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13 Mar 2007 : Column 258W—continued
As the new ethnicity classification was introduced in 2001/02, the figures from 2001/02 are not directly comparable with the figures up to 2000/01.
Higher Education: Sunderland
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of people in (a) Houghton and Washington East constituency and (b) Sunderland city council area received a degree qualification in each year since 1997. [125297]
Bill Rammell: The latest available data on the number of graduates from Houghton and Washington, East constituency and Sunderland local authority for the academic years 1997/98 to 2005/06 are given in the following table.
| Number of first degree graduates ( 1 ) from Houghton and Washington, East constituency and Sunderland local authority English institutions—academic years 1997/98 to 2005/06 | ||
| Academic year | Houghton and Washington, East constituency | Sunderland local authority |
| (1) Excludes graduates from dormant modes of study. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | ||
Information on the percentage of people in Houghton and Washington, East constituency and Sunderland local authority who receive a degree qualification is not collated centrally.
However, the percentage of working age adults educated to NVQ level 4 and above can be found from the Annual Population Survey.
This shows that in 2005, the percentage of working age adults from Houghton and Washington, East constituency with NVQ4 and above qualifications is 15.7 per cent., the figure for Sunderland local authority is 16.6 per cent., and the comparable figure for England is 26.2 per cent.
Official Cars
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cars run by his Department were manufactured (a) in the UK and (b) abroad. [104821]
Mr. Dhanda: No cars belonging to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) were manufactured in the UK. All cars were manufactured abroad.
School Meals
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) with which partnership the School Food Trust is working on its plans for regional training kitchens for the school food workforce; how many such kitchens there will be; and by what date it is planned that the kitchens will be operational; [125819]
(2) what discussions (a) his Department and (b) the School Food Trust have had with private sector
companies on the provision and equipment of the proposed regional training kitchens. [125821]
Mr. Dhanda: The School Food Trust (SFT) has been asked by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to lead on the establishment of regional training centres in recognition of the fact that the full range of training offered is likely to be broader than cooking skills. The SFT’s aim is to establish the first of these in spring 2007 with a national network operational by the end of March 2008.
A target for the number of RTCs has not been set. The final number will depend upon the number and quality of bids, and local needs.
The SFT has been working with partners to develop criteria against which to judge applications to become regional training centres. These partners include school cooks, head teachers, local authorities, private sector catering providers, FE colleges, the Learning and Skills Council, People 1st, the Training and Development Agency, the Food Standards Agency, Department of Health and DfES. Two stakeholder events were held in Birmingham in January.
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which baseline year he has selected by which to judge the School Food Trust’s performance against its targets of increasing school meal uptake by four percentage points by March 2008 and 10 percentage points by autumn 2009; and how many school meals were consumed in that year. [125820]
Mr. Dhanda: The School Food Trust’s performance will be judged against the baseline information on school meals take-up set out in the report on the School Food Trust’s first annual survey of take-up of school meals in England for the 2005/06 year. The School Food Trust’s survey collected information on the percentage take-up of school meals in primary and secondary schools rather than on the number of school meals that were consumed. The Department did not collect information on the number of school meals that were consumed in 2005/06.
Schools: Greenwich
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much he estimates will be spent in the London Borough of Greenwich from the Building Schools for the Future budget on (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools. [126688]
Jim Knight: Greenwich's wave 1 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project has been allocated capital funding of £169 million (including ICT) on the basis of the outline business case approved in January 2005. This level of funding will be confirmed only when a final business case for the project is approved which is scheduled to happen later this year. The authority has a further project in wave 5 of BSF. The funding allocation for this project has yet to be agreed.
Primary schools are not covered by BSF, but we are taking a similarly transformational approach to capital investment for the primary sector. The Primary Capital Programme aims to rebuild, remodel or refurbish at
least half of all primary schools over the next 15 years. The programme will be rolled out nationally from 2009-10 when all local authorities, including Greenwich, will benefit from a share of £500 million of additional investment. This will be allocated by means of a simple, open formula—still to be determined. Subject to future Government spending decisions, we anticipate that the additional investment will continue at that level throughout the life of the programme.
Science: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which properties of (a) light and (b) sound are expected to be studied under the proposed key stage 3 science programme of study. [126012]
Bill Rammell: Teachers will use the National Curriculum planning guidance, together with their knowledge of pupils’ prior attainment and the programmes of study for key stages 2 and 4, to ensure appropriate progression, while taking full advantage of the flexibility offered by the new key stage 3 programme of study. Light and sound are ways in which energy is transferred from one place to another and as such are placed within “Energy, electricity and forces”. To signal that the properties and behaviour of light and sound are still a significant component of the key stage 3 programme of study, they are specifically mentioned in the explanatory notes accompanying the range and content section.
Special Educational Needs: East Yorkshire
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applicants there were per place for each special needs school in East Yorkshire in September of each year since 2000. [126200]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Trade Union Funding
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department has allocated to individual trade unions in the last three years. [114070]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department has not provided any direct funding to individual trade unions in the last three years. However, in common with other Departments and agencies, the Department does provide agreed time off and facilities for trade union representatives to take part in union duties, activities and training.
Written Questions
Andrew Selous:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will answer the question tabled by the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire on 28 February 2006, reference 125275,
on the collaborative restart of the Northfields Technology College with Houghton Regis Middle School. [127359]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the reply issued on 8 March 2007, Official Report, column 2245W.
Work and Pensions
Child Support Agency
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what aggregate reduction in outstanding debt to the Child Support Agency he expects to achieve by agreed write off and revaluation of interim maintenance assessments; [113560]
(2) what process he plans to put in place and what formula he proposes to use to facilitate the revaluation of interim maintenance assessment debt proposed in the White Paper “A new system of child maintenance”; [113561]
(3) whether the revaluation of interim maintenance assessments proposed in the White Paper “A new system of child maintenance” will be subject to agreement by the parent with care. [113566]
Mr. Plaskitt: Given the discretionary nature of the negotiated settlements, we cannot predict the extent to which they will be used and are unable to estimate the impact on debt.
In relation to revaluation of interim maintenance assessments, I refer the hon. Member to the figures given in paragraph 5.42 of the Government’s White Paper “A new system of child maintenance”.
Subject to consultation, the proposed revaluation of interim maintenance assessments would be based on analysis of information held by the agency on converting interim maintenance assessments to full maintenance assessments. Conversion of punitive interim maintenance assessments almost invariably results in lower rate full maintenance assessments. The factor that we would use to revalue interim maintenance assessments would reflect the average effect of conversion and would be determined closer to the time of the revaluation.
In relation to making the revaluation subject to parent with care agreement, we would consider the detail of the process in the light of views received from the White Paper consultation.
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken was to progress clerical Child Support Agency cases to a stage where a first payment was made in each month since January 2005; and if he will make a statement. [122895]
Mr. Plaskitt: The information requested is not available.
Departmental Contracts
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which public affairs firms have been given contracts by (a) his Department and (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract. [118444]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The Department uses private sector contractors to deliver public relations and promotional work in support of communications campaigns on benefits, pensions and other departmental delivery areas. These contractors may include public affairs advice and strategy as part of their offer to private sector and other organisations but the Department does not use these services.
Information on public bodies for which the Department is responsible is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Websites
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job searches the Jobcentre Plus website handled in each of the last 24 months. [118786]
Mr. Jim Murphy: The information is in the following table:
| Number of job searches | |
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