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25 Oct 2006 : Column 1918W—continued
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will introduce a formal qualification in citizenship; [96188]
(2) whether he plans to extend the length of time secondary school pupils spend studying citizenship; [96189]
(3) what assessment he has made of the effect of citizenship classes on tackling extremism. [96191]
Jim Knight: A short course GCSE in citizenship studies has been offered since 2003. This was developed to give pupils the opportunity to obtain a qualification recognizing their achievements at key stage 4. Over 54,000 candidates took the GCSE in 2006, an increase from 38,000 in 2005. It remains the fastest growing GCSE subject. Due to demand from schools we have developed subject criteria for both a full course GCSE and A level with a view to examination boards offering these qualifications.
There is no specified amount of time schools must teach citizenship. Schools are free to teach the subject in the way which best suits their school and pupils’ circumstances. We believe this flexibility is important in maintaining the ability of schools to provide delivery of citizenship tailored to the needs of their pupils.
Education can help to break down class and social barriers and plays a critical role in promoting respect and understanding. One of the aims of citizenship education is to educate pupils about appropriate forms of political engagement, legal and human rights and responsibilities and to engage in debates about political, moral and social issues. Schools are also required to teach pupils about the importance of resolving conflict fairly.
Education Funding
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total recurrent funding per pupil was for each local education authority in each year between 1998-99 to 2006-07 in real terms, using 2006-07 as the base year. [95459]
Jim Knight: The available information has been placed in the House Library.
Faith Schools
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department issues on selection in single faith schools. [96197]
Jim Knight: Guidance on school admissions for all maintained schools, including schools with a religious character, is contained in the school admissions code of practice published in 2003 as required under section 84 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.
Section 38 of the Education and Inspections Bill 2006 amends section 84 of the 1998 Act to enable the Secretary of State to issue a new school admissions code that relevant bodies will have to ‘act in accordance’ with. We are currently consulting on the draft school admissions code which, subject to parliamentary approval, will supersede the existing code of practice coming into force in February 2007.
Government Social Research Service
Mr. Harper:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of the Government Social Research Service in his Department in each of the last five years; how many projects have been completed by the service in that
period; and how many people are employed in the Service in his Department. [95853]
Jim Knight: This information is not available in the form requested. There are currently 39 (full-time equivalent) members of the Government Social Research Service employed in the Department for Education and Skills. The annual salary cost of these staff is £1.43 million. In 2005 there were 48.4 full-time equivalent staff and their salary cost was £1.72 million.
Research and analysis in the Department is conducted by multi-disciplinary teams. It is not possible, therefore, to say how many research projects were completed by social researchers alone as they often work jointly with economists, statisticians and operational researchers. The total number of research projects completed for the Department in each of the last five years is as follows:
| Number | |
Graduate Employment
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with their counterparts in the Department for Work and Pensions on the employment prospects of graduates. [96827]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 24 October 2006]: There have been no discussions recently. But we continue to encourage and support developments in the HE sector that help UK graduates compete effectively in the domestic and global employment market.
Bodies like the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) and Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) help to articulate the demands of very diverse groups of employers, and the sector skills councils are providing a detailed picture of the needs within particular sectors of the economy.
In response, the HE sector continues to find practical ways to respond to the diversity of employers’ needs. For example, the Higher Education Academy and its subject centres have, with CIHE’s help, compiled Student Employability Profiles that map courses against the competencies and attributes graduate employers value when recruiting. Within subject centres there is active sharing of good practice in developing employability skills within degrees and other HE provision. Individual HE institutions are taking forward a range of measures designed to improve graduates employability, for example by introducing work placements, personal development planning or helping students to develop critical and interpersonal skills. In some cases employers are directly involved in the design and delivery of courses
to ensure they will equip students with the necessary skills (for instance, the Ernst and Young degree in accounting, auditing and finance delivered in partnership with the Lancaster University Management School and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland).
Head Teachers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures his Department is taking to tackle shortages of head teachers in secondary schools. [96190]
Jim Knight: Since 1997, secondary head teacher vacancies have remained low and fairly stable—0.9 per cent. (30 posts) in January 2006. However, we are aware that some schools find it more difficult than others to recruit head teachers, and that demographic issues may make it harder in future. Through our work with the National College for School Leadership and other steps, such as the PriceWaterhouseCoopers study into school leadership, we are working to address this.
Heartlands Development, Haringey
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of (a) hiring the Decorium centre in Wood Green and (b) providing refreshments for the Department’s public meeting on 3 October on sponsorship of the new school to be built on the Heartlands development in Haringey. [94137]
Mr. Dhanda: Haringey local authority published their notice inviting proposals from potential promoters for the new secondary school on the Heartlands development on 4 September. The seminar hosted by the Office of Public Management at the Decorium centre on 3 October was an open meeting intended to provide information about Haringey’s plans for the new school and the procedure for submitting proposals.
The cost of hiring the Decorium centre was £1,762.50. The cost of refreshments was £515.09. Both figures include value added tax.
Higher Education
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students enrolled in higher education courses in the Lancashire region in each of the last five years. [96875]
Bill Rammell: The latest available figures are shown in the following table. Figures for 2005/06 will be available in January 2007.
Looked After Children
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will introduce national regulations on the process of placement and funding of educational support where a looked after child with additional educational needs is placed in another local authority area. [96686]
Mr. Dhanda: All looked after children have a care plan which includes an education plan based on their assessed needs. Local authorities are required through statutory guidance to ensure that the identified educational needs of any child placed out-of-authority will be met effectively in the proposed placement before it is agreed. This process must involve statutory notification of, and discussion with, all relevant bodies where the child would be living.
The proposals in the Green Paper “Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care” include piloting budget holding by lead professionals to offer greater freedom to social workers in meeting the needs of looked after children. In particular, we propose to make available a personalised annual budget of around £500 for social workers to spend on each child in order to support their education. We also propose in a number of trailblazer authorities to pilot the introduction of a ‘virtual head teacher’ who will work with schools to raise standards for all looked after children being educated in a local authority area regardless of whether they are looked after by another authority.
Opinion Polling
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what issues his Department has conducted opinion polling in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each poll was. [94537]
Phil Hope:
The Department has undertaken two public opinion surveys within the last 12 months. The first surveyed 500 parents and 500 non-parents to measure their perceptions of education, skills and children’s services. The survey ran over three waves—December 2005, March 2006 and June 2006 and each wave cost
£17,023 excluding VAT. We will publish a summary of the survey results on the DfES website later this month.
The second was a telephone poll conducted by MORI into the attitudes to fees in further education on behalf of the Department. The poll covered 2,000 members of the public in England and ran in September 2005. The cost of the MORI poll was £42,700 excluding VAT and the findings were published on the 11 November 2005.
Overseas Students
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of overseas students studying in England are from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) China, (d) Japan, (e) the United States and (f) Europe. [96201]
Bill Rammell: The latest available information is shown in the following table for 2004/05. Figures for 2005/06 will be available in January 2007.
| Number and percentage of overseas higher education students( 1) studying at higher education institutions in England | ||
| Number of students | Percentage of students | |
| (1) Figures cover postgraduate and undergraduate students on full-time and part-time courses. They cover overseas students who study for the whole of their course in England. They exclude overseas students who study part of their course (e.g. one term) in England as part of an exchange scheme. In 2004/05 there were a total of 26,000 of these students. (2) Includes students from the EU. Notes: 1. Figures are based on the HESA Standard Registration Population. 2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) | ||
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students enrolled on higher education courses in the north-east region in each of the last five years. [96202]
Bill Rammell: The latest available information is shown in the following table for 2000/01 to 2004/05. Figures for 2005/06 will be available in January 2007.
Post-16 Education
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department makes of (a) the demographics of an area and (b) existing supply in determining the need for post-16 places when establishing academies. [95791]
Jim Knight: The Department takes into account the levels of socio-economic disadvantage in the area where the school to be replaced with an academy is located. These levels are considered both for the wards from which that school’s pupils come, and for the wards in direct proximity to the school. The measures of socio-economic disadvantage which the Department uses are based on income, employment, health, education, housing, child poverty and access to services.
The Department also takes into account the existing supply of post-16 places in the local area. Every academy proposal which is submitted to the Department must be endorsed by the local learning and skills council. Post-16 places at academies also form part of local authority-wide plans for pupil places. The local authority must provide justification for the number of pupil places it proposes for an academy, specifically including the number of post-16 places it plans to offer.
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