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27 Nov 2006 : Column 416W—continued

Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many boys were subjected to a strip search in Huntercombe Young Offenders Institution in each month in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006; and how many times control and restraint procedures were used during such searches in each month. [101676]

Mr. Sutcliffe: The following tables give figures for all full searches and searches under control and restraint for January 2005 to October 2006:

Full searches and searches under control and restraint for January 2005 to October 2006
	2005
Full searches	January	February	March	April	May	June
Reception	106	81	63	70	93	74
Discharge	102	75	64	72	97	74
Room Search	120	120	120	120	120	120
Visits	40	40	40	40	40	40
Searches under control and restraint	0	0	3	0	4	1
Total Full Searches	368	316	290	302	354	309

Full searches	July	August	September	October	November	December
Reception	114	79	83	85	97	53
Discharge	114	72	82	83	108	14
Room Search	120	120	120	120	120	120
Visits	40	40	40	40	40	40
Searches under control and restraint	1	2	1	1	2	7
Total Full Searches	389	313	326	329	367	234

	2006
Full Searches	January	February	March	April	May
Receptions	53	103	79	110	83
Discharges	39	129	63	112	67
Room Searches	120	120	120	120	60
Visits	40	40	40	40	40
Searches under control and restraint	4	0	1	1	1
Total Full Searches	256	392	303	383	251

27 Nov 2006 : Column 417W

Full Searches	June	July	August	September	October
Receptions	72	85	67	85	121
Discharges	68	85	66	83	114
Room Searches	60	60	60	60	60
Visits	40	40	40	40	40
Searches under control and restraint	2	0	2	0	0
Total Full Searches	242	270	235	268	335

Education and Skills

Boarding Schools

Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many places were available in state boarding schools in England in each year since 1976. [103256]

Jim Knight: The years for which data is immediately available are in the table. A full response will be placed in the Library as soon as it is collated.

	Headcount	Number of boarders
1996	25,255	3,546
1997	25,569	3,546
1998	25,998	3,912
1999	26,979	3,949
2000	27,764	3,987
2001	28,526	4,005
2002	29,134	3,500
2003	29,954	3,383
2004	30,660	3,585
2005	31,280	3,950
2006	31,703	4,104
Source: Annual schools census. Does not include two state boarding schools which are sixth form colleges as annual school census data are not available.

Child Care

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of families living in poverty in each UK constituency have (a) free and (b) subsidised childcare. [100869]

Beverley Hughes: I am replying with information on the position in England only. The position in other parts of the United Kingdom is a matter for the respective devolved Administrations.

All three and four-year-olds in England are entitled to 12.5 hours free early education provision over 38 weeks. Through the 10-year childcare strategy, we have committed to extending the universal minimum free early education entitlement to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks by 2010.

As part of the spending review 2004, the Chancellor announced a small scale pilot programme to provide 12,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds (including those from low-income families) with access to free early education and childcare. The pilots commenced in
27 Nov 2006 : Column 418W
April 2006 and run until 2008. They will enable us to look closely at the potential benefits of such provision, focusing in particular on improvements in child outcomes and closing early achievement gaps. The pilots will also explore the effectiveness of different strategies for engaging the most disadvantaged groups.

Information on subsidised child care is not available.

Class Sizes

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size is for (a) primary and (b) secondary classes. [102440]

Jim Knight: The available information is given in the table.

Maintained primary and secondary schools: average class sizes( 1,2 ) as at January 2006, England
	Average class size
Primary	26.3
Secondary	21.5
(1) Classes as taught during a single selected period in each school on the day of the census in January. (2) Classes taught by one teacher. Source: Schools' Census.

Early Years Teachers

Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent in each of the last five years supporting early years teachers with funding towards their continued professional development. [101952]

Jim Knight: Early years teachers employed in schools may access schools’ budgets for funds to support their continuing professional development (CPD). In addition an element of the General Sure Start Grant may be used to fund the CPD of early years teachers and other early years staff working across maintained and other settings. Decisions about the actual amount of expenditure deployed in this way are made locally by schools and local authorities.

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