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Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of children with a special educational need have been given an individual education plan in (a) St. Albans and (b) Hertfordshire. [113002]

Mr. Dhanda: This information is not collected centrally.

Sport

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of five to 16- year-olds who do (a) at least two and (b) at least four hours of sport each week. [113031]

Jim Knight: The 2005-06 school sport survey found that overall, 80 per cent. of pupils in schools within a school sport partnership took part in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport in a typical week—exceeding the 2006 PSA target of 75 per cent. Copies of the results of the survey have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The Department does not collect data on the proportion of five to 16-year-olds who take part in at least four hours of sport each week.

University Access

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what monitoring he has made of fair access to working class applicants for (a) the university of East Anglia and (b) Cambridge university. [113099]

Bill Rammell: The latest available access performance indicator information for the universities of Cambridge and East Anglia is shown in the tables. It is important to note, however, that these data are collected by and for the higher education sector although the Government are interested in what they show.

Table 1: Proportion of young entrants to full-time first degree courses from the state sector
Percentage
2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05

University of Cambridge

53.4

54.5

57.6

56.9

56.8

Against benchmark( 1) :

66.1

67.9

76.8

75.3

75.0

University of East Anglia

88.1

88.5

88.4

88.0

87.5

Against benchmark( 1) :

82.2

82.7

83.4

81.1

82.3

(1) The benchmark is a sector average which is adjusted for each institution to take into account the following factors: subject of study, qualifications on entry and age on entry. The benchmarks can be used to show how a university is performing compared to the sector as a whole, and also helps to determine whether a meaningful comparison can be drawn between two or more universities.
Source:
Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).


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Table 2: Proportion of young entrants to full-time first degree courses from lower social classes (IIIm, IV and V) or lower socio-economic groups (4, 5, 6 and 7)
Percentage
Lower social classes (IIIm, IV and V)( 1) Lower socio-economic groups (4-7)( 1)
2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05

University of Cambridge

9.1

9.3

11.3

11.4

12.4

Against benchmark( 2) :

12.7

13.6

17.3

18.2

17.8

University of East Anglia

19.7

18.8

21.4

21.4

22.6

Against benchmark( 2) :

22.3

22.9

24.7

22.2

24.5

(1) The National Statistics socio-economic classification was introduced in 2002/03 to replace the social class groupings. The two classifications are not directly comparable.
(2) The benchmark is a sector average which is adjusted for each institution to take into account the following factors: subject of study, qualifications on entry and age on entry. The benchmarks can be used to show how a university is performing compared to the sector as a whole, and also helps to determine whether a meaningful comparison can be drawn between two or more universities.
Source:
Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Table 3: Proportion of young entrants to full-time first degree courses from low participation neighbourhoods
Percentage
2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05

University of Cambridge

4.7

4.9

5.4

6.1

5.3

Against benchmark( 1) :

6.7

7.4

8.9

8.9

8.7

University of East Anglia

7.9

8.7

7.6

8.2

7.8

Against benchmark( 1) :

11.2

11.7

12.0

11.4

11.8

(1) The benchmark is a sector average which is adjusted for each institution to take into account the following factors: subject of study, qualifications on entry and age on entry. The benchmarks can be used to show how a university is performing compared to the sector as a whole, and also helps to determine whether a meaningful comparison can be drawn between two or more universities.
Source:
Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The Higher Education Statistics Agency is reviewing the current methodology for calculating benchmarks, with a view to developing more sophisticated alternatives.

Northern Ireland

Suicide in Young Men

6. John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps his Department is taking to reduce the prevalence of suicide in young men in Northern Ireland. [113217]

Paul Goggins: The Government launched a comprehensive suicide prevention strategy in October last year. We have allocated £1.9 million this year and £3 million next year to support a range of local and regional initiatives aimed at tackling the high rate of suicide in Northern Ireland.

School Activities

7. Ms Barlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what additional activities he expects to be provided by allowing schools in Northern Ireland to extend their hours through the children and young people funding package.[113218]


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Maria Eagle: Under the Children and Young People Funding Package almost 40 per cent. of schools are providing additional activities such as breakfast clubs, homework clubs, study support, counselling and mentoring services, youth and sports clubs, arts, crafts, summer schemes and environmental and health activities.

Peace Process

8. Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress of the peace process. [113219]

Mr. Hain: The Government welcome progress on implementing the St. Andrews Agreement and we want to see the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland on 26 March 2007.

Affordable Housing

9. Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to encourage the provision of more affordable housing in Northern Ireland. [113220]

Mr. Hanson: The Government have been dealing with the issue of affordable housing through the Social Housing Development Programme, the Co-ownership shared equity scheme, and the housing benefit system. An independent review has also been commissioned to look at barriers affecting those seeking affordable housing and the final recommendations will be presented to Government in the spring.

Criminal Record Checks

10. David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criminal record checks are carried out on (a) EU and (b) non-EU foreign nationals entering Northern Ireland. [113221]

Paul Goggins: All UK Immigration rules apply and if anyone travelling to Northern Ireland arouses suspicion then appropriate checks are made. Those entering to take up jobs that involve working with children or other vulnerable groups are subject to the same checks as persons from NI.

Local Democracy

11. Mr. Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions have taken place between his Department and representatives of local government on strengthening local democracy in Northern Ireland. [113222]

David Cairns: I meet elected representatives from local government on a regular basis to drive the implementation of the reform programme forward through a Taskforce which was established early last year. The decisions arising from the Review of Public Administration in relation to local government are designed to strengthen the role of local government in Northern Ireland and place it at the heart of local democracy.


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Skills Base

13. Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to improve the skills base in Northern Ireland. [113224]

Maria Eagle: The Northern Ireland Skills Strategy “Success through Skills” which was launched in February 2006 addresses the current and future skills needs of the Northern Ireland workforce. The development of an appropriately skilled workforce will help increase productivity levels and encourage the development of a world class, knowledge based economy in Northern Ireland by 2015.

Internet Crime

Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken to raise public awareness of internet crime in Northern Ireland. [110091]

Paul Goggins: Internet crime is borderless and therefore the PSNI is currently working with other UK police forces, through ACPO, to identify coordinated activity among individual forces in this area of crime prevention.

In addition the PSNI arranged training in October from the Child Exploitation on line Protection (CEOP) to designated Community Safety Officers within each District Command Unit. This training enables officers to give advice to local schools and youth organisations etc. about internet safety and the inherent dangers associated with this medium.

Policing and Justice

Mr. Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on securing support from Sinn Fein for the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the courts in Northern Ireland. [113216]

Renewable Energy

Mr. Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to enable the public sector in Northern Ireland to increase its use of renewable energy. [113223]

Maria Eagle: I have established the Environment and Renewable Energy Fund to encourage the production and use of renewable energy in all sectors in Northern Ireland. Under this, public bodies are investing £6 million over this year and next in the installation of wind turbines, hydro electricity plants and biomass boilers. I have also asked officials to assess the suitability of buildings within the Government office estate for the early installation of solar and photovoltaic panels.

Mr. Hain: The Government welcome the decision by the Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle to recommend to a special Ard Fheis that Sinn Fein commit now and fully to support the PSNI and the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland.


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Re-offending Rates

Dr. Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of those convicted of (a) a criminal offence and (b) an offence of a sexual nature went on to re-offend in each of the last five years, broken down into risk management categories A, B and C. [113484]

Mr. Hanson: The latest available reconviction figures cover the two year period subsequent to 2002. Reconviction figures for sexual offenders relate to any criminal reconviction and not necessarily reconviction for a sexual offence. Information on risk management categories is not held centrally on the reconviction database and therefore it is not possible to break down this information further.

Table 1 provides information on those convicted of (a) any criminal offence and (b) an offence of a sexual nature who were either discharged from custody or given a community based disposal in 2002 and who were reconvicted within the subsequent two year period.

Table 1: Reconviction rates for those discharged from custody or given a community based disposal in 2002 and who were reconvicted within a two year period
Offender type All offences Sexual offences

Number discharged

2,210

65

Number reconvicted

953

9

Percentage reconvicted

43.1

13.8


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