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5 Dec 2006 : Column 256W—continued


(C) England
Primary( 1) Secondary( 1)
Urban rural indicator Urban rural indicator
Rural Urban Primary total Rural Urban Secondary total Grand total

1992

39

289

328

5

105

110

438

1993

26

233

259

73

58

131

390

1994

49

205

254

5

20

25

279

1995

18

146

164

25

25

189

1996

57

168

225

6

22

28

253

1997

17

155

172

0

17

17

189

1998

15

159

174

1

15

16

190

1999

9

188

197

32

32

229

2000

16

172

188

4

83

87

275

2001

27

221

248

4

43

47

295

2002

27

199

226

3

33

36

262

2003

20

187

207

1

34

35

242

2004

18

210

228

3

38

41

269

2005

24

222

246

4

22

26

272

2006

36

182

218

2

40

42

260

Grand total

398

2,936

3,334

111

587

698

4,032

(1) Phase of education.
Source:
EduBase

The figures above include schools that closed as a result of the amalgamation or merger of two or more schools; schools that have closed but re-opened as voluntary schools with a religious character; and schools that have closed in local authorities that have moved from a three-tier to a two-tier system.

Student Finance

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many refunds were processed by the Student Loan Company in each year between 2000 and 2005; and what proportion of those refunds resulted from overpayment of student loans. [101856]

Bill Rammell: Details of refunds processed in the relevant years are shown in the following table.


5 Dec 2006 : Column 257W
Financial year Number of refunds made on student loan accounts( 1) Number of refunds made as a result of credit balance on income-contingent loans( 2) Proportion of refunds made as a result of credit balance on income-contingent loans( 2)( ) (Percentage)

2000-01

9,953

0

0

2001-02

19,066

267

1

2002-03

20,690

2,062

10

2003-04

24,989

7,686

31

2004-05

32,702

12,638

39

2005-06

45,753

21,774

48

(1) Numbers relate to English-domicile student loans in the Government-owned portfolio. (2) The increasing profile in this column results from the build up in number of income- contingent loans reaching the end of repayment, and thus liable to include an element of in-year over-repayment. The income-contingent loan system was introduced for the academic year 1998/99, so few loan accounts would have reached the end of repayment in the earlier years covered in the table.

Any overpayment by a borrower is automatically repaid by the Student Loans Company, with interest, as part of the annual process to update borrower accounts.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people repaying their student loan to the Students Loan Company saw their debt increase in the last year for which figures are available. [105780]

Bill Rammell: There were 1,376,209 borrowers in repayment status at 30 April 2005. Of these 501,699 saw their student loan debt increase in nominal terms by 13 March 2006. As the rate of interest on student loans is directly linked to the retail prices index, the value of all loans is kept the same in real terms as when they were taken out. This means that no student repays more than they originally borrowed regardless of how long it takes them to repay and how much interest accrues in the meantime.

Tamworth: Teaching Vacancies

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teaching vacancies there are in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Tamworth constituency. [107034]

Jim Knight: Information on teacher vacancies is not available at constituency level but is available by local authority.

Tamworth constituency is divided between Sandwell and Staffordshire local authorities.

The following table gives the number of full-time teacher vacancies in maintained schools in Sandwell and Staffordshire local authorities in England, in January 2006.


5 Dec 2006 : Column 258W
Full-time vacancy( 1) numbers in Sandwell and Staffordshire local authorities in maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools
Nursery/primary Secondary

Sandwell

13

5

Staffordshire

6

7

(1) Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term’s duration). Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis of less than one term.
Source:
DfES annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, 618g.

Teacher’s TV

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether his Department is able to veto (a) programmes scheduled and (b) contracts entered into by Teachers’ TV. [104247]

Jim Knight [holding answer 27 November 2006]: Teachers' TV was successfully launched on 8 February 2005. It aims to help raise standards in classrooms by helping to share good practice, support continuing professional development, offer classroom resources, and provide education news and information.

The channel is editorially independent (as required by the Communications Act 2003) and robust protocols are in place to ensure that, while the Department is able to identify the channel's objectives and strategic direction, it is not able to influence programming decisions. An independent Board of Governors ensures that editorial independence is maintained.

The Department has a pre-agreed form of contract which it obliges the supplier to use with all TV production companies. The Department has the right to reject any contracts entered into that are not on this agreed basis. However, it does not have the right to veto specific programme commissioning contracts in order to ensure editorial independence.

Travel to School

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of how far on average (a) primary school and (b) secondary school pupils travel to get to school in (i) Cornwall, (ii) the South West and (iii) England. [106877]

Jim Knight: The average distances travelled (in miles) by primary and secondary aged pupils are as follows:

Miles
Primary Secondary

Cornwall

1.10

2.44

South West

0.90

2.12

England

0.82

1.82

Note: 1. The information in this answer is derived from data collected in the Schools Census returns made by schools to the Department. It includes solely registered and main registration of dually registered pupils aged 5 to 15 attending maintained primary and secondary schools, Academies and CTCs. It excludes pupils reported to be boarders. 2. The distances calculated are straight line distances.

5 Dec 2006 : Column 259W

York Local Education Authority Staff

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers, (b) teaching assistants and (c) support staff were employed in City of York local education authority schools in each year since 1997. [106475]


5 Dec 2006 : Column 260W

Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers, teaching assistants and support staff employed in City of York local authority maintained schools in each January from 1997 to 2006.

Full-time equivalent regular teachers (excluding occasionals), teaching assistants and support staff in City of York local authority maintained schools, January 1997 to 2006
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Teachers(1)

1,290

1,270

1,290

1,350

1,380

1,390

1,380

1,390

1,390

1,370

Teaching assistants(2)

140

160

170

220

250

350

370

400

440

500

Support staff(2,3)

310

350

370

440

470

580

590

650

710

790

(1) Source: DfES annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, 618g.
(2) Source: Annual School Census.
(3) Support staff figures include teaching assistant numbers.
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

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