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29 Jan 2007 : Column 68W—continued
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers took early retirement in (a) Chorley, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each year since 1997, broken down by type of institution. [110541]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not available at local authority level.
The following table provides the number of teachers who took early retirement, (defined as before the normal pension age of 60 on premature, actuarially reduced benefits (ARB) or ill health grounds) in each year from 1997-98 to 2005-06 broken down by type of institution in England.
| Early retirements by type of institution( 1) ,1997-98 to 2005-06, England | ||||||||
| Maintained sector | Other sectors( 2) | |||||||
| Financial year | Nursery/ primary | Secondary | Special/ PRU | Total maintained sector | Independent | Further and Higher education | Unknown | Total all sectors |
| (1) The last known institution where the teacher was in teaching service which may have been some years before the date of retirement. (2) Including only those retirements from independent and further and higher education establishments covered under the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme. (3) The effect of the change in the Teachers' Pensions Scheme, from 31 August 1997, was that many more teachers took early retirement in 1997 than in other years. Actuarially Reduced Benefits are included from 2000-01. (4) Provisional. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: DfES Pensioner statistical system | ||||||||
Education Funding: Ashford
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Learning and Skills Agency spent on programme expenditure in Ashford local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [117011]
Bill Rammell: The programme expenditure incurred by the Learning and Skills Council at local authority level is not collected by the Department. This is an operational matter for the LSC as they determine the level of funding required at local level to deliver their key priorities and targets. Mark Haysom, the council’s chief executive, has written to the hon. Gentleman with further information and copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Education Funding: Gravesham
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Learning and Skills Agency spent on programme expenditure in Gravesham’s local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [117319]
Bill Rammell: The programme expenditure incurred by the Learning and Skills Council at local authority level is not collected by the Department. This is an operational matter for the LSC as they determine the level of funding required at local level to deliver their key priorities and targets. Mark Haysom, the council’s chief executive, has written to the hon. Gentleman with further information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Education Funding: Tunbridge Wells
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Learning and Skills Agency spent on programme expenditure in Tunbridge Wells local authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available. [110573]
Bill Rammell: The programme expenditure incurred by the Learning and Skills Council at local authority level is not collected by my Department. This is an operational matter for the LSC as they determine the level of funding required at local level to deliver their key priorities and targets. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive, has written to the hon. Gentleman with further information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Failing Schools
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have been put on the failing list subsequent to the closure of a neighbouring school in its catchment area since May 1997. [117105]
Jim Knight: The information requested could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Further Education
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been made available for the provision of further education in (a) absolute terms and (b) per head of population in (i) Lincolnshire, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) Derbyshire, (iv) Leicestershire, (v) Rutland and (vi) Northamptonshire in each year since 1997. [109635]
Bill Rammell: Between 1997 and 2005 we increased funding for further education by £2.5 billion—an increase of 48 per cent. in real terms. We are continuing to increase investment in further education with our overall investment in post-16 skills through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) increasing from £9.9 billion in 2005-06 to £11.2 billion in 2007-08. Mark Haysom, the LSC’s chief executive will write to the hon. Gentleman with further details regarding the local information that he has requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries.
Further Education Colleges
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are planned to be used to assess the performance of further education colleges to determine the basis for intervention by the Learning and Skills Council under Clause 17, Part 2 of the Further Education and Training Bill 2007. [110660]
Bill Rammell: Further Education Colleges have the lead responsibility for assessing their own performance and identifying what needs to be done to secure continuous improvement.
Clause 17, through the new section 56B, will place an obligation on the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to develop and publish its policy with respect to the exercise of its powers under section 56A. This will include its policy on assessing the performance of colleges to determine any appropriate LSC intervention.
In the meantime, the guidance document “Identifying and Managing Underperformance” sets out an overview of the evidence base currently being used to determine whether LSC intervention is necessary. This guidance is available on the LSC website and a copy has been placed in the House Library.
Further Education: Finance
Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what Government spending was on further education in the most recent period for which figures are available broken down by (a) Learning and Skills Council and (b) local education authority; and if he will make a statement. [108114]
Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is the main funding body for post-16 education providers, which can include local authorities. Total further education (FE) expenditure made available by the LSC to further education colleges and other institutions was £5.59 billion in 2005-06. This includes participation and other FE funding and is a real terms increase of 48 per cent. compared with 1997-98.
The LSC may allocate FE participation funding to a local authority where they are offering FE provision in line with Government priorities. The Department does not hold information on individual providers' funding allocations, but the allocations for 2005-06 can be found at the following link:
http://readingroom.lsc.gov.uk/lsc/2005/funding/streams/fe-2005-06-allocations-at-26-july.xls
GCSEs
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools did not enter any pupils for a GCSE in (a) a modern foreign language, (b) history and (c) geography in 2006. [115506]
Jim Knight:
Revised 2006 figures show that 1,373 schools did not enter any pupils for a full GCSE in a modern foreign language, 1,479 schools did not enter any pupils for a full GCSE in history and 1,516 schools did not enter any pupils for a full GCSE in geography. These figures include all schools that are published in
the secondary schools achievement and attainment tables and so include special schools and independent schools.
History Teaching
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the national curriculum includes provision to ensure that all children are educated on the history of the Union of Scotland and England; and if he will make a statement. [110594]
Jim Knight [holding answer 23 January 2007]: The national curriculum for history states that one of the six units pupils must be taught at key stage 3 is Britain 1500-1750, which comprises a study of crowns, parliaments and people; the major political, religious and social changes affecting people throughout the British Isles, including the local area if appropriate. The Programme of Study sets out a breadth of study specifying that pupils must be taught aspects of the histories of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
John Kelly Technology Colleges
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the state of the buildings at (a) John Kelly boys technology college and (b) John Kelly girls technology college; and if he will make a statement. [117233]
Jim Knight: The bulk of schools capital is allocated by formula to authorities and schools so that they can address their priorities. The assessment of the state of the buildings and the prioritisation of investment is carried out locally, rather than by the Department. Authorities and schools are encouraged to operate good quality, transparent asset management processes and to align their priorities with those of central Government.
Central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996-97 to £5.5 billion in 2005-06 and will rise further to over £6.3 billion by 2007-08. Progress is being made year-by-year in improving the quality of the school building stock.
School League Tables
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) pupils, (b) girls and (c) boys attended schools deemed (i) inadequate, (ii) satisfactory, (iii) good and (iv) outstanding in each year since 1997. [117283]
Jim Knight: Between 2000 and 2004/05, schools’ overall effectiveness was judged on the basis of a seven point scale as follows: (1) Excellent, (2) Very Good, (3) Good, (4) Satisfactory, (5) Unsatisfactory, (6) Poor and (7) Very Poor. Ofsted did not produce an overall judgment on schools’ effectiveness prior to this. New school inspection arrangements came into operation from September 2005. These ‘raise the bar’ in terms of expectations on schools. Schools are now judged on the basis of a four point scale as follows: (1) Outstanding, (2) Good, (3) Satisfactory and (4) Inadequate.
The following tables set out the available data from 2000 to 2005/06. Due to changes in inspection criteria in 2005/06, it is not possible to directly read across from tables A-F to G. The number of schools inspected each year varies and this impacts on the number of pupils attending schools in each of the categories.
| Inspections of nursery, primary, secondary, special schools, pupil referral units, city technology colleges and academies conducted under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 | |||
| Table A | |||
| January 2000 | Boys | Girls | Total pupils |
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