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11 Jan 2007 : Column 720W—continued
Agricultural Colleges
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications were made to agricultural colleges in the United Kingdom in each year from 2004-05 to 2006-07; what funding each college received in each year; and if he will make a statement. [104917]
Bill Rammell: I can confirm the funding allocations that each agricultural college received from the Learning and Skills Council in each year from 2004-05 to 2006-07 as listed in the following table. For 2006-07 a number of agricultural colleges have been successful in the tendering process for Train to Gain, our new national programme of workplace training for adults. The contract values for those successful agricultural colleges is set out as follows, including those colleges which have successfully led consortia bids; other colleges may also be involved in Train to Gain through collaboration with other providers.
We do not hold information on the number of applications received from agricultural colleges.
Bookstart
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost to date has been of the Bookstart programme; and what titles have been distributed. [109517]
Beverley Hughes: The Bookstart programme was initiated, and is now administered, by the independent charity Booktrust.
The titles for distribution are selected by a panel made up of librarians, health visitors, speech and language therapists, early years educationalists and Bookstart members. The panel is independent and has no involvement from Government.
Information about books which are distributed is available online at:
http://www.bookstart.co.uk/Parents-and-carers/Packs/Bookstart-pack-book-titles
In his 12 July 2005 spending review, the Chancellor announced an extension of the Bookstart scheme for the SR period 2005-08, to ensure that every 18 month and three-year-old child receives a Bookstart Plus or My Treasure Chest pack respectively. HMT are providing funding for this of £27 million in total across 2005-08.
In addition, in the pre-Budget report 2006, the Chancellor announced that every child making the transition to primary school at age five and to secondary school at age 11 will also receive a book free of charge—in total three million books going direct to children to lift the reading standards of young people.
Child Care
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of families in Stockport (a) are eligible for and (b) have taken up (i) free and (ii) subsidised child care. [114292]
Beverley Hughes: At December 2005 the Office for National Statistics shows Stockport having a population of 5,900(1) three and four-year-olds, and the 2006 early years and annual schools censuses shows the number of part-time early education places funded by the free entitlement for three and four-year-olds in the Stockport area was 5,500(2).
Data on eligibility and take-up of free or subsidised child care overall are not available centrally.
Child care used by parents can be subsidised in a variety of ways, including the child care element of the working tax credit, local authority subsidies, Jobcentre Plus new deals, care to learn, learner support funds and NHS child care allowances.
(1) ONS population estimates are aggregated to age groupings of at least five years. Figures based on a single year of age at the sub-national level are therefore of limited reliability.
(2) The number of children benefiting from some form of free early education can exceed the number of free part-time early education places taken up by children as a place may be taken up by more than one child.
Children Act
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were referred to children's services in each year since 1996 under (a) Section 47 and (b) Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. [114450]
Beverley Hughes: Information on referrals to children’s services and section 47 enquiries are collected annually on the Child Protection Register survey (CPR3). Data were first collected in 2001 but the referrals data were not thought to be reliable in that first year of collection. Information for the years available is shown in the following table .
The CPR3 defines a referral as a request for services to be provided by the local authority. A referral can be made by a professional from one of many different agencies (typically in the health and education sectors) or from any other source, including self-referral. The survey does not provide the reason for the referral.
Where there is suspicion that a child may be suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, local authorities are required to make enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 to establish whether there is a need for action to safeguard or promote the child's welfare.
| Number of referrals and section 47 enquiries( 1) | ||
| Years ending 31 March | All referrals during year | Children subject to s.47 enquiries in the year( 2) |
| (1) Numbers in this table include unborn children. | ||
| (2) Data for 2002 and 2003 are estimates that take account of missing data. | ||
Early Years Care
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how allocation of the free early years entitlement to local authorities in England takes account of (a) regional and (b) local differences in the cost of providing childcare. [114385]
Beverley Hughes: Each local authority’s total dedicated schools grant (DSG) for 2006-07 was calculated by multiplying its full-time equivalent pupil numbers (aged three-15) from the January 2006 pupil count by its DSG guaranteed unit of funding (which is unchanged from that set in December 2005 and is available on Teachernet at:
www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=9405).
The DSG guaranteed unit of funding for 2006-07 was based on actual spend per pupil in 2005-06, with a basic increase of 5 per cent. per pupil (5.1 per cent. for London authorities) and headroom allocated to reflect new priorities (including £82 million early years expansion).
For those authorities below 90 per cent. participation for their three-year-olds in January 2006, the number of three-year-olds for funding purposes was brought up to 90 per cent. of the projected population.
The formula used to calculate schools formula spending share for 2005-06 and previous years took account of the differences in the cost of providing childcare at in different local authorities. Of the £2.886 billion Under-5 Schools FSS for 2005-06
£138 million (or 5 per cent. of the total) was distributed on the basis of the area cost adjustment for areas where it costs more to recruit and retain staff; and
£319 million (or 11 per cent. of the total) was distributed on the basis of an index of pupils with additional educational needs.
Since the formula for DSG starts from local authorities’ actual spending on education for 2005-06, that will reflect the different local circumstances and variations in the cost of provision. The £82 million extra for the extension from 33 to 38 weeks was distributed on the basis of the number of full-time equivalent children in private, voluntary and independent settings (since pupils in maintained settings already received 38 weeks’free provision), weighted for area costs. Full details can be found in the guaranteed unit of funding model at:
www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=9405.
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