| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
17 Apr 2007 : Column 538W—continued
Departments: Public Appointments
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will list the former hon. Members who left Parliament in 2005 who have since been appointed to public bodies by her Department, broken down by party; and who was responsible for making each appointment. [130148]
Hilary Armstrong: 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 the following former hon. Member who left Parliament in 2005 has since been appointed to a public body now sponsored by the Cabinet Office. The information requested is shown in the table.
Chris Pond
Labour
Secretary of State for the Home Office
Departments: Redundancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people in her Office who participated in (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 1997-98 were paid between (i) £0 to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000; and if she will make a statement. [131556]
Hilary Armstrong: The Cabinet Office, which includes the Prime Minister’s Office, approved departures under voluntary exit schemes in each of the financial years since 1997 as follows:
| 1 April to 31 March: | Number of employees |
The Cabinet Office has not held involuntary exit schemes in any of these years.
The Cabinet Office aims to ensure that it has a diverse and skilled workforce to meet its business needs. Voluntary departures schemes are one of the tools it uses, as an alternative to redundancy, to reduce headcount, to refresh skills and to tackle staff surpluses. The criteria for such schemes are governed by the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, which provides compensation to civil servants who leave via an exit scheme before their pension age.
Information on costs of voluntary departure schemes is available only at disproportionate cost.
Social Exclusion
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on tackling social exclusion. [131402]
Hilary Armstrong: I have regular discussions with all my ministerial colleagues at the Department for Education and Skills (DFES). The Social Exclusion Task Force works closely with DFES on many of its initiatives to tackle exclusion. Currently, DFES is making an important contribution to the Nurse-Family Partnership pilots, which are testing a model of early identification and preventive health led intensive home visiting as a means to reduce the risk of social exclusion in later life.
Education and Skills
Children’s Centres
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the criteria are for deciding the location of children's centres; and whether he expects such centres to be established in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex. [131419]
Beverley Hughes:
Local authorities have been issued with planning guidance that sets out the criteria for the location of children's centres. We have asked them to ensure that all children under five in the 30 per cent. most disadvantaged areas of England have access to integrated Sure Start services by 2008. These areas are defined by super output areas as developed by the Office for National Statistics. The exact location within these areas is determined by local authorities in consultation with local partners. When appropriate plans have been made to serve the most disadvantaged
areas with children's centre services, the local authority then has the flexibility to decide where to locate further centres according to the resources available.
There are currently 10 designated children's centres in East Sussex, including two in Eastbourne. By 2010 there will be a children's centre serving every community in England.
Children’s Centres: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 27 March 2007, Official Report, column 1391W, on children’s centres, on what grounds he decided that (a) history, (b) geography, (c) science, (d) design and technology, (e) citizenship and (f) personal, social and health education were content heavy. [131272]
Jim Knight: Prior to asking the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to review the secondary curriculum, the clear view of subject communities and those involved with young people reported that they wanted to see less content in history, geography, science, design and technology, citizenship and personal, social and health education. The QCA also expressed the view that the programmes of study in those subjects were too prescriptive.
City Academies
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence took place between his Department and the Prime Minister's Office on the target for academies to be created by 2010 prior to the Prime Minister's announcement on 30 November 2006 that the target was being doubled from 200 to 400 by 2010. [131294]
Jim Knight: There was a range of discussions and correspondence between the Department and the Prime Minister's office, prior to this announcement.
Class Sizes
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of (a) Key Stage 1 and (b) Key Stage 2 pupils were taught in classes of (i) 29-30 and (ii) over 30 in each year since 1997. [131289]
Jim Knight: The information requested is shown in the table.
Departments: Databases
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what databases are controlled by his Department and its agencies; and what percentage of the data in each database he estimates is inaccurate or out of date. [124040]
Mr. Dhanda: The information as requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Education and Skills. To respond fully would involve an extensive internal and external information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold.
Departments: Redundancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many people in his Department participated in (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement; [131543]
(2) how many people in his Department who participated in (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 1997-98 were paid between (i) £0 to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000; and if he will make a statement. [131563]
Mr. Dhanda: There have been no involuntary exit schemes in the Department since 1997 and we remain committed to minimising recourse to compulsory redundancies. The Department has managed part of its staff reductions through voluntary early releases.
From the 1997-98 financial year to the end of the 2006-07 financial year, the total number of such releases were as follows:
| Number of releases | |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |