment.
Bullying
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding is planned to be made available to schools in West Lancashire for anti-bullying campaigns in each of the next five years. [83561]
Jim Knight: The Department does not make funding available to individual schools for anti-bullying purposes. However, in the current financial year we propose to make £1.4 million available to support anti-bullying initiatives. All of the organisations involved in taking forward these initiatives will be working with local authorities and other partners to help embed effective practice in schools. Budgets beyond the current financial year have yet to be decided.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will require schools to monitor and record incidents of homophobic bullying. [84209]
Jim Knight: We have no plans to require schools to monitor and record incidents of bullying, including incidents of a homophobic nature. Schools are, however, required to record details of any racist bullying incidents which occur.
Many individual schools and local authorities do record incidents of bullying, and we welcome this as best practice within our anti-bullying guidance to schools, "Don't Suffer in Silence". Furthermore, in line with commitments outlined in the White Paper, “Higher Standards, Better Schools for All” (October 2005), we shall be issuing guidance to schools in spring 2007 on how to prevent and tackle homophobic bullying.
Child Abuse
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what national records he keeps of child abuse incidents. [82085]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department for Education and Skills collects information annually about children’s social care from all 150 local authorities with social services responsibilities in England. Information is collected and stored on the number of children who are referred to social services departments, assessments made of whether the child is in need of any services and the number subsequently placed on the child protection register. A child is placed on the child protection register when it is decided that further action to safeguard their welfare is required as the child is at a continuing risk of harm.
Class Sizes
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size is in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in West Lancashire constituency. [83560]
Jim Knight: The available information is given in the following table:
| Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : average class size( 2 ) 2006( 3) position in January, West Lancashire parliamentary constituency, | |
| Average class size | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Classes taught by one teacher during a single selected period on the Census day in January. (3 )Provisional. | |
Final 2006 class size data will be published in September.
Classroom Heating
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school classrooms are unheated. [84219]
Jim Knight:
We are not aware of any classrooms that are unheated. There are requirements for all classrooms to be heated to a minimum temperature of 18(o) C in the
Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 (www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1999/99000202 .htm#16) and The Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003.
Community Family Trusts
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills under what programme he envisages future funding for community family trusts to be provided; whether such trusts are eligible for funding from the Children, Young People and Families Grant scheme for national programmes; and what the criteria are for the scheme. [83397]
Mr. Dhanda: Community family trusts will continue to be eligible to apply for funding under the Children, Young People and Families Grant programme. The criteria for the scheme in 2007/08 have yet to be announced, but details will shortly be placed on www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/strategv/voluntarvand community/cypfgrant/.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which community family trusts received funding for 2006-07; and under what grant programme such funding was made available. [83398]
Mr. Dhanda: Time for Families received funding in 2006-07, under the Children, Young People and Families Grant programme.
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