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19 Mar 2007 : Column 688W—continued
English Language: Adult Education
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanisms are available to applicants for English for Speakers of other Languages classes to appeal against assessments that they should pay a proportion of course costs. [126131]
Phil Hope: There is no formal appeals procedure. Where applicants are not eligible for the fee remission for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses, the charging of fees is at the discretion of individual institutions.
From 2007/08 to receive fee remission for any course a learner must prove that they fall into a fee remission category, for example, that they are in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance or an income-based benefit.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding following the Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA) and he is minded to consider a range of new measures to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for section 4 support;
Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council's Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently.
English Language: Equal Opportunities
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will conduct a race equality impact assessment on the changes to English speakers of other languages provision which will be in place from September 2007. [126635]
Phil Hope: A race equality impact assessment regarding the changes to English for speakers of other languages is now complete and will be published shortly.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding following the race equality impact assessment (REIA) and he is minded to consider a range of new measures to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for Section 4 support;
Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council's Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently.
Funding
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how much funding per pupil was given to state-funded secondary schools in (a) the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames and (b) the London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames in the last 12 months for which figures are available; [126175]
(2) how much funding per pupil was received by state-funded secondary schools in (a) the London Borough of Hammersmith and (b) the London Borough of Wandsworth in the last year for which figures are available; [126575]
(3) how much funding per pupil was received on average by state-funded secondary schools (a) in London and (b) in each London borough in the last year for which figures are available. [126585]
Jim Knight: The following table details the funding per pupil aged 11 to 15 for all London local authorities in 2005-06, the latest year for which a funding figure for secondary schools is available.
| LEA | Funding per pupil aged 11 to 15 (£) |
| Notes: 1. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of Education Formula Spending (EFS) settlements, including the pensions transfer to EFS. 2. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged 11 to 15 and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level. 3. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to £ per pupil are those underlying the EFS settlement calculations. 4. Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal. 5. Figures are in cash and rounded to the nearest 10. | |
Furniture
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent by his Department on furniture made by British firms in each year since 2000. [105141]
Alan Johnson: The Department for Education and Skills uses the Office of Government framework contracts to purchase bulk office furniture. The main suppliers used are Pentos, Paragon, Orangebox and Herman Miller, all of whom supply British made furniture. A breakdown of the spend on this make of furniture since 2000 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Further Education
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of 16-year-olds went on to (a) A levels, (b) further education, (c) other vocational training and (d) higher education in each local authority in the last period for which figures are available. [126913]
Jim Knight: The Department publishes annual statistics on the participation in education and training by 16 and 17-year-olds in each local area in England. The latest publication can be viewed here: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000645/index.shtml. It refers to those of academic age 16 resident in the local authority at the end of 2004. This publication is the source of the figures used to answer this question.
(a) There is no information on the study aim of 16-year-olds at the local level. The column (a) in the attached table gives the proportion of 16-year-olds in each local authority who were in full-time education at school (maintained or independent). Not all of these will have been studying A levels, some will have been studying other vocational qualifications or qualifications below A level.
(b) Column (b) in the attached table gives the proportion of 16-year-olds in each local authority studying in full-time education in a further education college including sixth form colleges.
(c) Column (c) in the attached table gives the proportion of 16-year-olds in each local authority participating in government supported work-based learning. There is no information at a local level of those participating in other non-government funded vocational training.
(d) There are very few 16-year-olds in higher education (less than 1 per cent. of the population). They are not available on a consistent basis at a local level as information is only available on the location of the institute rather than where the young person resides. Information on 16-year-olds in higher education at a local level is therefore not available.
To complete the table there is a final column of other 16-year-olds participating in part-time education to give a total participating in education and work-based learning.
GCSE
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what proportion of 15-year-olds attending (a) independent schools and (b)
maintained schools achieved five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics in each year since 1997; [122062]
(2) when he will reply to Question 122062, on GCSEs, tabled on 16 February 2007 by the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. [127365]
Jim Knight: The information requested is given in the table as follows.
| Percentage achieving 5 A*-C including English and mathematics GCSE | ||
| Maintained | Independent | |
Headteachers: Kent
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many Academy head teachers in Kent have previously been employed by Oxfordshire county council; [119871]
(2) how many secondary head teachers in Kent have previously been employed by Oxfordshire county council. [119872]
Jim Knight [holding answer 8 February 2007]: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Higher Education Student Numbers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2007, Official Report, columns 2071-72W, on higher education student numbers, what percentage of applicants from (a) England and (b) the North East region went on to become undergraduate students at English universities in each of the last seven years. [128206]
Bill Rammell: The available information is taken from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is given in the table. The majority of students applying for full-time undergraduate courses apply to UCAS, but a small number apply directly to institutions.
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