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26 Apr 2007 : Column 1310W—continued
Teachers: Training
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to increase funding for the training of designated teachers over the next three years. [131844]
Jim Knight: “Care Matters”, published in October 2006, set out a range of measures to improve the lives of children in care. Of central importance is improving their education so that we give children in care the best possible chance in life. We propose to put the role of designated teacher on a statutory footing to ensure that all schools have a member of staff responsible for planning and co-ordinating support for the education of young people in care.
The Department for Education and Skills Comprehensive Spending Review settlement gives us an overall spending envelope for 2008-11 which will enable us to deliver our key priorities for children, young people and learners. Decisions to be taken over the coming months will allow us to make more precise announcements about the allocation of resources towards the summer. A forthcoming White Paper will set out how we will take forward measures to improve the education of children in care.
Textbooks: Visually Impaired
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to (a) increase the proportion of (i) mathematics and science GCSE textbooks and (ii) English textbooks available in large print or Braille and (b) make available versions of Key Stage 4 dictionaries and atlases accessible to those with a visual impairment. [133831]
Mr. Dhanda: Part IV of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires schools and local authorities to plan to improve access to the curriculum and written materials for disabled pupils over time. This includes all National Curriculum-taught subjects.
With regard to the availability of text books and materials in electronic and other formats for schools, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 19 March 2007, Official Report, column 721W, to my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown).
Truancy
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were (a) stopped and (b) cautioned for truancy in (i) Taunton Deane, (ii) Somerset and (iii) England in each year since 1997. [133345]
Jim Knight: Figures from the twice-yearly nationally co-ordinated truancy sweeps that the Department ran until autumn 2006 show:
| Number of pupils stopped | ||
| Somerset | England | |
| Number of pupils stopped without good reason for being out of school | ||
| Somerset | England | |
Local authorities run sweeps at other times in response to local intelligence but the Department does not collect statistics from these sweeps. The Department does not collect statistics for either Wales or district councils.
Vocational Training: Pilot Schemes
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualifications have been awarded under the employer training pilots, broken down by (a) sector and (b) level. [131985]
Phil Hope: The Employer Training Pilots ran from September 2002 to March 2006, when the pilot areas became part of the Train To Gain programme. The offer in the pilots was of subsidised training leading to a qualification in basic skills or a first Level 2 qualification for employees. The following table from the Learning and Skills Council shows achievements by learners who started on the pilot before end-March 2006 (but excludes about 1,500 those still on their courses).
| Employer’s industrial sector and qualification type | Number of ETP achievements |
|
Public administration and defence, compulsory social security | |
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