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22 Feb 2007 : Column 908W—continued
Pupils: Vaccination
Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to meet ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health to discuss a schools-based national human papilloma virus immunisation programme. [122093]
Jim Knight: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister of State, Department of Health, my hon. Friend the Minister for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) on 12 December 2006, Official Report, column 1031W.
Schools: Finance
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the projected year-end financial position is for each (a) primary and (b) secondary school in each local authority area in England in 2006-07 and 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [122414]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not yet available. The Department will as planned begin collecting the section 52 Outturn data relating to the 2006-07 financial year in August 2007. For the financial year 2007-08 it will be collected August 2008.
Schools: Internet
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of internet filtering programmes used by schools in the South West. [122292]
Jim Knight: The South West Grid for Learning offers a managed internet filtering service to most schools in the South West region, including Swindon. The services offered passed the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency’s Accreditation of Internet Services in 2006 in partnership with Research Machines. As part of this accreditation filtering of inappropriate content must be maintained at levels of at least 90 per cent. and processes and performance reviews must be in place for strengthening the service where necessary.
Schools: Standards
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b)
secondary schools failed Ofsted inspections in each of the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [119360]
Jim Knight: This question is a matter for Ofsted and their HMCI Christine Gilbert has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested. A copy of the response has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 22 February 2007:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools failed Ofsted inspections in each of the past 10 years; and if he would make a statement.
I have interpreted ‘failed’ to mean those categorised as requiring special measures. I set out below a table showing the number of schools placed in special measures since 1997.
| Primary | Secondary | Special | Pru | Total | |
| (1)Figure revised from that published in the annual report of Her Majesty Chief Inspector of Schools for that year. | |||||
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Sure Start and Early Years Programmes
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Copeland have participated in the Sure Start and Early Years programmes since their introduction; what targets are used to monitor the effects of the programmes; and what performance has been against those targets. [114659]
Beverley Hughes: The Sure Start Children’s Centres targets are expressed in terms of the number of children we expect centres to be reaching. Copeland has four designated children’s centres reaching 1,753 children under five: Cleator Moor, Frizington Nursery and Early Excellence Centre, Millom and Whitehaven. Nationally, over 800,000 children and their families now have the opportunity to access children’s centre services: significant progress in our target to have a children’s centre for every community by 2010.
Our Planning and Performance Management Guidance for children’s centres, issued last November, includes key performance indicators and a self-evaluation process for children’s centres to use in discussion with their local authority and the local community. The performance indicators relate to: Foundation Stage profile results; child obesity; mothers initiating breastfeeding; children in workless households; teenage mothers in education, employment or training; access for the most excluded groups; and parental satisfaction.
We have contracted with the Together for Children (TfC) Consortium to challenge and support local authorities in the light of progress against the national indicators drawing on local level data to demonstrate children's centres progress and performance.
Teachers: English Language
Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the impact of the proposed changes to the funding of English for the speakers of other languages courses on the numbers of (a) teaching and (b) lecturing jobs in this field. [121772]
Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has planning and funding responsibility for all post-16 education and training other than higher education. The full details of their funding strategy for 2007/08 are explained in the LSC’s Annual Statement of Priorities which was published in October 2006. The budget for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is expected to remain comparable in 2007/08.
The demand for ESOL is expected to remain high with waiting lists continuing in many parts of the country. From September, additional ESOL for Work qualifications will be introduced; these will be flexible,
more work-focused and aimed at meeting the immediate English language acquisition needs of learners who are in employment or who are intending to work in this country, but who do not intend to settle here.
There has been heavy intervention in development and professionalisation of the further education work force. Providers should take up the opportunity and challenge to ensure that staff have the best access to skills, development qualifications and resources to deliver the best quality provision possible for learners.
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax: Valuation
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many domestic properties have been photographed by the Valuation Office Agency as part of the revaluation of domestic properties originally planned for 1 April 2007; [122510]
(2) what criteria are used by the Valuation Office Agency in selecting properties to photograph as part of the revaluation of domestic properties; [122511]
(3) how many complaints the Valuation Office Agency has received about its practice of photographing domestic properties as part of the domestic properties revaluation; [122512]
(4) what estimate she has made of the cost of photographing domestic properties as part of the domestic properties revaluation process. [122513]
Mr. Woolas: No revaluation of domestic properties is taking place in England. This was postponed on 20 September 2005.
On the number of photographs held by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 8 February 2007, Official Report, column 1164W.
I also refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 8 June 2006, Official Report, column 757W, which sets out the criteria used by the VOA in selecting properties to photograph.
Since the postponement of the council tax revaluation in England only 10 complaints have been received which include any reference to the taking of photographs, and only two of those actually relate to the VGA's practice.
No estimate of the cost of photographing domestic properties has been made.
Departments: Civil Servants
Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total sum of bonuses paid to civil servants in her Department was in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006. [121553]
Angela E. Smith: Bonus payments to senior civil servants (SCS) and non-SCS staff in Communities and Local Government (CLG) were as follows:
| Total amount of awards (£) | |
CLG is committed to rewarding good performance:
Senior civil servants (SCS) receive bonuses in respect of overall performance and the delivery of agreed personal business objectives or targets.
Non-SCS staff receive bonus awards upon obtaining an overall exceeded marking, based on an assessment of objectives in their annual performance reports.
Special bonus awards are paid in respect of exceptional performance on a specific task or at a specific time.
Departments: Equal Opportunities
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken to implement the Race Equality Duty since 2000. [120645]
Angela E. Smith: Following the introduction of the race duties, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) (the predecessor department to Communities and Local Government) published a Race Equality scheme (RES) in May 2003 and a revised and updated RES in April 2006.
The latest RES covers the period 2005-08 and is accessible on the departmental website. It sets out in detail how we have implemented the Race Equality Duty. This includes information on how we:
assess, and consult on, the likely impact proposed policies will have on promoting race equality;
monitor policies for any adverse impact on promoting race equality;
publish the results of assessments, consultation, and monitoring;
make sure the public have access to information and services; and
train staff to carry out the general duty and the specific duties.
In 2006, ODPM carried out race equality impact assessments of a number of key policies and programmes and rolled out training, developed in line with Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) guidance. Regulatory impact of any new policy must now include consideration of race equality.
The Department has introduced a specific competency relating to diversity, applicable at all levels of the fire and rescue service and is developing systems of recruitment and selection which are being tested for adverse impact. Furthermore, funding has been allocated to support initiatives to address homelessness levels within ethnic minority groups.
Following the machinery of Government changes in May 2006, Communities and Local Government will be publishing a new RES 2007, in line with the functions and role of the new department. This will include employment monitoring data and a commitment to undertake progress reviews at regular intervals.
The Department leads on the Equalities Review, the Discrimination Law Review and the preparations for the Commission for Equality and Human Rights.
Departments: Theft
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what items valued at above £100 were reported as stolen from her Department’s buildings or premises in the last 12 months. [121986]
Angela E. Smith: The items valued above £100 which were reported stolen from the buildings and premises of Communities and Local Government and its immediate predecessor Department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, in the period 1 February 2006 to 31 January 2007 are as follows:
| £ | |
|
One Dell flat-screen 15 inch monitor valued at approximately | |
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