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6 Mar 2007 : Column 1902W—continued


The following table lists the maintained mainstream schools where no pupils at the end of KS4 were entered at GCSE in a modern foreign language and gives the number of pupils at the end of KS4 who attended these schools in 2006.

LA number Estab number LA name School name Number of pupils at end of KS4

330

4206

Birmingham

Stockland Green Technology College

121

330

5900

Birmingham

St. Paul's Community Foundation School

11

335

6905

Walsall

Walsall Academy

54

341

4783

Liverpool

Campion Catholic High School

100

341

4795

Liverpool

De La Salle Humanities College

117

341

5401

Liverpool

Our Lady's Catholic High School

1

381

4036

Calderdale

The Ridings School

118

805

4131

Hartlepool

Dyke House Comprehensive School

159

806

4122

Middlesbrough

Ormesby School

158

810

4004

Kingston Upon Hull, City of

Kingswood High School

218

825

4094

Buckinghamshire

The Wye Valley School

124

831

4608

Derby

da Vinci Community College

91

840

4052

Durham

Fyndoune Community College

86

840

4192

Durham

Durham Community Business College for Technology and Enterprise

111

851

4302

Portsmouth

King Richard Secondary School

203

861

4185

Stoke-on-Trent

Mitchell High School

105

867

4030

Bracknell Forest

The Brakenhale School

109

870

4013

Reading

Thamesbridge College

78

881

4002

Essex

Bishops Park College

3

881

5417

Essex

Furtherwick Park School

151

883

4299

Thurrock

The Ockendon School

133

888

4005

Lancashire

Skerton Community High School

55

909

4301

Cumbria

The Morton School

140

925

5410

Lincolnshire

The Castle Hills Community Arts College

119

933

5401

Somerset

Brymore School

54

Total

2,619


Data for 2006 is revised.

Leak Inquiries

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on how many occasions his Department and its predecessor department conducted a leak inquiry since May 1997; what the subjects of those leak inquiries were; and who authorised each inquiry. [106486]

Mr. Dhanda: The Department has conducted 39 inquiries since May 1997. 12 of the inquiries were led
6 Mar 2007 : Column 1903W
by the Department and its predecessor. It has been the practice of successive governments not to comment on the subject or outcome of leak inquiries as there is a continued necessity to safeguard security and investigative arrangements.

Public Appointments

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which public appointments have been made by his Department to former Ministers who have served in the Government since May 1997. [105764]

Mr. Dhanda: Information about the political activity of appointees is recorded and publicised in accordance with the independent Commissioner for Public Appointments' code of practice. This shows that no former Ministers who have served in the Government since May 1997 have since been appointed to public bodies sponsored by the Department.

School Meals

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of pupils in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools who had school-provided lunches in each year since 1995-96. [124970]

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.

The Schools Census (SC) collects information on pupils who are eligible for and take a free school meal on the day of the census in January.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what duties have been placed upon local authorities to provide a mid-day meal for all pupils in primary and secondary schools; and if he will make a statement. [125076]

Mr. Dhanda: A local authority, or its schools where the school has a delegated budget for meals, has a duty to provide a paid-for meal service where one is requested by a parent, and also a duty to provide free school meals to pupils that are eligible. However, it is for the local authority or the school to decide whether this should take the form of a hot meal or a cold packed lunch as long as the meal complies with the requirements of the nutritional standards for school lunches set out in Regulations.

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools served hot school meals in each year from 1990-91 to 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [125078]

Mr. Dhanda: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect this information. However, the School Food Trust baseline survey of local authorities carried out in March 2006 shows that 72 per cent. of primary and 96.5 per cent. of secondary schools have facilities where food can be prepared from scratch. The School Food Trust is to carry out this survey annually for the next three years.


6 Mar 2007 : Column 1904W

Schools: Catering

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what grants for capital spending to improve kitchen facilities were made to schools in each year from 1990-91 to 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [124969]

Jim Knight: The Department has not given specific grants to schools to improve kitchen facilities as it relies upon local authorities to prioritise the allocations they are given. These allocations have risen, in cash terms, from approximately £0.8 billion in 1990-91 to a planned £6.4 billion in 2007-08 and £8 billion in 2010-11.

Capital guidance requires schools and local authorities to consider how, using formulaic capital funding, they can ensure that they provide at least one healthy hot meal a day on the premises, in reasonable comfort in suitable dining facilities. This objective is also taken account of within the Building Schools for the Future and Academies schools building programmes.

In September 2006, the Secretary of State announced that, in the spending review period commencing 1 April 2008, funding would be available to local authorities to support the installation of kitchens where currently there are none, and where there is exceptional need that cannot reasonably be met from other sources. We aim to announce further details later this year.

Schools: Eating Disorders

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to improve help offered to children with eating disorders when at school. [125323]

Mr. Dhanda: The 2001 DfES guidance, ‘Promoting Children's Mental Health within Early Years and Schools Settings’ includes a section on eating disorders and general principles that schools should follow in working with young people who experience eating disorders.

The guidance emphasizes the important role that schools can play in helping young people to develop confidence and self-esteem, manage the way in which they think about themselves, and ensure they eat regular meals. Where there is rapid weight loss, schools should liaise with parents for the young person to be referred for a medical assessment.

The promotion of emotional well-being already forms part of many DfES policies including the personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum, the national healthy schools programme, the improving behaviour and attendance programme, and the social and emotional aspects learning (SEAL) curriculum materials. New Children's Trusts arrangements should lend further support to schools with their focus on multi-agency partnerships and stronger links with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).


6 Mar 2007 : Column 1905W

Schools: History

Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Ludlow constituency have a teacher with a formal qualification to teach history. [123053]

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.

In 2002 an estimated 13,700 full time teachers were teaching history in maintained schools in England. Of these, an estimated 77 per cent. (three percentage points) held a qualification in history. The source of this information is the 2002 secondary school curriculum and staffing survey and is the latest available.

Schools: Lancashire

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many school playgrounds in Lancashire were sold in each of the last 10 years; [124962]

(2) how much school land in Lancashire was sold in each of the last 10 years. [124963]

Jim Knight: Before October 1998 there was no regulation of the sale of school playing fields at most schools. In the period since then, the Secretary of State has approved eight applications that involve the sale of school land in Lancashire, as follows:


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