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13 Jun 2007 : Column 1160W—continued
Pupils: Counselling
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children of (a) primary and (b) secondary school age in each local authority area undertook anger management courses in each of the last 10 years. [141233]
Jim Knight: DfES does not collect centrally data about specific approaches dealing with pupil behaviour.
Supporting the psychological well-being and mental health of pupils is a key component of the school curriculum and of the new multi-agency structures and settings, such as children's centres, extended schools and the targeted youth support pilots, which are being developed under the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme.
Pupils: English Language
Mr. Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps have been taken to ensure that staff in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools with high numbers of English as an additional language pupils are being supported in their teaching. [138719]
Jim Knight: The DfES launched a strategy for English as an additional language (EAL) in October 2003 as part of its Aiming High initiative for raising achievement of minority ethnic pupils. Central to this strategy was the professional development of teachers and teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools.
Key initiatives since 2003 include an extensive EAL programme delivered through the primary national strategy involving a package of professional development for mainstream staff. Professional development materials on EAL have been rolled out as part of this initiative and are available to all primary schools.
A secondary national strategy programme for EAL was launched in June 2006 which builds on from this work to promote awareness of best practice in EAL teaching in secondary schools.
Local authorities also receive additional funding from the ethnic minority achievement grant (EMAG). EMAG is distributed to local authorities by formula which includes the number of EAL pupils in each LA, with locally determined formulae devolving at least 85 per cent. to schools. The grant is £179 million in 2007-08.
EMAG provides resources for schools to employ specialist EAL support teachers and teaching assistants and for local authorities to maintain a small advisory team. Some local authorities employ a team of specialist EAL teachers whose services are bought in by schools.
The DfES will launch a New Arrivals Excellence Programme in July 2007. This aims to build capacity in local authorities and schools in England to deliver good quality provision and point towards the best training opportunities.
The Department has published two documents designed to support school assessment of EAL pupils and funded accredited specialist training in EAL for teachers and teaching assistants between 2004 and 2006. These courses have continued despite no longer being funded by the Department.
Departments: Intimidation
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many complaints of bullying have been investigated in his Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld. [134830]
Mr. Dhanda: From April 2006 to March 2007, my Department investigated less than five official complaints of bullying, this information is therefore suppressed on the grounds of confidentiality.
The Department believes that each and every individual has the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect. Harassment and bullying at work can cause fear, stress and anxiety and even sickness among employees. It can lead to serious legal consequences for both the harasser and the employer. As such, we do not tolerate unacceptable behaviour towards others. Formal complaints
are investigated quickly and thoroughly and, where complaints are upheld, appropriate disciplinary action is taken. All cases are treated seriously.
The overall aim of our harassment and bullying policy is to prevent such unacceptable behaviour occurring but, where it does occur, to ensure that appropriate and effective action is taken to deal with it and prevent it happening again. This applies to everyone in the Department. Every individual is personally responsible for their own behaviour, and every manager is responsible for enforcing the policy in accordance with the guidance and procedures set out in our Staff Handbook.
School Food Trust: Stoke on Trent
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the location of regional training centres for the School Food Trust; and if he will meet interested parties to discuss the options for one in Stoke-on-Trent. [141753]
Mr. Dhanda: The Secretary of State has asked the School Food Trust (SFT) to lead on the work to establish regional training centres (RTCs), which will act as centres of excellence for training school catering staff. The SFT will be publishing an interim prospectus on its website on 15 June 2007 setting out the business planning requirements and the principles for the capital funding distribution for RTCs. Location of the RTCs will depend on the applications received but our aim is to have a National network. The interested parties in Stoke-on-Trent may wish to contact the SFT in the first instance to discuss their options.
Schools: Drinking Water
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what steps his Department has taken to ensure that local education authorities and individual schools will have free, fresh (a) drinking water and (b) chilled drinking water available to school children by 1 September; [141328]
(2) what targets have been set to measure the meeting by schools of the Healthy Schools Standard for the availability of free, fresh water in schools by 1 September; and what percentage of schools are expected to achieve those targets; [141329]
(3) what procedures have been put in place by Ofsted for the auditing of the availability and provision of free, fresh (a) drinking water and (b) chilled drinking water throughout the school day as part of the new nutritional standards for schools; and if he will make a statement; [141330]
(4) what funding his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make available to local education authorities and individual schools to ensure that they meet the nutritional standards to provide free, fresh (i) drinking water and (ii) chilled drinking water throughout the school day by 1 September 2007. [141331]
Mr. Dhanda: The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 require that
“ school shall have a wholesome supply of water for domestic purposes including a supply of drinking water”.
The new nutritional standards for school food require that drinking water is provided free of charge to registered pupils. Chilled water is not a requirement of the standards. We are investing close to £500 million between 2005 and 2011 to assist authorities and schools in improving school food and drink.
Ofsted will be monitoring schools’ approaches to healthier eating as part of their regular inspections of schools.
Providing free drinking water and meeting the new nutritional standards are key criteria under the healthy eating theme of the National Healthy Schools programme. We have set a target for all schools to be working towards Healthy School Status by 2009, with 75 per cent. of schools achieving the status by that time.
Schools: Standards
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools were made subject to special measures in each local education authority in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [142153]
Jim Knight: The information requested was provided by Ofsted in response to the PQs numbered 132878 and 132879 and is available in the Libraries of both Houses.
The number of primary and secondary schools being placed in special measures is now considerably less than in 1997/98, despite a tougher inspection regime. So far during the current academic year 116 primary and 28 secondary schools have been placed in this Ofsted category. The figures for the 1997/98 academic year were 210 primaries and 43 secondaries.
Schools in special measures are now also being turned around more quickly. Primary schools now spend an average of 16 months in special measures and secondary schools 22 months, compared with 23 months and 28 months respectively in 1997. Our reforms in the Education and Inspections Act 2006 will reduce turn round times further. Under the new arrangement authorities will be expected to be more active in preventing school failure and more decisive in tackling it where it occurs.
Special Educational Needs: Hertfordshire
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many special educational needs schools there are in Hertfordshire; and how many school places there were in each year since 1997. [124406]
Mr. Dhanda: The available information is provided in the table.
Information on the number of school places is not collected centrally therefore information on the number of pupils on roll in special schools has been provided.
| Special schools: Number of schools and pupils. Position in January each year: 1997 to 2006—Hertfordshire local authority | ||||||
| Number of schools | Number of pupils ( 1) | |||||
| ( 2) Maintained | ( 2) Non-maintained | Total | ( 2) Maintained | ( 2) Non-maintained | Total | |
| (1) Excludes dually registered pupils. (2) Up until 2003 the ‘maintained’/‘non-maintained’ status of special schools was derived from information as reported by schools. There are known quality issues with this information. From 2003 the ‘maintained’/‘non-maintained’ split of special schools has been taken from another, more reliable source. Source: School’s Census | ||||||
Special Educational Needs: Pupil Exclusions
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of current pupils with (a) statemented special educational needs (SEN) and (b) non-statemented SEN have received a permanent exclusion from (i) maintained mainstream and (ii) other schools (A) once, (B) twice, (C) more than twice and (D) more than five times. [132385]
Mr. Dhanda: The available information is given in the following table.
| Maintained primary, secondary and all special schools( 1) : number of pupils permanently excluded from school by special educational needs (SEN)( 2) 2004/05, England | ||||||||
| Maintained primary and secondary schools | ||||||||
| Pupils with statements of SEN | Pupils with SEN without statements | Pupils with no identified SEN | Total | |||||
| Number of permanent exclusions per pupil | Number | Percentage( 3) | Number | Percentage( 3) | Number | Percentage( 3) | Number | Percentage( 3) |
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