| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 Mar 2007 : Column 1695W—continued
www.teachernet.gov.uk
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what account is taken of potential community use in consideration of funding for under the Building Schools for the Future programme. [123080]
Jim Knight: Access to school facilities by the wider local community outside the school day should be possible in any school. The areas of school accommodation covered by Building Schools for the Future funding are set out in Building Bulletin 98. This includes allowance for facilities to encourage schools’ extended and community use. It takes account of the need for security, dual-use facilities (which can be used for both educational and non-educational purposes, such as visiting health professionals at certain times), and community use without disruption to pupils’ work, and includes facilities such as:
alternative ‘reception’ facilities and access for out-of-hours use;
sports hall, activity studio and changing facilities suitable for public use;
accessible toilets and lockers for use by adult visitors;
a community office and storage spaces separate from those used by the school.
Note:
However, BSF will not fund accommodation for dedicated non-educational services other than residential accommodation for SEN schools. Provision of these would require the joining up of other funding streams with BSF funding, such as funding from SureStart, Primary Care Trusts, DCMS, or ODPM. Further guidance on joining-up funding streams has been issued for BSF authorities.
Schools: Muslims
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Chief Adviser for London Schools was representing his Department when he launched the document ‘Towards Greater Understanding: Meeting the needs of Muslim pupils in state schools’; and whether he sought his permission before doing so. [123791]
Jim Knight: Professor Tim Brighouse was invited to speak at the launch of the document in a personal capacity. He did not seek permission to accept the invitation.
Secondary Education: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority made of who is likely to be affected by the proposed secondary programmes of study. [123450]
Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority assessment is that all pupils aged 11 to 16 and all teachers in maintained schools in England will be affected by the proposed secondary programmes of study.
Social Services: Vacancies
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will estimate how many vacancies there are for social workers; and if he will make a statement. [122504]
Mr. Dhanda: The number of vacancies in local authority departments for field social workers with children was 3,267 and for other field social workers 2,534, in 2005.
Social workers are also employed by CAFCASS and other organisations in the private and voluntary sector, but vacancy figures are not collected centrally.
A review of workforce issues—including recruitment and retention—entitled ‘Options for Excellence’ was published in October 2006 jointly by DfES and Department of Health.
Social Workers
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many social workers were trained in the UK in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [122505]
Mr. Dhanda: The numbers of people completing the diploma in social work in England in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available are:
| Number | |
| Note: 1. The reporting period is the financial year, students completing the social work degree in summer 2006 are not included. 2. England only. Source: General Social Care Council | |
In 2005-06 there were also an additional 58 early finishers of the new social work degree.
Northern Ireland
Avian Influenza
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many avian influenza vaccine doses were available in Northern Ireland on 26 February. [125012]
Paul Goggins: There were 66,400 doses of avian influenza (H5N1) vaccine available in Northern Ireland on 26 February 2007.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many tests for avian influenza were carried out in Northern Ireland in each of the last 12 months. [125013]
David Cairns: The following table details the number of samples taken from poultry and wild birds which were tested for avian influenza in Northern Ireland over the 12 month period 1 March 2006 to 28 February 2007.
| Total | |
All test results were negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
One test for the H5NI strain of avian influenza in humans was carried out in December 2006. The result of this test was negative.
Cars: Safety
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to publicise the new car seat regulations for children in Northern Ireland. [124994]
David Cairns: On 16 January 2007, I announced that these regulations would commence on 27 February. Since then over 560,000 information leaflets have been delivered to homes across Northern Ireland. A further 30,000 leaflets have been provided for child restraint retailers and other interested organisations and made available to callers on request.
The leaflets and additional information are available on the Department of the Environment's road safety website and from the home pages of some popular Northern Ireland websites which also carried advertising about the new legislation.
Advertisements were placed in Northern Ireland's main newspapers and a further press release issued on 20 February to remind everyone of the legislation coming in the following week. My Department also wrote to key stakeholders, including councils, transport operators, education and health boards.
In the run-up to 27 February, officials participated in five local television and 11 radio programmes, providing information and advice and answering questions.
Clifton Special School
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was made available by his Department to the Clifton Special School in each of the past five years; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current funding allocated to the school. [123518]
Maria Eagle: The Department of Education (DE) does not fund Clifton Special School directly. The level of funding for Clifton Special School is determined by the South-Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB) as part of its annual decisions about the allocation of its block grant.
The Chief Executive of the SEELB has advised me that the recurrent budget for Clifton Special School in the last five years is as set out in the following table.
The budgets include non-delegated, Article 56 (delegated), earmarked and carry-forward allocations, but exclude capital and initial furniture and equipment allocations associated with the new school when it opened in April 2005.
| £ | |
The Chief Executive has also advised that SEELB monitors the ongoing costs of the school throughout the year. When recurrent budget allocations are received from DE, an assessment is made of the amount that will be required centrally to fund staffing costs in each of the special schools, taking account of pupil numbers and needs, and how much should be delegated to schools under Article 56 of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 to meet costs other than staffing. Each special school also receives its share of any appropriate earmarked funds. Based on this process, the Board is satisfied that Clifton School is adequately resourced.
Departments: Complaints
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many complaints were received by the Department and executive agencies in (a) 1997-98, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07 to date; [121695]
(2) how many independent bodies existed to hear appeals on decisions made by his Department and executive agencies in (a) 1997-98, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07 to date; [121696]
(3) how many staff worked in dedicated complaints units in the Department and executive agencies in (a) 1997-98, (b) 2001-02, (c) 2005-06 and (d) 2006-07 to date. [121697]
Mr. Hain: The number of complaints received by my Department and its executive agencies is not recorded in a comparable basis. However, from records that are readily available, I can provide the following information:
| Number | |
| (1) To date. | |
The number of independent bodies which existed to hear appeals on decisions made by my Department and its agencies is as follows:
| Number | |
| (1) To date. | |
In my Department and its agencies no member of staff works in a dedicated unit dealing solely with complaints. This would be done in addition to other duties. The only records my Department and its agencies hold in relation to the number of staff who work in a dedicated complaints unit is as follows:
| Number | |
| (1) To date. | |
Dept of Health and Social Services (NI): Pay
Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what mechanism is available to staff in the Department of Health and Social Services to assess whether their pay band is fair under the Agenda for Change system. [124222]
Paul Goggins: The Agenda for Change pay system applies to Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) staff; it does not apply to civil servants in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. These HPSS staff have the opportunity to comment on their current job descriptions before their jobs are matched to Agenda for Change job profiles and a designated pay band. The Agenda for Change pay bands are only put into payment after a thorough consistency checking process has been carried out. Staff who are not content with their pay band after this process is complete can ask for a review.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |