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11 Jun 2007 : Column 795W—continued

Pupils: Intimidation

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding was allocated to tackling bullying in schools in each financial year since 1997-98. [141379]


11 Jun 2007 : Column 796W

Jim Knight: The figures for the anti-bullying strand of the Improving Behaviour and Attendance Programme are given in the table:

£

2002/03

184,000

2003/04

1,054,000

2004/05

1,613,000

2005/06

1,145,000

2006/07

1,400,000

2007/08

1,700,000


Figures for earlier years are not available because the anti-bullying strand of behaviour work was not disaggregated.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which organisations his Department is working with to tackle bullying in schools; and in what year his Department commenced joint working with each such organisation. [141381]

Jim Knight: The Department works with a number of organisations to tackle bullying in schools. We have been working with and funding the following organisations:

In addition, we have also been working closely with the National Strategies in developing the SEAL strategy for social and emotional learning since 2003, and they are currently working with my Department and Ofsted to identify schools with weak and ineffective anti-bullying policies and to provide targeted support to those schools. And we are working with a number of internet service and mobile phone providers to see what we can all do to address cyber bullying among school pupils.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Ms Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department spent on education per pupil in Brent in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006. [140968]

Jim Knight: Total funding per school pupil aged 3-19 in 1997-98 was £3,840. In 2005-06, the latest information collected by the Department was £5,350.


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Pupils: Special Educational Needs

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were given an individual education plan in each of the last 10 years. [141221]

Jim Knight: Individual education plans (IEPs), although recommended by the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, are not statutory. Information on how many children have IEPs is not collected centrally.

Regional Development Agencies: Standards

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with regional development agencies on setting regional targets and priorities for skills. [141247]

Bill Rammell: RDA chairs meet Government Ministers, including DfES Ministers, regularly to discuss a range of RDA business including their role in skills.

RDA business priorities, including skills, are set out in the RDA Tasking Framework introduced in April 2005. Each RDA has agreed output targets for skills which include:

As key members of Regional Skills Partnerships, RDAs have a central role in determining regional priorities on skills and report every six months on progress to DfES Ministers.

School Sanitary Provision

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 February 2006, Official Report, column 994W, on school sanitary provision, how many times he has directed (a) schools and (b) local education authorities to meet the regulations concerning the provision of school toilets and drinking water for pupils. [137376]

Jim Knight: The Department does not have record of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills having directed schools or local
11 Jun 2007 : Column 798W
education authorities to meet the regulations concerning the provision of school toilets and drinking water for pupils.

Schools: Closures

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what weight a local authority should give to a consistent rating of “excellent” when considering a small rural school for closure under a surplus places reduction strategy. [140876]

Jim Knight: Before publishing proposals to close a school a local authority must consult all interested parties on its proposals, including the school's staff, governors and parents, and other schools and local authorities likely to be affected. The authority must provide sufficient information and allow adequate time for those being consulted to form a view and make their views known, and it must take those views into account in deciding whether to go ahead and publish its proposals.

When deciding proposals to close a school the local authority must take account of statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State. The guidance does not specify the weightings that decision-makers should apply to the various factors they take into account, but it makes clear that they must be satisfied that closing the school would contribute to raising the standard of provision locally and lead to improved attainment for children. The statutory guidance also includes a presumption against closing rural primary schools. Although this does not mean that no rural primary school will ever close, the case for closure needs to be strong.

Schools: Crime

Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools recorded incidences of (i) theft, (ii) criminal damage and (iii) assault in each of the last 10 years; how many of these incidents were committed by (A) staff and (B) pupils; and how many of those incidents resulted in the removal of the perpetrator from the school in question. [140779]

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.

For the academic years 2003/04 and 2004/05 information is available on the reasons for pupil exclusions. These reasons include ‘theft', ‘damage' and ‘physical assault against an adult or pupil'.

The tables provide a breakdown of the number of pupils who have been excluded for a fixed period or permanently from maintained primary and secondary schools for theft, damage and physical assault against an adult or pupil.


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Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : Number and percentage of fixed period exclusions for theft, damage and physical assault against an adult or pupil( 2) , 2003/04 and 2004/05, England
Maintained primary Maintained secondary
2003/04 2004/05 2003/04 2004/05
Number %( 2) Number %( 2) Number %( 2) Number %( 2)

Theft

400

1.0

400

0.9

6,550

2.3

7,020

2.1

Damage

830

2.0

990

2.3

9,200

3.2

10,220

3.1

Physical assault against an adult

5,190

12.6

5,960

13.6

8,110

2.8

9,490

2.9

Physical assault against a pupil

10,890

26.4

11,950

27.3

55,440

19.2

65,790

20.0

(1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Number of fixed period exclusions by reason expressed as a percentage of the total number of fixed period exclusions. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Termly Exclusions Survey.

Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : Number and percentage of permanent exclusions for theft, damage and physical assault against an adult or pupil( 2) , 2003/04 and 2004/05, England
Maintained primary Maintained secondary
2003/04 2004/05 2003/04

2004/05

Number %( 3) Number %( 3) Number %( 3) Number %( 3)

Theft

(4)

(4)

(4)

(4)

210

2.5

220

2.8

Damage

30

2.1

10

9.3

270

3.3

200

2.5

Physical assault against an adult

290

22.9

290

26.3

820

9.9

900

11.1

Physical assault against a pupil

290

22.7

250

22.6

1,380

16.6

1,500

18.6

(1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) The distribution of exclusions by reason has been derived from the Termly Exclusions Survey data and applied to the number of permanent exclusions as confirmed by local authorities as part of the School Census checking exercise. (3) Number of permanent exclusions by reason expressed as a percentage of the total number of permanent exclusions. (4) Less than 5 or a rate based on less than 5. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census and Termly Exclusions Survey.

Schools: Fire Extinguishers

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding he plans to make available for sprinkler systems in schools in (a) Richmond upon Thames, (b) the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and (c) London. [140813]

Jim Knight: We do not propose to provide additional funding for the provision of sprinkler systems in new schools. An analysis of recently completed secondary schools showed that with good design and effective project management it is possible to cover the costs of sprinklers within existing funding.

It is our expectation that all new schools will have fire sprinklers installed, but this is subject to a risk assessment.


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