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30 Oct 2006 : Column 220W—continued
Pupil Numbers
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [93530]
Jim Knight: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number (headcount) of pupils in schools by urban/rural classification as at January each year—England | ||||||||
| Maintained primary( 1) | Maintained secondary( 1) | |||||||
| Urban( 2,3) | Rural( 2,4) | Unknown( 5) | Total | Urban( 2,3) | Rural( 2,4) | Unknown( 5) | Total | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Urban/rural classification for schools is based on the school's current postcode. (3) Includes schools in urban > 10,000 (sparse and less sparse) classifications. (4) Includes schools in hamlet and isolated dwelling (sparse and less sparse), town and fringe (sparse and less sparse), village (sparse and less sparse) classifications. (5) School's postcode was invalid and therefore could not be matched to urban/rural classification. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown. Source: Pupil numbers—Schools' Census. Urban/rural classification—Derived from Urban/Rural Classification 2004. Produced in conjunction with The Countryside Agency, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Office of National Statistics and Welsh Assembly Government. | ||||||||
School Buildings
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to promote higher environmental building standards in new schools. [97270]
Jim Knight: DfES requires all major new build and refurbishment projects in schools to register with the Building Research Establishment and carry out a BREEAM Schools Environmental Assessment. We expect these projects to achieve a very good or excellent rating using the assessment method. This ensures that all these projects are built to very good environmental standards.
School Meals
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent, in today's prices, on school meals in each of the last 20 years. [93553]
Jim Knight:
Prior to 2006-07, expenditure data collected by the Department related to total expenditure on the combination of school meals and milk. Consequently, it is not possible to report accurately expenditure on school meals alone. However, in 2006-07 the Department introduced a school meals grant, which was allocated to local authority maintained schools (including nursery
schools and pupil referral units). The amount was £28.1 million. Also introduced was a targeted school meals grant which was devolved to schools. The amount was £5.6 million.
Notes:
1. The figures are as reported by local authorities as at 17 October 2006 on their 2006-07 Section 52 Budget Statements (Table 1 lines 1.0.6 and 1.0.7).
2. Details of how the grants are allocated are set out in the Standards Fund Circular 2006-08 which was issued in December 2005.
School Science Laboratories
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many school science laboratories are designated of a satisfactory standard; [96996]
(2) what progress he has made on bringing school science laboratories up to a (a) good and (b) excellent standard by 2010. [96997]
Jim Knight: The Department does not routinely collect information on individual laboratories. However, we are committed to improving accommodation for teaching and learning science.
Funding for investment in schools is £5.9 billion this year and it will rise to over £8 billion by 2010-11. Much of this funding can be used to improve school laboratories where this is the local priority.
Building Schools for the Future will in time renew all secondary schools including their science provision. Already about 350 schools have been prioritised in the first three waves, and we aim to include up to a further 600 schools in the next three waves. We also aim to have 200 academies open or in the pipeline by 2010. In all, by 2010 almost a third of all secondary schools will be funded to improve their facilities, including their science laboratories. In the meantime, where there is urgent need, all schools have access to the other funding available including the capital devolved to authorities and to schools.
We are providing the resources to improve school laboratories where this is the priority. What is now important is to ensure that science facilities in schools are designed to meet curriculum needs and inspire excellent teaching and learning. “Project Faraday” has been launched to address this need. It will bring together teams of leading designers and educationalists with specialist interest in, and practical knowledge of, the teaching and learning of science to develop a range of exemplar designs by mid 2007. Project Faraday also aims to build a range of science demonstration projects that will provide practical examples of excellent facilities to act as benchmarks and to disseminate the learning. We intend to evaluate the project over a number of years.
Sex Education
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to encourage teenagers to abstain from sexual intercourse before the age of 16 years; and if he will make a statement. [97686]
Jim Knight: All schools are required by law to have regard to the Department's guidance on ‘Sex and Relationship Education’ (2000). This guidance clearly states that learning the reasons for delaying sexual activity and the benefits to be gained from such delay should form part of a comprehensive programme of sex and relationship education.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of mainstream school pupils in (a) Ribble Valley and (b) Lancashire have a statement of educational needs. [97471]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Mainstream schools: Number and percentage of pupils with statements of SEN( 1) —January 2006—Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency and Lancashire local authority | ||||||
| Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency | Lancashire local authority | |||||
| Pupils with statements of SEN | Pupils with statements of SEN | |||||
| Total pupils | Number | Percentage | Total pupils | Number | Percentage | |
| (1) Excludes dually registered pupils. (2) Includes middle schools as deemed. Source: Schools’ Census | ||||||
Speech and Language Provision
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many local education authorities have strategic partnerships in place with local health authorities for the provision of speech and language provision in (a) early years and (b) pre-school settings; [97168]
(2) what provision is made for children with speech and language difficulties in early years and pre-school settings; and if he will make a statement; [97279]
(3) what guidance is issued by his Department on early intervention for children with speech and language difficulties in pre-school settings; [97280]
(4) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of early intervention for children with speech and language difficulties. [97281]
Mr. Dhanda: Under section 10 of the Children Act 2004 all local authorities and ‘relevant partners’, including health, are under a duty to improve a child’s well-being. This underpins the children’s trust approach. Local priorities for action, including speech and language provision, will be informed by a needs assessment which will be carried out in partnership by all involved in the planning process.
Local authorities themselves have a critical role in co-ordinating, commissioning and brokering services such as speech and language therapy. They develop multi-agency teams to work in partnership through Sure Start Children’s Centres, other early years providers and extended schools to respond to the needs of individual children. When a practitioner in an early years setting identifies a child in need of specialist provision, support will be available from the local authority.
We have put in place various measures to support local authorities and settings to intervene early on speech and language difficulties. These include the following.
The Joint Planning and Commissioning Framework for Children, Young People, and Maternity Services, published in March 2006, aims to help local partners put in place a unified planning and commissioning system. The framework supports integrated working on improving outcomes and making best use of resources, and will join up services so that children and young people with multiple needs experience a seamless service.
Early years practice will be delivered through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), a high quality framework for learning and care which all registered settings will be required to work within. It is being developed to allow early years practitioners to meet the individual needs of all children in their care, enabling them to take into account the particular needs of each child. Practitioners must provide relevant, developmental-appropriate learning opportunities and set realistic and challenging expectations that meet the diverse needs of babies and young children.
Supporting this practice, the Early Support Programme—a DFES/RNID led partnership aimed at co-ordinating services for young disabled children or children with SEN aged 0 to 5—has also, in partnership with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, developed a wide range of practical resources and training materials that can support the communication needs of children. This is available to local authorities and to settings.
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