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14 Dec 2006 : Column 1400W—continued

The BREEAM Schools scheme was introduced in early 2005. By 30 November 2006, 347 schools had registered for ‘BREEAM Schools’ certification but only four schools had completed the assessment. One achieved a ‘pass’ rating, one a ‘good’ and two a ‘very good’. In addition one school has achieved an excellent rating using a bespoke version of ‘BREEAM’ before the ‘BREEAM Schools’ version became available.

Most of the environmental criteria which apply to Building Schools for the Future (BSF) schools are contained in the Building Regulations. In addition there are three areas of environmental performance in BSF monitored by Key Performance Indicators:

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether incentives are included in the Building Schools for the Future programme to promote (a) ecologically-friendly building designs and (b) methods to conserve energy and reduce carbon production. [108326]

Jim Knight: The Department has adopted ‘BREEAM Schools’, an adaptation of an internationally recognised environmental assessment method. It is a specific requirement that new school buildings and refurbishment projects above a threshold achieve a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’ or better. This provides a strong incentive for design teams to consider ecological principles and reduce carbon emissions through energy efficiency measures and renewable energy systems.

These standards are specified in all Building Schools for the Future contracts as key performance indicators. Contractors’ performance will be measured against the indicators and penalties applied if they are missed.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had on VAT and the Building Schools for the Future programme since the programme’s inception. [108527]

Jim Knight: My officials have a continuing dialogue with HM Treasury colleagues about VAT and other issues.

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether VAT costs are included in the total budget for the Building Schools for the Future programme. [108529]


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Jim Knight: Where projects within Building Schools for the Future attract VAT, these costs will be covered by the programme budget.

Schools: Cornwall

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which rural (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have closed in Cornwall since 1997. [108721]

Jim Knight: The rural schools closed in Cornwall since 1997, by Phase of Education, are listed as follows:

Primary closures
School name Town Year of closure

Nine Maidens Community Primary School

Redruth

2003

Carnkie Community Primary School

Redruth

2003

Tresillian Infant School

Truro

2004

Liskeard Infant School

Liskeard

2006

Liskeard Junior School

Liskeard

2006


S econdary closures:

There have been no secondary closures since 1997.

Schools: Darlington

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was allocated to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools per pupil in Darlington in each year since 1979. [108827]

Jim Knight: The Department did not collect school level data prior to 2000-01. The following table sets out the total funding per pupil allocated by Darlington local education authority to its primary and secondary schools since 2000-01.


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Total budget share plus grants( 1 ) per pupil( 2 ) allocated( 3) to local authority maintained primary and secondary schools( 4) in Darlington—2000-01 to 2006-07—cash terms figures( 5) as reported by Darlington local authority as at 8 December 2006
£
Primary school budget share plus grants per pupil Secondary school budget share plus grants per pupil

2000-01

1,730

2,480

2001-02

2,050

2,730

2002-03

2,150

2,890

2003-04

2,410

3,070

2004-05

2,560

3,240

2005-06

2,740

3,730

2006-07

3,080

4,170
(1 )Budget share plus grants is the combination of the schools individual budget share plus any revenue grants allocated to the school at the start of the financial year. In 2000-01, any School Standards Grant allocated to individual schools at the start of the financial year was not recorded and is therefore excluded from the 2000-01 figures. Similarly, in 2003-04, any Excellence in Cities Grant allocated to schools was not recorded and is therefore excluded from the 2003-04 figures.
(2) The amount of money allocated to a school depends very much on the individual local authorities’ own policy for funding their schools. Different authorities retain varying amounts of funding centrally to spend on behalf of their schools while others chose to give schools more autonomy over how they spend their money by devolving more funding to the individual school.
(3) The pupil numbers used to calculate the per pupil amounts are as reported by the local authority on their Section 52 Budget Statement comprising of the full time equivalent number pupils registered at the school used for the initial determination of the school's budget share under the local authority’s allocation formula.
(4) All schools are as deemed by the local authority on their Section 52 Budget Statement. Hence middle deemed primary schools are included in the primary figures and middle deemed secondary schools are included in the secondary figures. Secondary figures also include any LSC funding and LSC pupils for schools with sixth forms.
(5) Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.
(6) The data are drawn from Darlington local authority’s Section 52 Budget Statements (table 2) submitted to the Department for Education and Skills.

Schools: Fire Prevention

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what studies he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the use of sprinklers in schools; and if he will make a statement. [109002]

Jim Knight: We commissioned one set of consultants to produce a cost analysis of sprinklers in schools. Their study covers 26 schools. While the primary focus of their report is the capital cost of sprinkler installations, data was also gathered on running costs. The consultants also examined how capital costs might be partially offset by design freedoms, such as fewer fire doors, and what the impact of reduced insurance premiums might be.

We commissioned separate consultants to develop a risk assessment tool, which promoters and designers of schools will be able to use as an aid to deciding when sprinklers are needed in school projects. In parallel they are developing a full cost-benefit analysis of sprinklers in schools, which is sensitive to small variations in data and can be tailored to specific projects.

Progress reports on these studies have been presented to a small steering group at monthly meetings through the autumn. This group reports directly to me. The studies should be completed early in January and the group will then make recommendations to me on how we will disseminate the findings. One route will be to include some of the work in our forthcoming guide on fire safety in schools—Building Bulletin 100, “Designing and Managing Against the Risk of fire in Schools”. We expect to publish this by April 2007.

Schools: Fire Safety

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what estimate he has made of the average cost of installing a sprinkler system in a new school; what this represents as a percentage of total building cost; and if he will make a statement; [108990]


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(2) how much has been spent on (a) installing and (b) maintaining school sprinkler systems in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [109001]

(3) what representations he has received from (a) industry and (b) fire chiefs on sprinklers in schools; and if he will make a statement. [109003]

Jim Knight: [holding answer 13 December 2006]: In July, we commissioned consultants to produce an analysis of the costs of installing sprinklers in schools. Their study covers 26 schools and will give us an average cost for installing sprinklers in new schools—both as a percentage addition to construction costs and as a rate per square metre of floor area. Their study will be concluded early in January 2007 and we will publish the findings.

The Department does not provide funding specifically for the installation of sprinklers in schools. Local authorities decide what they do with the funding they are allocated. They may choose to install sprinklers when constructing new schools, but do not need to inform us or provide figures on costs. However, the study I refer to above is gathering information on maintenance costs as well as capital costs.

We have received representations from the Chief Fire Officers Association, individual Fire and Rescue Authorities, the National Fire Sprinkler Network and insurance companies on the value of installing sprinklers in schools. Our public consultation on Building Bulletin 100, “Designing and Managing Against the Risk of Fire in Schools”, included questions on sprinklers. We take all of the views expressed very seriously and that is one of the reasons why we commissioned further studies on sprinklers. We saw the need to provide more information about sprinklers and their role in improving property protection, and will be expanding the guidance on their use in schools in the final version of Building Bulletin 100.

Schools: Internet

Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the percentage of schools in England and Wales which have access to broadband internet. [108160]

Jim Knight: Over 99 per cent. of all schools in England have access to the internet and, as at the end of September 2006, over 97 per cent. had access to broadband.

Schools: Leicestershire

Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) cash and (b) percentage change in funding per pupil in each Leicestershire school was in each year since 1997. [108906]

Jim Knight: The available information has been placed in the Library of the House.

Schools: Rural Areas

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what definition he uses for (a) rural and (b) urban (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools. [108720]


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Jim Knight: The Department’s register of schools—Edubase—includes a rural/urban indicator for both primary and secondary schools based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data about the area in which the school is situated. Statutory guidance to decision-makers says that there should be a presumption against the closure of rural schools. In deciding whether or not a school is rural, decision-makers may also consider any other relevant evidence presented to them, in addition to the indicator.

Under the provisions of the Education Act 2005, special provisions apply to rural primary schools, and the Department plans to issue a list of such schools shortly. This is also based on ONS data, cross-checked with local authorities.

Schools: Southampton

Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions his officials have had with Southampton city council on a competition to provide new schools under the provisions of the Education Act 2006; what form the discussions took; and on what dates they took place. [108179]

Jim Knight [holding answer 11 December 2006]: Officers of the authority telephoned the Department on 24 October 2006 about the proposed local reorganisation of schools, and departmental officials informed them of the legal requirements and procedures governing the opening of secondary schools, including holding a competition under the 2005 Education Act. They also sent copies of guidance by e-mail. On 24 November departmental officials commented by e-mail on a draft notice sent to them by the authority. Officials also sent e-mails to the authority asking about any developments in the proposed reorganisation.

The authority informed DfES officials by e-mail on 6 December that at its meeting on 27 November the council decided to proceed with plans for the reorganisation. They attached copes of notices that were published on 6 December inviting interested parties to bring forward proposals for two new schools in the area.

Speech Impaired Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the number of children in England with (a) communication disability and (b) impoverished speech and language skills; and if he will make a statement. [108447]

Mr. Dhanda: Since 2004, the Department for Education and Skills has collected data on pupils' type of special educational need (SEN) as part of the schools' census. This does not include the term ‘communication disability’ or ‘impoverished speech and language skills’ but does include pupils with a specific learning difficulty (SpLD) and speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) which are set out in the table. There are a range of factors which may affect the data recorded, including:


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In addition to the figures in the table, there will also be children at ‘School Action’ with SpLD and SLCN
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whose needs are met within school using the flexibilities set out in the national curriculum inclusion statement, Data on type of SEN for these children are not collected centrally.

Maintained primary, secondary and special schools( 1) : number and percentage of pupils with speech language and communications needs( 2)
SEN pupils by their primary type of need( 2,3)
Primary schools( 4) Secondary schools( 4)
School action plus Statement of SEN School action plus Statement of SEN
Number Percentage( 5) Number Percentage( 5) Number Percentage( 5) Number Percentage( 5)

Specific learning difficulty

31,310

13.4

3,340

5.1

28,340

18.4

13,750

18.6

Speech, language and communication needs

48,990

21.0

14,620

22.5

6,630

4.3

7,980

10.8

Total SEN pupils

233,710

100.0

64,860

100.0

153,650

100.0

73,840

100.0

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