House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 08 Jan 2007 (pt 0046)

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Childhood Obesity

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will undertake research into the possible effect on levels of obesity of proposed changes to the availability of drinks provided in schools; [110102]

(2) if he will commission research into (a) the (i) prevalence and (ii) cause of dehydration among school children and (b) its effects on school children. [110187]

Mr. Dhanda: We have no plans to undertake research into the possible effect on levels of obesity of the changes to the availability of drinks provided in schools. Nor do we have plans to commission research into (a) the (i) prevalence and (ii) cause of dehydration among school children and (b) its effects on school children.

The new Education (Nutritional Standards for School Lunches) (England) Regulations 2006, introduced in September 2006, limit the range of drinks available in schools to plain water (still or sparkling); skimmed or semi-skimmed milk; fruit juices; yogurt drinks with less than 5 per cent. added sugar; or combinations of these drinks; and require drinking water to be provided free of charge to registered pupils on school premises. Subsequent
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regulations to be introduced in September 2007 will extend these requirements to ensure that drinks throughout the school are consistent with those served at lunch; and that drinking water is provided free of charge at all times of the school day.

The Government’s strategy on obesity addresses the issue through a wide range of programmes to encourage children, parents, and parents-to-be to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, to increase their levels of exercise, and to eat healthily. Setting statutory nutritional standards in schools is one action in our approach to support healthy eating and drinking.

Children in Care

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many children under the age of one were taken into care in each year since 1980; and how many were subsequently returned to their birth parents; [106572]

(2) how many babies under one year old were placed in care in (a) 1996 and (b) 2006; and for what reasons. [106864]

Mr. Dhanda: Information on the number of children aged under one who were taken into care on an interim or full care order or under a police or emergency protection order in each year since 1992 is shown in Table 1. This information is not available prior to 1992. Of these, 3,000 children who were taken into care aged under one subsequently returned home between 2001 and 2006 to live with parents, relatives or other person with parental responsibility (excluding residence orders and special guardianship orders). Information on whether a child returned to live with their parents, relatives or other person with parental responsibility has only been collected since 1 April 2000. There is no comparable information prior to 2000.

In the case of all children subject to a care order, the reason they have become looked after is because the courts will have taken the view that the ‘significant harm’ threshold set out in the Children Act 1989 had been crossed. Information on the number of children looked after by local authorities who were placed in care aged under one in 1996 and in 2006 and for what reasons, is shown in Tables 2 and 3. The 'category of need' codes record the main reason why a child is being provided with services. This provides a further insight as to why a particular child is being looked after. Information on 'category of need' was first collected in April 2000 and provides further information as to why a child is being looked after. Data on 'category of need' is not strictly comparable with the 'reason for being looked after' information that was collected prior to 1 April 2000.

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Table 1: Children who were taken into care on an interim or full care order and under a police or emergency protection order^{( 1)}
England	Number
Year ending 31 March	Children taken into care under one on an interim or full care order and under a police or emergency protection order ^{( 2,3,4,5)}
1992⁽⁶⁾	310
1993	730
1994	1,000
1995	1,200
1996	1,200
1997	1,300
1998⁽⁷⁾	1,400
1999	1,600
2000⁽⁷⁾	1,900
2001⁽⁷⁾	1,800
2002⁽⁷⁾	1,900
2003⁽⁷⁾	2,000
2004	2,000
2005	2,000
2006	2,100
⁽¹⁾. Source, DfES, SSDA903 return which between 1992 and 1997 and since 2004 covered all children looked after by local authorities. SSDA903 covered only a third of children looked after by local authorities between 1998 and 2003. ⁽²⁾. Figures for children looked after in this table exclude agreed series of short term placements ^(3.) To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 to the nearest 10 otherwise. ⁽⁴⁾. Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. ⁽⁵⁾. Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted. ⁽⁶⁾. The figure was for the period 14 October to 31 March 1992 this was due to the implementation of the Children Act 1989 ⁽⁷⁾. SSDA903 only covered a third of children looked after by local authorities

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Table 2: Children aged under one who were placed in care during the year ending 31 March 1996 by reason for being looked after^{( 1,2,3)}
England	Number
Reason for being looked after	1996^{( 4,5)}

All Children who started to be looked after aged under one	3,300
No parents	10
Abandoned or lost	70
Family or child homeless	20
Parent(s) in prison	40
Breakdown of adoptive family	—
Preliminary to adoption	390
Parent's health	400
Parents/families need relief	—
- child with disabilities	10
- other	480
Abuse or neglect	1,300
Concern for child's welfare	310
Own behaviour	30
Accused or guilty of an offence	0
At request of child	0
Other	270
⁽¹⁾. Source, DfES, SSDA903 return which in 1996 covered all children looked after by local authorities. ⁽²⁾. Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted. ⁽³⁾. Figures for children looked after in this table exclude agreed series of short term placements. ⁽⁴⁾. To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 to the nearest 10 otherwise. ⁽⁵⁾. Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials.

Table 3: Children aged under one who were placed in care during the year ending 31 March 2006 by category of need ^{( 1,2,3)}
England	Number
Category of need	2006^(4,5)

All children who started to be looked after aged under one	4,300
Abuse or neglect	2,800
Child's Disability	40
Parental illness or disability	310
Family in acute stress	320
Family dysfunction	470
Socially Unacceptable behaviour	10
Low income	10
Absent parenting	270
⁽¹⁾. Source, DfES, SSDA903 return which in 2006 covered all children looked after by local authorities. ⁽²⁾. Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted. ⁽³⁾. Figures for children looked after in this table exclude agreed series of short term placements. ⁽⁴⁾. To maintain the confidentiality of each individual child, data at national level are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 to the nearest 10 otherwise. ⁽⁵⁾. Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials.

Connexions

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department has provided on best practice for the governance and operational arrangements of successor bodies to local Connexions. [104142]

Mr. Dhanda: Following the publication of “Every Child Matters” and “Youth Matters”, funding which currently goes to Connexions Partnerships will go directly to all 150 local authority areas in England by April 2008 and will be managed through children’s trust arrangements.

Guidance on children’s trust governance arrangements can be found in the statutory guidance around section 10 of the Children Act 2004. Guidance on local authority decision making processes more generally has been produced by Communities and Local Government.

The “Specification for services funded through the Connexions grant 2006-08” provides local authorities with the statutory provisions which must be delivered by all organisations which receive the Connexions grant funding—together with the targets which are attached to the funding; and other specified (but non-statutory) requirements. It also provides guidance
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on the broad delivery processes that have been key to the Connexions contribution to the “Every Child Matters” and 14-19 strategies.

Education Funding: North Lincolnshire

Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the change in the education
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budget in North Lincolnshire was in each of the last 10 years. [110022]

Jim Knight [holding answer 19 December 2006]: The Department does not hold this information prior to 1999-2000. The following table sets out the total budgeted education revenue expenditure received by North Lincolnshire since 1999-2000:

Total budgeted education revenue expenditure^{( 1)} by North Lincolnshire local authority since 1999-2000^{( 2)} . Cash terms figures^{( 3)} as reported by North Lincolnshire LA as at 15 December 2006
	Budgeted education revenue expenditure (£)	Cash increase from previous year (£)	Percentage increase from previous year (%)
1999-00	69,720,000	—	—
2000-01	74,066,000	4,346,000	6.2
2001-02	79,251,000	5,185,000	7.0
2002-03	83,374,000	4,123,000	5.2
2003-04	92,861,000	9,487,000	11.4
2004-05	99,719,000	6,858,000	7.4
2005-06	104,945,000	5,226,000	5.2
2006-07	109,599,000	4,654,000	4.4
⁽¹⁾ Budgeted education revenue expenditure is drawn from North Lincolnshire's Section 52 Budget Statements submitted to the DfES. This is calculated as the gross elements of any grants lines plus the net elements of the remainder of the education revenue budget. ⁽²⁾ Comparable figures are not available prior to the inception of Section 52 for the financial year 1999-2000. ⁽³⁾ Cash figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and may not sum due to rounding.

Education: Qualifications

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils gained 5 A*-C grades including (a) vocational equivalents and (b) applied GCSE double awards in each year since 1997. [108261]

Jim Knight: Since 1997, GNVQs have been included in the reported results of GCSEs and equivalents. Applied GCSE Double Awards have been included since 2004 when a range of other equivalences were included for the first time. The table shows the percentage of 15-year-old pupils⁽¹⁾ achieving five or more GCSEs or equivalents at grades A*-C since 1997, split by the coverage of the equivalents.

Percentage of 15-year-old pupils achieving 5+ A-C at GCSE including:*
	All vocational equivalents^{( 2)}	Applied GCSE double awards
1997	45.1	—
1998	46.3	—
1999	47.9	—
2000	49.2	—
2001	50.0	—
2002	51.6	—
2003	52.9	—
2004	53.7	51.3
2005	56.2	52.6
2006⁽³⁾	57.9	53.3
^{(1 )}Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August. ^{(2 )}1997-2003 figures include GNVQs only. ⁽³⁾ Data for 2006 are provisional. Data for all other years are final.

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