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19 Mar 2007 : Column 698W—continued
Pupils: Intimidation
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were excluded (a) temporarily and (b) permanently for bullying in schools in each year between 1997 and 2006. [126073]
Jim Knight: Information on the reasons for pupil exclusions is available from 2003/04 and has been provided in the table as follows.
Information relating to exclusions during the 2005/06 school year is expected to be available in June 2007.
| Maintained primary, secondary and special schools ( 1, 2) : Number and percentage of permanent and fixed period exclusions for bullying 2003/04 to 2004/05, England | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of all permanent exclusions( 3) | Number of fixed period exclusions | Percentage of all fixed period exclusions( 3) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed (2) Includes maintained special schools. Excludes non-maintained special schools (3) The number of exclusions for bullying expressed as a percentage of the total number of exclusions. (4) The number of exclusions for bullying has been derived from the Termly Exclusions Survey and applied to the number of permanent exclusions as confirmed by local authorities as part of the Schools Census data checking exercise. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Termly Exclusions Survey | ||||
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the salary is of each of the 10 highest paid employees of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. [127320]
Jim Knight: The salary of each of the 10 highest paid employees of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in February 2007 was:
£162,109
£129,000
£112,500
£110,000
£110,000
£105,000
£92,435
£90,000
£89,845
£88,146.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average ratio was of applications to places in schools which were oversubscribed in the latest period for which figures are available. [127318]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally, but may be available from individual local authorities.
Schools: Finance
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how much deficit was accrued by each (1) primary and (1) secondary school in each local authority area in England in 2005-06; and if he will make a statement; [122413]
(2) which schools in London ran a deficit in each of the last four years; what estimate he has made of the number of London schools likely to have a deficit at the end of 2006-07; and if he will make a statement; [122423]
(3) what proportion of surplus balances at schools were uncommitted to any specific project in each year since 1997; [127076]
(4) how many schools held excessive balances in each year since 1997; [127077]
(5) what the level of surplus balances was at schools in each year since 1997. [127078]
Jim Knight: In my written ministerial statement of 15 March I announced the publication by the Department of a summary of the data on school balances for the financial years for which information is available, 1999-2000 to 2005-06. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House. The information is also available on the Department’s website at:
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he expects the Consultation on School, Early Years and 14-16 Funding 2008-11 to affect (a) the date of implementation of the Code of Practice and (b) the funding arrangements to be agreed between the local education authorities and the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors. [127591]
Jim Knight: The 2006 ‘Code of Practice on the provision of free nursery education places for three and four-year-olds’ came into force on 1 April 2006, replacing existing statutory guidance and reflecting the extension of the free entitlement from 33 to 38 weeks in private, voluntary and independent sector settings. The consultation on Schools, Early Years and 14-16 relates to funding arrangements for 2008-11.
The Government are committed to extending the early education entitlement to 15 hours free provision that can be taken more flexibly. This extension will be rolled-out nationally from 2007, starting in 20 pathfinder local authorities. To enable the funding
system to support the extended entitlement, the Schools, Early Years and 14-16 consultation document sets out a range of potential changes that could be made to the early years funding system at local level. These options are designed to bring the funding systems for maintained and private, voluntary and independent provision into closer alignment, enabling local authorities to respond to parental demand for more flexible early years provision. The consultation also invites views on proposals to increase the role and effectiveness of the early years sector in local decision making on funding issues.
Decisions on the funding arrangements for 2008-11 will be taken in summer 2007 in the light of responses to the consultation and the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
Schools: Fires
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of fires in schools in 2006 in (a) England and Wales, (b) the North East and (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency. [127195]
Jim Knight: The Department is responsible for education in England. The Department does not maintain records on the cost of fires. This is because local authorities, voluntary aided organisations, and individual schools are responsible for fire prevention and for taking out appropriate fire insurance. The Department expects financial provision to be made and planning undertaken locally for unforeseen events, including the rebuilding costs of schools damaged by fire, net of insurance.
Schools: Inspections
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with Ofsted on the implementation of changes to inspections following the provision of the foundation stage curriculum. [127633]
Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, meets with Her Majesty's Chief Inspector on a regular basis and I meet with her termly. Inspection is one of the topics frequently discussed and we are working closely with Ofsted on changes to the current arrangements to reflect the introduction and implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Ofsted is currently undertaking a series of pilot inspections based on a common approach to inspection that will be applicable across all early years settings from September 2008. The second phase of the pilots is due to commence in April.
Schools: Sports
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received from community groups on the hiring of sports facilities at private finance initiative schools; and if he will make a statement. [127416]
Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State receives a large number of representations from many groups. Our correspondence records do not show any representations as described—to undertake further searches would incur disproportionate cost.
Science: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policy considerations affected the decision not to include the study of the role of lung structure in gas exchange in the revised key stage three Science curriculum. [127324]
Bill Rammell: The role of lung structure in gas exchange can be covered under ‘Organisms behaviour and health’ in the range and content section of the proposed Key Stage 3 programme of study. Teachers will use the national curriculum planning guidance to ensure appropriate coverage of these topics, while taking full advantage of the flexibility offered by the new programme of study.
Secondary Education: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new approach to the curriculum outlined in the secondary curriculum review. [127330]
Jim Knight: Our assessment is that the revised secondary curriculum will be effective in providing flexibility for catch-up classes for pupils who have fallen behind the expected level in English and mathematics; effective in providing flexibility to allow pupils to extend and deepen their understanding in areas where they have particular attributes and interests; and effective in providing pupils with the personal skills, attributes and practical life skills they will need for work and in their adult lives.
At the same time, it is our assessment that the revised secondary curriculum will maintain the essential elements of knowledge, skills and understanding that have stood the test of time and will equip pupils for success in further education or training and in the world of work.
Smith Institute
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money from the public purse (a) his Department and (b) its agencies gave to (i) the Smith Institute and (ii) its subsidiary SI Events Limited in each year since 1997; and for what purpose each payment was made. [123088]
Alan Johnson: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has made the following payments to the Smith Institute:
| £ | |
We have no record of any payments made to its subsidiary SI Events Ltd. Unfortunately, we cannot supply further information on the nature of these payments as the Department does not have immediate access to the original invoices on which the payments were based.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much special educational needs (SEN) funding was provided to students in (a) further education and (b) higher education in each year between 1997 and 2006; and if he will make a statement on his Department's submission for future levels of SEN funding in further and higher education as part of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review. [127431]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 14 March 2007]: Information on the funding allocated to support learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities who studied in the further education sector is in the following table.
| Further Education | Number of learners supported | Funding provided (£ billion) |
| Source: LSC | ||
Information for 2005/06 will be published in July 2007 and I will write to the hon. Gentleman once this is available. Comparable information is not available before 2003/04 as it was not collected in the same way under previous funding arrangements.
The information includes all LSC funding to support post-16 learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities studying in England. This includes learners attending further education colleges, school sixth forms and work based learning providers.
For higher education the details are as follows:
| Higher Education | Mainstream disability funding (£ million) | Disabled student's allowance (£ million) | Number of students in receipt of disabled student's allowance |
| (1) A change in reporting arrangements for 2003/04 means aggregated figures are not available for this year Source: Student Loans Company | |||
The information includes full-time, part-time, and postgraduate students studying in England.
As the Department has not yet received its comprehensive spending review (CSR) settlement, we are not in a position to announce the funding levels for specific programmes during the next CSR period. However, I can confirm that the costs of supporting learners with learning difficulties and disabilities have been fully integrated into our considerations for this.
Students: Debts
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the average level of personal debt existing students will have accumulated at the end of their degrees. [127770]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 15 March 2007]: The Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2004/05, published on 30 March 2006, is a comprehensive study on students' income, expenditure, borrowing and debt.
It showed that English domiciled full-time students graduating in academic year 2004/05 anticipated, on average, a total debt of £7,918. For those commencing courses after the introduction of variable fees in the 2006/07 academic year we expect average student debt of around £15,000.
A generous package of support is now available to students. The Government have re-introduced non-repayable grants of up to £2,700 for full-time students. In 2006/07 around half of new full-time entrants were eligible for a full or partial grant. Non re-payable bursaries, typically worth £1,000, are available from universities and colleges to those from low income backgrounds. Additional help is available to students facing financial hardship from the Access to Learning Fund administered by individual higher education institutions.
Student loans are available for tuition fees, as well as living costs, so no student has to find their fees before or during their studies. These loans are repayable only after a student has left their course and only then when their annual income reaches £15,000. The rates of interest are well below that of commercial credit and students only pay back in real terms the amount they originally borrow.
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