| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Jan 2007 : Column 1480W—continued
Investors in People
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the annual budget is of Investors in People; and how many people are employed there. [117101]
Phil Hope: Investors in People UK (IiPUK) receives grant in aid from Department for Education and Skills. For 2006-07 the budget is £5.5 million.
The number of people currently employed by IiPUK, including 12 people on short-term contracts, is 52.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether Investors in People UK has been awarded the Investors in People award. [117113]
Phil Hope: Investors in People UK were first awarded the IIP Standard on 10 February 1997 and has continued to be recognised with reviews every three years since this date. The date of their last review was 30 May 2006.
National Skills Academies
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the national skills academies which have been established. [117108]
Phil Hope: Employer-led national skills academies (NSAs) are a key element of the Government's skills policy. The plan is to establish an initial network of 12 NSAs by 2008, extending this as resources allow, to provide an NSA for every major sector of the economy.
Two selection rounds have been held so far, one in 2005 and one in 2006. The selection is undertaken against rigorous criteria by an employer-led panel. In the first round, four potential NSAs—in manufacturing, construction, financial services, and food and drink processing—were selected and invited to develop detailed business plans. The first three of these have now been approved as national skills academies. It is hoped that the fourth, food and drink processing, will be approved shortly.
In the second round, a further four potential academies were selected and are currently in the process of developing business plans. These are in the areas of hospitality, creative and cultural skills, chemicals processing and nuclear.
These are all in addition to the fashion retail academy which was the pathfinder for the NSA programme. This was launched in March 2005 and opened to students in September 2005.
A prospectus inviting proposals for a third selection round was made available on 15 January.
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by his Department; what the function is of each body; and what the annual budget of each body was in the most recent year for which figures are available. [116771]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department for Education and Skills publishes a list of the non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) it sponsors and their function in Annex M of the Departmental Report. The latest copy was published under Command paper Cm 6811 to 6838 in May 2006.
In addition to those bodies listed in Annex M, the Department has recently set up two other Executive NDPBs: the Office of the Children's Commissioner, with the function of promoting the interests of and acting as the voice of all children and young people in
England, the Quality Improvement Agency, which is to provide a national focus for quality improvement in the learning and skills sector, enabling providers to improve performance, respond to strategic change and build capacity for self improvement.
The annual budgets for the grant in aid funding for the Executive NDPBs for FY2005-06, the last year for which figures are available is shown in the following table:
| Name of NDPB | Grant in aid budget for 2005-06 (£) |
The Department is also responsible for the following Advisory NDPBs which do not receive funding from DfES:
School Teachers’ Review Body which reports to the Prime Minister and to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on the statutory pay and conditions of school teachers in England and Wales;
Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy which provides advice to the Government and monitors the overall success of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, to reduce teenage pregnancy and increase the participation of teenage parents in education, training and work, and
Teachers’ TV which provides advice on the content of programming to be broadcast on the Teachers TV channel.
Partnerships for Schools
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget of Partnerships for Schools is in 2006-07; how many consultants it employed in 2006; and how many people it employs. [115306]
Jim Knight: The annual budget for Partnerships for Schools (PfS) for 2006-07 is £12.985 million. Under the joint venture agreement which established PfS these costs are met equally by the Department for Education and Skills and Partnerships UK. PfS has 81 budgeted full-time staff supported by two consultants.
Pupils: Intimidation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of the physical assaults in London schools in the last year for which figures are available resulted in (a) injury, (b) a criminal case and (c) damages paid by the school to the victim. [108464]
Jim Knight: The requested information is not collected centrally.
The Department does collect information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools due to physical assault against a pupil or an adult. The latest available data are given in the table.
Random Drug Tests
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will introduce random and compulsory drug tests for all school children over 11 years of age. [116613]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department has no plans to introduce random and compulsory drug tests for all school children over 11 years of age. The Department's guidance, “Drugs: Guidance for Schools” (DfES 2004), makes it clear that drug testing is one option available to schools, but that it is for the head teacher to judge whether such an approach is appropriate. We know of three maintained schools that have tested pupils for drugs.
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what the results were of random drug testing in schools for each year since 2004, broken down by borough and classification of drugs found; [115984]
(2) what proportion of high schools in London practised random drug testing in each year since 2004, broken down by borough. [115985]
Mr. Dhanda: Schools do not have to inform the Department if they wish to introduce drug testing for pupils and we do not collect information about those that do, the methods used or the results of their tests. However, we know of three maintained schools which have tested pupils for drugs.
Reading Recovery Scheme
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) when he expects reading recovery to be rolled out to the city of Nottingham following the Chancellor's recent funding announcement; [114816]
(2) what assessment he has made of the 10 (a) constituencies and (b) cities in which a reading recovery scheme would have the most effect. [114817]
Jim Knight: The pre-Budget report announced that the Every Child a Reader (ECAR) programme will be rolled out nationally. Work is now underway to develop the ECAR model so that it is fully compatible with the recommendations of Jim Rose's review of the teaching of early reading, and explore the most cost-effective approaches so that a greater number of children can benefit from support. Decisions about the delivery of the national roll-out have yet to be taken.
In targeting the existing pilot programme, authorities invited to take part were prioritised by reference to criteria including those with the highest numbers of children below level 3 at the end of key stage 2. In expanding the programme, we will look again at our methodology and work out the best ways to reach children with significant literacy difficulties who will benefit most from intensive literacy support.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |