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26 Apr 2007 : Column 1292W—continued


Funding for the three years from 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be agreed as part of the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

Education and Skills

Secondary Schools: Parental Choice

12. Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what initiatives his Department is pursuing to increase parental choice of secondary schools. [133964]

Jim Knight: The Government are committed to creating a real choice of excellent schools for parents. We have placed new duties on local authorities to plan schools with a view to increasing parental choice and to respond to parents. We have created opportunities for new providers to set up schools through competitions. We have introduced a fairer admissions system, with help for parents to exercise their choices, and we have extended parents’ rights to free school transport.

Accessible Textbooks

14. Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department has issued to local education authorities on the provision of accessible textbooks; and if he will make a statement. [133967]

Mr. Dhanda: The Department has published a training resource “Implementing the Disability Discrimination Act in schools and early years settings” for schools and local authorities to help them meet their duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

This includes guidance to schools to help them develop their accessibility plans, covering planning improvements to the provision of written materials for disabled pupils over time. All schools can obtain a copy of the resource from DfES Publications.

Framework for Excellence

15. Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Learning and Skills Council plans to take to reflect the different roles and objectives of further education and sixth form colleges when aggregating performance measures into a single star rating as proposed under the framework for excellence. [133970]

Bill Rammell: The framework for excellence arrangements will take account of the aims and missions of individual colleges and providers. The Learning and Skills Council will pilot the arrangements for the framework fully during the academic year 2007-08, including developing and testing the processes and criteria for deriving each institution’s overall performance rating. The LSC will publish further details on the piloting arrangements in about two months’ time.

Secondary School Standards

16. Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to raise standards in secondary schools. [133971]

Jim Knight: We are investing over £1 billion in personalising learning by 2008.

The Secondary National Strategy provides training and support for teachers, including resources and materials for intervention and personalised learning.


26 Apr 2007 : Column 1293W

As a result, the number of schools with less than 25 per cent. of pupils achieving five or more good GCSEs is down from 616 to 47, and 86,555 more students achieved that standard than in 1997.

Reforms at 14-19 will improve vocational skills and will ensure that pupils leave school with functional skills in English, maths and ICT.

Academy Schools

Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many academy schools are planned to open in the next 12 months. [133966]

Jim Knight: There are currently 47 academies open, and we anticipate that around 35 further academies will be opened in the next 12 months.

Adult Education: Copeland

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many adult learners entered higher education in Copeland in 2005-06. [133483]

Bill Rammell: The latest available information is given in the table.

Number of entrants to undergraduate courses( 1) from Copeland parliamentary constituency by age—UK higher education institutions—academic year 2005/06
Age Number of entrants

Under 18

30

18

230

19

65

20

30

21 and over

445

Total

800

(1) Covers full-time and part-time modes of study.
Note:
Figures are based on the HESA Standard Registration Population and are rounded to the nearest 5.
Source:
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

City Academies: Sponsorship

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the sponsor or sponsors are of each academy; and how much each has contributed. [133035]

Jim Knight: There are 47 academies now open. Information on the sponsor of each academy and the sponsors’ donations received to date towards open academies' capital costs—rather than total sponsorship committed—is given in the following table.

Sponsorship for the first academies has been provided in the form of a contribution to the capital costs of buildings. However, we have changed the sponsorship model and sponsors will now, as the norm, establish an endowment fund worth £2 million (or £1.5 million for the fourth or subsequent academy for sponsors of multiple academies), with a minimum of £500,000 payable in the first year. Payment of the endowment will normally be over five years. To date, only one open academy, St Mark's academy in Merton, has this form of sponsorship.


26 Apr 2007 : Column 1294W

Sponsors’ donations contributing to capital costs are normally made over the lifetime of the building costs of the project, so in some cases a number of payments towards capital costs remain to be made. In other cases, sponsors' payments have been made, but are not recorded in the table as auditors have not yet completed their checks on whether these were spent on capital or recurrent costs.

We do not keep a record of sponsors' non-capital donations to academies.


26 Apr 2007 : Column 1295W
£000
Open Academy Name Sponsor(s) Total evidence of use of sponsor contributions to end of March 2007

The Business Academy, Bexley

Garrard Education Trust

2,462

Greig City Academy, Haringey

Greig Trust with the London Diocesan Board for Schools

1,664

Unity City Academy, Middlesbrough

Amey plc

1,948

City Academy, Bristol

John Laycock/University of the West of England

1,670

Capital City, Brent

Sir Frank Lowe

1,993

City of London Academy, Southwark

Corporation of London

2,000

Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham

Sir Harry Djanogly

0

King's Academy, Middlesbrough

Emmanuel Schools Foundation

2,006

Manchester Academy

United Learning Trust (ULT)

1,286

The Academy at Peckham, Southwark

Harris Charitable Trust/Whitgift Foundation

2,986

The Walsall City Academy

The Mercers' Company/Thomas Telford Online

2,512

The West London Academy, Baling

Alec Reed

2,000

Lambeth Academy

ULT

1,500

The London Academy, Barnet

Peter Shalson

1,490

Mossbourne Community Academy, Hackney

Sir Clive Bourne

1,631

Northampton Academy

ULT

654

Stockley Academy, Hillingdon

Barry Townsley and others

1,452

Dixons City Academy, Bradford

Dixons CTC Trust

612

Harefield Academy, Hillingdon

David Meller and others

42

Marlowe Academy, Kent

Roger de Haan / Kent County Council

2,183

The Academy of St. Francis of Assisi, Liverpool

Diocese of Liverpool/RC Archdiocese of Liverpool

950

St Paul's Academy, Greenwich

Archdiocese of Southwark

200

Trinity Academy, Doncaster

Emmanuel Schools Foundation

2,000

North Liverpool Academy

Liverpool University/Granada Learning

0

Harris Academy Merton

Harris Charitable Trust

0

Grace Academy, Solihull

Bob Edmiston

2,000

Walthamstow Academy, Waltham Forest

ULT

27

Paddington Academy

ULT

429

David Young Community Academy, Leeds

Diocese of Ripon and Leeds

1,000

Harris Girls Academy East Dulwich

Harris Charitable Trust

0

The Harris Bermondsey Academy

Harris Charitable Trust

0

Sheffield Springs

ULT

1,500

Sheffield Park

ULT

1,000

Landau Forte College, Derby

Landau Forte Academy Trust

2

Westminster Academy

Exilarch's Foundation

0

The Petchey Academy, Hackney

Jack Petchey Foundation

932

The Burlington Danes Academy, Hammersmith and Fulham

ARK

0

Barnsley Academy

ULT

27

The John Madejski Academy, Reading

John Madejski

1,820

Sandwell Academy

Mercers Company Thomas Telford Online, HSBC, West Brom Albion FC, Tarmac Group

1,692

Haberdashers’ Knights Academy

Haberdashers1 Livery Company

296

Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham Academy

Haberdashers' Livery Company

705

Salford City Academy

ULT

214

Gateway Academy, Thurrock

Ormiston Trust

0

Macmillan Academy, Middlesbrough

Macmillan CTC

400

St Mark’s Academy, Merton(1)

Diocese of Southwark/CfBT Educational Trust/Toe H

0

Madeley Academy, Telford and Wrekin

Thomas Telford On-line

0

(1) £2 million sponsorship to be invested in endowment fund as opposed to towards capital costs

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