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4 Dec 2006 : Column 132W—continued
School Playing Fields
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications his Department has received from local authorities to sell school playing fields since the School Standards and Framework Act 1998; and how many such applications have been (a) refused and (b) approved. [104070]
Jim Knight: Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced in October 1998 to stop the indiscriminate sale of school playing fields. Local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools now need the Secretary of State’s consent before they can dispose of a playing field or any part of a playing field.
Since October 1998, the Department has received 190 applications from local authorities to sell an area of school playing field capable of being used for at least a small sports pitch. Of these, two have been rejected and 142 approved. Of the remainder, 38 have been withdrawn and eight are still to be determined.
School Staff (Redbridge)
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) teaching assistants were employed in (i) Redbridge and (ii) Waltham Forest in (A) 2005-06 and (B) each of the preceding five years. [103585]
Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers and teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in Redbridge and Waltham Forest local authorities in each January from 2001 to 2006.
| Full-time equivalent regular teachers (excluding occasionals) and teaching assistants in local authority maintained schools in Redbridge and Waltham Forest local authorities, January 2001 to 2006 | ||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: (1) DfES annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, 618g. (2) Source: Annual School Census. | ||||||
School Transport
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many children were transported to and from school by taxis provided by Essex county council in each of the last five years; [106064]
(2) how much was spent on taxis to transport pupils to and from school by Essex county council in each of the last five years. [106065]
Jim Knight: The Department does not routinely collect the data requested.
Schools Admissions
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what factors he took into account when deciding that schools that select up to 10 per cent. of their intake by aptitude in permitted subjects will be exempt from the restriction on giving higher priority to siblings of existing pupils under paragraph 2.13 of the draft Schools Admissions Code; and if he will make a statement. [104245]
Jim Knight: The new School Admissions Code will establish a framework for school admissions that is fair to all families whatever their social group or background. Giving priority to siblings of children already at a school supports families, especially those with young children, but it also reduces the number of places available to children from other families, including those where the eldest child has yet to start school or where there is a gap of several years between children. This was recognised by the Education and Skills Select Committee in its 2004 report on Secondary School Admissions. While supporting the use of this criterion, the Committee was concerned that when used in schools with significant degrees of selection or where it did not take account of families that had since moved to another area, it would substantially reduce the number of places available to other families. The draft Code accordingly states that schools that select more than 10 per cent. of their intake by ability or aptitude should not use the criterion. This is not an absolute prohibition, schools may continue to use it if they can justify doing so, if an objection is made to the schools adjudicator.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools are permitted to use pre-existing partial selection by ability under section 100 of the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998; and how many of those have admissions arrangements that allow for (a) 10 per cent. or less and (b) more than 10 per cent. of pupils to be selected on the basis of ability. [104268]
Jim Knight: 39 schools are known to operate forms of selection permitted under section 100 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998; 36 of thesehave admission arrangements that allow for more than 10 per cent. of their intake to be selected on the basis of ability each year.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representations his Department has received (a) in favour of and (b) opposed to permitting partially-selective schools from giving priority to admissions of siblings in the past12 months. [104269]
Jim Knight: To date, we have received more than 1,150 responses to the consultation on the new School Admissions Code on this issue. All responses will be analysed after the consultation ends on 1 December 2006. A decision will then be made on the final provisions to be included in the School Admissions Code on which we will seek the approval of Parliament.
Social Deprivation
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that small areas of social deprivation receive assistance under funding initiatives in his Department. [105833]
Jim Knight: The formula used to calculate Schools Formula Spending Share (FSS) for 2005-06 and previous years took account of the extra spending needed by those authorities with areas of social deprivation. Since the formula for Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) starts from local authorities’ spending on schools for 2005-06, and that is closely related to their Schools FSS, each authority’s DSG allocation will take account of the extra spending needed by authorities with areas of social deprivation. As part of the review of school funding, we are considering what measures of social deprivation should be used in the allocation of DSG for 2008-09 onwards and whether a more fine gained measure is practical. We expect to consult on proposals in the spring.
In addition, between 2001 and 2006, 81 Excellence Clusters were set up to provide targeted resources and guidance for secondary schools in the most disadvantaged communities and focused on leadership, behaviour, teaching and learning. The schools in these Clusters continue to receive additional funding through the School Development Grant from 2006. From September 2004, the Excellence in Cities programme was expanded to provide additional resources to primary schools in disadvantaged areas, to raise standards and tackle barriers to learning.
The formulae used to distribute nearly all of the Department’s other resources for children, young people and family services take account of the level of social deprivation in each area. The formulae have been developed in conjunction with local government and are kept under review.
State Boarding Schools
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many places were available in state boarding schools in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) Wantage constituency in each year since 1976. [106584]
Jim Knight: Available data for Oxfordshire are presented in the following table. There are no state boarding schools in the Wantage constituency.
| Headcount | Number of boarders | |
| Source: Annual Schools Census. | ||
Tamworth (Higher Education)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people from Tamworth constituency applied to attend university in the UK in each of the last five years. [107004]
Bill Rammell: Details of applicants by constituency are not held by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
The figures in the following table give the latest information from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on the number of undergraduate entrants from Tamworth; figures for 2005/06 will be available in January 2007.
| Undergraduate entrants to higher education courses at all UK institutions from the parliamentary constituency of Tamworth | |
| Academic year | Number |
| Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and are rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | |
Teacher Training
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students successfully completed post graduate teacher training qualifications in each year since 1997, broken down by sex. [103652]
Jim Knight: The following table provides data on students on post graduate teacher training programmes gaining qualified teacher status (QTS) by gender in academic years 1998/99 to 2004/05, the latest year for which data are available. Data for 1997/98 are not available in the format requested.
| Primary and secondary post graduate teacher training students gaining QTS | |||||||
| 1998/99 | 1999/2000 | 2000/01 | 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | |
| Notes: 1. Includes those trained through SCITTs, but excludes completers through employment based routes. 2. Figures are individually rounded to the nearest 10 and may not sum. Source: IDA performance profiles. | |||||||
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