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30 Nov 2006 : Column 876W—continued
The Youth Justice Board (YJB) has been responsible for collecting information on the costs of keeping children in custody since it began contracting places in April 2000. The YJB has provided the following information.
Cost of keeping a child in custody in financial year 2005-06:
Secure Training Centres—£47.2 million, for 274 places = £172,300 per capita
Secure Children’s Homes—£ 43.6 million, for 235 places = £185,500 per capita
Young Offender Institutes (YOI)—£147 million, for 2,768 places = £53,100 per capita
Total expenditure in this category = £237.8 million (this includes spend on education broken down as follows).
The financial year 2005-06 is the last full year for which figures are available. Precise figures are not readily available for previous years but the figures are estimated to be similar to the last five years. For Secure Training Centres (STC) and Secure Children’s Homes (SCH), the costs have increased by approximately 3 per cent. (just above inflation) per year.
Custody data come from the YJB Service Delivery team who manage the contracts and service level agreements with custody providers in the STC, SCH and YOI sectors. They use information on total contract price and number of beds provided to calculate per capita costs.
Cost of educating a child in custody in financial year 2005-06:
Secure Training Centres—£5 million, for 274 places = £18,200 per capita (estimated)
Secure Children’s Homes—£6.5 million, for 235 places = £27,700 per capita (estimated)
Young Offender Institutes—£22.5 million, for 2,768 places = £8,100 per capita
Education figures in STCs and SCHs are YJB estimates because it is not possible to disaggregate the cost of education from the total contract price. Education in YOIs over the last five years data also come from the YJB Service Delivery team. Education was an identified part of contracts first with the Prison Service, then in some regions with the Learning and Skills Council, and next year will be wholly paid to and delivered by LSC.
Children's Centres
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the Department will carry out a regulatory impact assessment on the implementation of children’s centres as stipulated in “Every Child Matters: Change for Children”. [105847]
Beverley Hughes:
There was no commitment in the “Every Child Matters” Green Paper to carry out a separate regulatory impact assessment (RIA) for children’s centres, and we do not plan one in the future. Assessments have already been carried out that consider the impact of placing the Sure Start children’s centre delivery model on a sustainable and long term footing. A partial RIA was conducted for the Green Paper that considered the level of regulation required to achieve a robust integrated framework of services and clear lines of accountability, inspection and intervention. A full RIA was then completed for the Childcare Act 2006 that included consideration of the statutory requirement to secure proactive, accessible and integrated services focused on the under fives—the duty underpinning the delivery of high quality services through children’s centres. This assessment concluded
that the statutory duties introduced by the Act are supported through the additional resources made available for child care, nursery education, and Sure Start. Future funding levels will be determined through the normal spending review mechanisms.
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff have been employed through employment agencies in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies in each of the last five years for which information is available; and what the (i) average and (ii) longest time was for which these temporary workers were employed in each year. [102963]
Mr. Dhanda: Statistics for temporary agency staff are recorded by days worked. The information detailed in the following table is for the calendar years 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
| Days worked | |
Since 1 November 2004, the Department has used a single provider (Adecco) through a contract with HM Prison Service. The key requirement of DfES is the provision of temporary administrative and secretarial cover. The use of agency staff/agency engagements are kept as short as possible and only used to meet genuine short-term needs (i.e. no more than 13 weeks).
Prior to 1 November 2004, the Department used Brook Street and Manpower employment agencies.
The information requested to establish the average and longest time for which these temporary workers were employed in each year could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Driving Jobs
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people are being trained for driving jobs in (a) B, (b) B1, (c) C1, (d) C, (e) C1 and E, (f) D, (g) D1, (h) D1 and E, (i) D and E and (j) F vehicle classifications. [106467]
Phil Hope: This Department does not collect this information.
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what grants are available for (a) employers wishing to train staff and (b) individuals wishing to gain training in driving-related employment. [106489]
Phil Hope:
The Government offer a range of support to employers wishing to train their staff. The financial support from this Department is usually attached to the learner not the employer and is offered in the form of a subsidy rather than a grant. Our new Train to Gain programme offers a skills brokerage service to help employers source the training they need and any
subsidies that might be available to them and free training for employees undertaking their first full NVQ level 2 qualification. While public funding to take driving tests is not generally available, there are a wide range of qualification-bearing courses for those wishing to engage in driving-related employment—for example the NVQ2 in Road Passenger Transport.
Educational Psychologists
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received about the funding of trainee educational psychologists in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [106637]
Jim Knight: Representations have been received from a number of interested organisations, including the Association of Educational Psychologists, the National Association of Principal Educational Psychologists and the British Psychological Society. Some representations have also been received from individual psychologists.
My noble Friend, the Under- Secretary of State with responsibility for Schools, is to meet with representatives of the profession and the local authority employers' side for an update on the funding arrangements for those wishing to train to become an educational psychologist.
Energy Use
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what regulations govern the minimum and maximum temperatures for (a) permanent and (b) temporary classrooms in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools. [106619]
Jim Knight: The Education (School Premises) Regulations, SI No.2,1999 give the minimum temperature for classrooms as 18(o)C. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, Regulation 7 (1) state:
“During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.”
This includes all classrooms including temporary classrooms. The Regulations are accompanied by an Approved Code of Practice and guidance.
Since April 2005, the HSE has made available general guidance on temperatures and thermal comfort for all indoor workplaces on the HSE website:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/thermal/index.htm.
This guidance applies to employees and staff working in schools rather than school pupils, and applies to all workplaces.
The HSE has not issued specific guidance on maximum and minimum temperatures in classrooms. However, the Department for Education and Skills has issued guidance for classrooms, on the popular questions website(1), which states:
High temperatures—Heat Stress and dehydration can be serious problems at temperatures above 35 degrees centigrade so that should be regarded as the maximum reasonable temperature for prolonged periods of time in school classrooms. This temperature is above comfort temperatures but healthy children should be able to cope with this if they
are given generous supplies of cool water to drink. More sensitive children may experience problems at much lower temperatures and staff need to watch for signs of heat stress at temperatures above 28 degrees centigrade. Schools with inadequate supplies of drinking water need to make arrangements for children to drink enough water. It should be remembered that the amount of water that can be delivered through drinking water fountains is small.
(1) http://www.dfes.gov.uk/popularquestions/
Foster Care
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the use of long-term specialist foster carers to accommodate young people who run away from home; and if he will make a statement. [106723]
Mr. Dhanda: We have not carried out an assessment of the use of long-term foster carers for young people who run away from home. However, we are currently working with The Children's Society to look at what local authority provision exists across the country in support of runaways, both to prevent them running away, and to ensure their safety and safe return when they do run away. We have also been supporting London councils in the early stages of the development of their pan-London runaways strategy; these councils are currently looking at the use of foster carers as one option for addressing the accommodation and support needs of runaways in the capital.
Free Speech (Universities)
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department has issued on the implementation of statutory duties in relation to free speech and freedom of association on university campuses. [106733]
Bill Rammell: Universities' responsibilities in regard to free speech and freedom of association were addressed in the guidance we issued on 17 November about tackling violent extremism in the name of Islam. This built on guidance issued by Universities UK last year on dealing with hate crimes and intolerance, which I supported.
Further Education Finance
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will take steps to improve the predictability of finance and income streams for further education institutions; and if he will make a statement. [102617]
Bill Rammell:
It is important that further education institutions have a clear understanding of the Government’s strategic direction for post-16 learning to enable them to allocate resources and to invest to best meet the needs of learners and employers. In each of the last two years we have published, some 10 months before the start of the funding year, a clear outline of our priorities giving providers the opportunity to prepare for forthcoming changes. This is significantly earlier than in previous years. The Learning and Skills Council’s (LSC) Annual Statement of Priorities for 2007/08, published last month, builds
on what we said last year in “Priorities for Success”, and outlines our funding priorities to meet the challenges of raising the skills and qualifications of young people and adults to world standards. The LSC will be consulting before the end of the year on proposals to develop funding and planning arrangements that better respond to the demand of learners and employers for high quality learning.
Higher Education
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many university and college admissions service applications there were in each of the last five years; how many came from each parliamentary constituency; and if he will make a statement. [103760]
Bill Rammell: The figures for the five most recently completed application cycles are given in the following table. Details of applicants by constituency are not held by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
| Applicants to full-time undergraduate courses through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)—applicants from England | |
| Year of entry | Applicants |
| Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) | |
The most recent provisional figures for 2006 entry, which show the position at the middle of October, show that although there have been small decreases in both applicants and acceptances, this comes on the back of larger than usual increases in 2005. Compared to the same point in 2004, acceptance numbers are up by 12,000 or 4.3 per cent. The underlying trend is still up.
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications for funding by international students wishing to study at higher education institutions in England were received in each of the last five years. [103081]
Bill Rammell: The number of EU domiciled students who applied for support towards tuition fees in each of the last five years to study at institutions in England is given in the following table.
| Academic year | Number of EU students applying for tuition fee support( 1) |
| (1) Numbers rounded to the nearest 100. Source: Student Loans Company (SLC) | |
Up to 2005/06, EU students were entitled to means-tested tuition fee support on a similar basis to
UK students. From 2006/07, EU students are entitled to a non means-tested tuition fee loan to cover the cost of their tuition.
Similarly, UK students who wish to study at a university in Europe are eligible to benefit from whatever fee support that country of study offers (i.e. in the same way that the country’s nationals would be treated).
Non-EU overseas students are not eligible for the financial support package which is available to home and EU students, hence no data are available for these students.
Independent Schools
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many special needs units were (a) opened and (b) closed in maintained schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority; and what estimate he has made of the number of such units which were (i) opened and (ii) closed in independent schools in each year, broken down by local authority; [102046]
(2) how many enhanced provision facilities were (a) opened and (b) closed in maintained schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority; and what estimate he has made of the number of such facilities which were (i) opened and (ii) closed in independent schools in each year, broken down by local authority; [102047]
(3) how many enhanced provision facilities there were in maintained schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority; and what his estimate is of the numbers in independent schools in each year, broken down by local authority; [102053]
(4) how many special needs units there were in (a) maintained schools and (b) independent schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority. [102079]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 22 November 2006]: The information requested is not held centrally.
In January 2007, the School Census will include an indicator that will allow the identification of pupils with special educational needs who are members of a SEN Unit within a maintained school.
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