| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Jan 2007 : Column 1056W—continued
School Food
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria will be used for assessing the effectiveness of the new school food policies; against what benchmarking evidence progress will be measured; over what time scale the policy’s effectiveness will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement. [114414]
Mr. Dhanda: The School Food Trust will have preliminary findings related to changes in the provision of school food available later this year. Preliminary results on children’s consumption will be available in 2009 (for primary schools) and in 2010 (for secondary schools).
In support of the drive to improve school food, and the commitments made in the Public Health White Paper “Choosing Health”, Ofsted will expect schools to present evidence about their general approach to food and healthy eating (the “whole school” approach) as well as more specifically about the standard of school lunches. Ofsted will routinely comment on the quality of school meals and will report on any issues which arise out of the self assessment or as a result of their inspection visit.
In addition, Ofsted are undertaking a separate programme of visits to a smaller sample of schools. This will allow more detailed reporting on the standard of food provided and consumed in schools.
These arrangements reflect our vision about the importance of healthy eating and our determination to support schools in their efforts to improve the nutritional quality of food and drink.
School Governors
Mr. Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why prospective school governors are required to provide details of their ethnic origin. [114466]
Jim Knight: Prospective school governors are not required to provide details of their ethnic origin. However, all schools and local authorities are under a duty to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination and promote equal opportunities.
We encourage all bodies engaged in recruiting new school governors to monitor the ethnic origin of the governors they appoint, but completion of any ethnic monitoring forms is always voluntary.
Many schools will have pupils from black and minority ethnic groups, different faiths, refugees, or children with English as a second language. It is important that governing bodies include people who have the skills and abilities to drive forward school improvement from all racial and cultural backgrounds.
School Places: (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many places there are in primary and secondary schools in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency, broken down by school. [113422]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the capacity of schools in the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
| School name | Number of pupil places |
School Sites
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools share a site; and what estimate he has made of how many will share a site in each of the next five years. [114931]
Jim Knight: Data on numbers of schools sharing sites are not held by the Department.
School Travel
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many local authority-based school travel advisers there were in post in each year since the scheme began. [105368]
Jim Knight: We do not collect that information.
School Finance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 30 October 2006, Official Report, column 209W, how much of the £5.5 billion his Department allocated for schools capital expenditure in 2005-06 was spent. [108539]
Jim Knight: Of the £5.5 billion allocated for schools capital investment in 2005-06, there is recorded slippage of £0.2 billion in the Department’s accounts. This has been carried forward to use in future financial years.
Schools (Milton Keynes)
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what approvals his Department has given for capital expenditure on (a) schools and nurseries and (b) secondary schools in Milton Keynes in each year since 2000. [109056]
Jim Knight: The Department does not give approvals for capital expenditure on individual (a) schools and nurseries and (b) secondary schools, as it relies on local authorities to prioritise funds available to them, including funds raised locally. Capital allocations for schools and nurseries from my Department to Milton Keynes have risen substantially since the financial year commencing 1 April 2000, and are set out in the following table:
| Amount (£ million) | |
The allocation of £52.5 million in 2006-07 includes a high basic need allocation of £31.4 million, for expansion, and a targeted capital funding allocation of £11.6 million.
Sign Language Courses
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will reclassify British Sign Language as a British language rather than as a learning for leisure course in further education colleges. [114921]
Bill Rammell: The sector subject areas of approved qualifications on the national qualifications framework are determined by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as part of the accreditation process. Sign language courses that are currently part of the national qualifications framework are assigned to the language, literature and culture sector subject area.
The sector subject area does not affect the eligibility for funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Sign language courses have not been reclassified for funding purposes and remain eligible for LSC funding.
Special Educational Needs
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education supervision orders have been put in place in respect of children with a special educational need in each of the last five years in (a) St. Albans and (b) Hertfordshire; and if he will make a statement. [113003]
Jim Knight: The Department does not collect data relating to education supervision orders.
Specialised Diplomas
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to promote the uptake of specialised diplomas (a) in (i) schools, (ii) higher education institutions and (iii) colleges and (b) among employers. [113097]
Jim Knight: Schools, colleges, work-based learning providers, higher education institutions and employers, through Diploma Development Partnerships, have been involved from the beginning in the design of the new diploma qualifications and will be key to the delivery of them.
The Department has a number of channels through which we disseminate information to these stakeholders, e.g. regular emails, the 14-19 website (www.dfes.gov.uk/14-19), Directgov, and the 14-19 newsletter for which there is a subscription list. The focus so far has been on getting information to providers in preparation for the Gateway process.
We have already received great interest from areas wishing to deliver the diplomas in 2008. A total of 1,121 self assessments were received from consortiums (partnerships comprising local authorities, learning and skills councils, schools, colleges, and employers/work-based learning providers) wishing to go through the Gateway process, which means that nearly every local authority area hopes to offer diplomas in 2008. The Gateway is a process that will assess consortiums and identify those best equipped to secure the necessary awarding body approval to deliver the diplomas in 2008.
On 12 December 2006, the Secretary of State announced our diploma “champions” who will promote the diplomas and wider reforms with their sectors. These are:
Sir Alan Jones, Chairman of Toyota as the diploma champion for employers;
Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former Chief Inspector of Schools and current chair of the Learning Trust in Hackney, as the diploma champion for schools, colleges and work-based learning providers; and
Professors Deian Hopkin, Vice Chancellor of London South Bank University and Michael Arthur, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds, as diploma champions for higher education.
In addition, the Department is undertaking the following specific activity to promote the uptake of Diplomas:
(i) nine regional conferences were held in October 2006 for schools and colleges and others involved in Gateway consortia, aimed at sharing information and practically supporting areas in the delivery of the 14-19 education reforms;
(ii) five regional conferences are being held throughout December and January to provide information to higher education on the diplomas and other reforms;
(iii) We are supporting the Association of Colleges to run a series of further education conferences on the 14-19 education reforms from February to March, which will include diploma workshops;
(iv) We are working with the CBI and others to engage employers in diploma delivery. The DDPs will also be promoting the diplomas within their sectors.
We do not expect all areas to be offering diplomas in September 2008. In spring 2007 we will be announcing which areas have passed through the Gateway process and will be offering diplomas for young people to study. We will then be targeting the young people and parents affected regionally with information to help individuals to make the best personal choice.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |