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Departments: Disclosure of Information

Mr. Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the date was of each leak inquiry initiated by the Cabinet Office since 1997; which Department was concerned in each case; and what leak was being investigated in each case. [136332]

Hilary Armstrong: Individual Departments are responsible for initiating leak inquiries relating to material from within their own Departments. The Cabinet Office has conducted 15 leak inquiries since May 1997. It has been the practice of successive Governments not to comment on the subject matter of
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leak inquiries, which might reveal specific techniques or information that could jeopardise future investigations.

Education and Skills

Adult Education: Copeland

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many adult learners were studying vocational courses in Copeland in 2005-06. [133487]

Bill Rammell: The available figures for numbers of adult learners participating in Further Education in England funded by the Learning and Skills Council are shown in the following table. These figures show the numbers by sector subject Area and provided an indication of the numbers on vocational and non-vocational courses. Learners undertake a wide range of courses and it is difficult to classify all courses as either vocational or non-vocational.

Number of adult learners (Aged 19 and Over) from Copeland parliamentary constituency( 1 ) participating in F urther E ducation c ourses in England funded by the Learning and Skills Council by sector subject area for the academic year 2005/06
Sector subject areas	Number of learners
Health, Public Services and Care	550
Science and Mathematics	40
Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care	10
Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies	60
Construction, Planning and the Built Environment	50
Information and Communication Technology	400
Retail and Commercial Enterprise	140
Leisure, Travel and Tourism	30
Arts, Media and Publishing	40
History, Philosophy and Theology	40
Social Sciences	0
Languages, Literature and Culture	20
Education and Training	30
Preparation for Life and Work	410
Business, Administration and Law	120
(1 )Based on learner's home postcode

The available figures on the numbers of entrants to undergraduate courses at Higher Education Institutions are given in the following table.

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Number of entrants to undergraduate courses from Copeland parliamentary constituency( 1 ) by age and subject area UK H igher Education I nstitutions academic year 2005/06
	Age
Subject area	Under 21	21 and Over( 3)	Total
Medicine and Dentistry	0	0	5
Subjects allied to Medicine	30	125	155
Biological Sciences	25	20	40
Veterinary Science	0	0	0
Agriculture and related subjects	5	10	15
Physical Sciences	20	10	30
Mathematical Sciences	5	5	10
Computer Science	25	40	65
Engineering and Technology	30	15	45
Architecture, Building and Planning	5	5	5
Social Studies	35	50	85
Law	10	5	15
Business and Administrative Studies	35	45	80
Mass Communications and Documentation	10	0	10
Languages	15	10	25
Historical and Philosophical Studies	20	20	45
Creative Arts and Design	20	35	55
Education	30	25	55
Combined	30	25	60
Total	355	445	800
(1 )Based on the student’s home postcode. (2 )Subject areas are based on the JACS subject classification. (3 )Students aged 21 and over are classed as mature students; there is no definition specifically for adult Notes: The figures are based on the HESA Standard Registration Population. The figures are rounded to the nearest five students and the totals may not be equal to the sum of constituent parts. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Asperger's Syndrome

Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome have statements of special educational needs. [136085]

Mr. Dhanda: The available information is shown in the following table.

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Maintained primary, secondary and all special schools ( 1) : Number and percentage of pupils with autistic spectrum disorder who have a statement of SEN ( 2,3)( ) As at January 2007 (Provisional)—England
	Number	( 5) Percentage
Primary Schools (4)	11,560	18.8
Secondary Schools (4)	7,990	11.5
All Special Schools (1)	12,380	14.2
Total	31,930	14.6
(1) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes General Hospital Schools. (2) Pupils with statements of SEN provided information on their primary need and, if appropriate, their secondary need. Information on primary need only is given here. (3) Excludes dually registered pupils. (4) Includes middle schools as deemed. (5) Number of pupils by their main need expressed as a percentage of all pupils with statements of SEN. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census

The Department collects information on pupils' primary and, if appropriate, their secondary need. Asperger’s syndrome falls within the category of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local education authorities in England have specialist units for Asperger’s syndrome. [136117]

Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not collected centrally.

The Department collects, via School Census, the number of schools which have special units or resourced provision. It does not, however, ask schools to specify what the area of support is. Provisional 2007 data show that there are 1,558 schools in England with a special unit or resourced provision with 21,130 pupils attending such units.

The way in which provision is organised is a matter for individual local authorities and their schools to determine in the light of local needs, priorities and resources. Similarly, decisions on which pupils should attend any such units are for the schools and local authorities to make, in the light of their individual needs and parental wishes and any special educational provision as specified in a statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN).

Children in Care: Peterborough

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many looked after children there were in the Peterborough city council area in each year since 1997. [121184]

Mr. Dhanda: The number of children who were looked after by the local authority of Peterborough since 1996-97 is shown in the following table.

Children looked after at 31 March by the local authority of Peterborough, 1997-2006( 1,2,3,4,5) England
									Number
	At 31 March :
	1997( 1)	1998( 2)	1999( 2)	2000( 2)	2001( 2)	2002( 2)	2003( 2)	2004( 1)	2005( 1)	2006( 1)
All children looked after by the local authority of Peterborough (3,4,5)	335	350	360	390	355	335	325	335	375	365
(1) Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return which in 1996-97 and since 2003-04 cover all children looked after. (2) Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return which between 1997-98 and 2002-03 only covered one-third sample. (3) Figures at local authority level have been rounded to the nearest 5. (4) Historical data may differ from older publications. This is mainly due to the implementation of amendments and corrections sent by some local authorities after the publication date of previous materials. (5) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements.

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Class Sizes: Copeland

Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class sizes in Copeland (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools were in financial year (i) 1996-97 and (ii) 2006-07. [136271]

Jim Knight: The information requested is shown in the following table.

Maintained primary and secondary schools ( 1) : average class size ( 2) 1997 and 2006, p osition in January each year
	Copeland parliamentary constituency		England
	Primary	Secondary	Primary	Secondary
1997	26.2	21.2	27.5	21.7
2006	25.5	20.5	26.3	21.5
(1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Classes taught by one teacher during a single selected period on the Census day in January. Source: School Census

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