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30 Apr 2007 : Column 1465W—continued
Education and Skills
Building Schools for the Future Programme: Leicestershire
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding his Department plans to allocate to Leicestershire local education authority for the Building Schools for the Future programme. [133709]
Jim Knight: Leicestershire local authority has four Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects, which have been provisionally prioritised for waves 10-12 and waves 13-15 of the programme. Funding for projects in these waves has not yet been allocated.
Leicestershire currently has a phase one ‘one-school-pathfinder’ project concerning King Edward VII School, which has been allocated £26 million of capital funding.
72 local authorities with 87 projects are included in BSF waves one to six. A further 40 authorities are receiving a single-school project. Together with academies, a total of about 1,000 secondary schools are in line for modernisation.
Children’s Centres: Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much capital has been (a) spent and (b) allocated for future years for the development of children's centres in Warrington. [134028]
Beverley Hughes: For the period 2004-06, £961,633 capital was made available to Warrington for the delivery of Sure Start services.
The General Sure Start Grant (GSSG) made available £3,185,235 capital for the period 2006-08 for the delivery of Sure Start children's services.
The CSR 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. A specific capital allocation for Warrington will be made later in the year.
City Academies: Comprehensive Schools
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on the potential impact of city academies on nearby comprehensive schools. [134192]
Jim Knight: Each academy proposal is subject to a formal consultation process during its feasibility stage, and many representations about academy proposals are received, including the potential impact of academies on neighbouring schools.
City Academies: Consultants
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many project consultants have been engaged by (a) his Department and (b) associated bodies in the Academy Scheme; by what process consultants are appointed for the Scheme; and how much the Department has spent on such consultants. [133854]
Jim Knight: The Academies programme requires a wide range of skills including some which are outside the core civil service skills. Since the Academies programme began in December 2000 the Department for Education and Skills has spent £20,161,977 on a range of consultancy services for the Academies programme. The Department currently has 46 separate contracts for the provision of consultancy services to the Academies programme including:
an ongoing independent evaluation of the programme;
programme management expertise;
school improvement and intervention;
background checks to determine the suitability of potential sponsors,
legal advice, construction procurement expertise
Each Academy project also has an overall project manager who is initially contracted to the Department but whose contract transfers to the individual Academy Trust once the funding agreement is signed. The total cost of these project management services from the start of the programme is £28,338,823. There are now 47 open academies and 90 in the pipeline.
Consultancy services are procured for the Academies programme in accordance with the Departmental Procurement Policy and the EU Procurement Directives.
Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what evidential basis the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority adopted the approach to the curriculum outlined in the National Curriculum planning guidance and draft supporting materials. [134176]
Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s (QCA) approach to the curriculum outlined in the National Curriculum planning guidance and supporting materials is built on evidence from ongoing work with schools and colleges. The ‘futures in action’ programme, which has been running since 2005, has continued to demonstrate a high degree of consensus about many of the characteristics of how the curriculum should be shaped. QCA’s work is also supported by the results of its annual curriculum monitoring programme which includes interviews and questionnaires with head teachers, deputy heads, teachers and pupils.
Diplomas for England
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to train teachers to deliver the new Diplomas for England programme; and how much is being spent on such training. [134541]
Jim Knight: The Department has already put in place a broad programme of support to ensure that those teaching the Diplomas—as well as those who will be leading and supporting the changes—will be well equipped to do so. The Department is working in partnership with the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL), Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK), the National Assessment Agency (NAA), the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA), the Secondary National Strategies (SNS), the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), and the Training and Development Agency (TDA).
Building on the existing skills of the education workforce, the programme provided by QIA and SSAT includes three days of continuing professional development spread through the 2007/08 academic year for leading Diploma practitioners from each consortium of schools and colleges that will teach Diplomas from 2008. Online materials, a training needs analysis tool, an online community and other resources will supplement this training and encourage collaboration between Diploma-teaching institutions. In future some initial teacher training placements will also be tailored specifically to Diploma teaching.
In the financial year 2007-08 my Department has allocated a total of £45 million for the support of the 14 to 19 workforce development programmes.
Education: Leicestershire
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what capital funding he made available to Leicestershire county council in each financial year since 1996-97. [133811]
Jim Knight: Schools capital funding allocated to Leicestershire county council, including direct to schools in its area, in each financial year since 1996-97 is set out in the following table:
| £ million | |
Education: Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total amount of capital spending on education in Warrington was in each year since 1997. [134027]
Jim Knight: Schools capital funding allocated to Warrington, including direct to schools in its area, in each financial year since it achieved unitary status in 1998, is set out in the following table.
| Amount (£ million) | |
GCSEs
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which 200 maintained mainstream schools had the lowest proportion of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs including English, mathematics, science and a modern foreign language in 2006. [133461]
Jim Knight [holding answer 23 April 2007]: The information requested has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Data for all schools was provided in the answer to PQ 112152 on 16 April 2007, Official Report, column 298W.
The link to the answer for PQ 112152 giving figures for all schools is at the following address:
This analysis is based on the revised 2006 KS4 data.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many students achieved five GCSEs at grade C or above including English and mathematics in each year since 1997, excluding those students who achieved grade C equivalent at GNVQ; [133847]
(2) how many students achieved five GCSEs at grade C or above including English, mathematics, science and a modern foreign language in each year since 1997, excluding those students who achieved grade C or equivalent at GNVQ; [133866]
(3) how many students achieved five GCSEs at grade C or above including English, mathematics and science in each year since 1997, excluding those students who achieved grade C or equivalent at GNVQ. [133867]
Jim Knight [holding answer 24 April 2007]: The following table shows the percentage of 15-year-old pupils(1) achieving five or more GCSEs excluding GNVQs(2) at grades A*-C including the subjects listed in each year since 1997(2).
(1) Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year i.e. 31 August.
(2) At least a pass grade at a full intermediate GNVQ is equivalent to four GCSEs at grades A*-C.
| Percentage | |||
| English and mathematics | English, mathematics and science | English, mathematics, science and MFL | |
Martial Arts: Schools
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his Department's expenditure on promoting martial arts in schools was in each year since 1997. [127411]
Jim Knight:
Funding is not allocated on an individual activity or sport basis. In the five years to 2008, the Government have invested an additional £978 million in PE and school sport through the national
school sport strategy. Where there is a perceived need, schools and school sport partnerships will allocate resources to martial arts locally.
The percentage of schools in a school sport partnership offering martial arts has risen from 4 per cent. in 2003/04 to 9 per cent . in 2005/06.
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