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14 Jun 2007 : Column 1188W—continued
This table sets out the specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF) (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils' core services) paid to Westminster and exclude grant outside AEF such as capital grants, funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities, European funding; or where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area. Revenue support grant and other elements of formula grant (such as redistributed business rates and police grant) have also been excluded.
Revenue outturn data have been used from 1997/98 to 2005/06 (the last year available) and Revenue Account (RA) data have been used for 2006-07.
Dedicated schools grant (DSG) started in 2006/07 and this has been recorded by Westminster council on their RA return. However, it has been excluded from the above table as prior to 2006-07 this funding was part of RSG, and the question excludes the funding from RSG. The Department can confirm that £86,014 of DSG was paid to Westminster in 2006/07.
There are a number of smaller grants included in an ‘Other’ category on the revenue returns submitted by local authorities. It is possible that there may be some DfES grants within this category, but it is not possible to identify these separately within the return.
Examinations: Fees and Charges
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what examination fee will be charged to (a) schools and (b) further education colleges and institutions for the provision of Diploma examinations in each Diploma subject in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [138760]
Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is currently consulting on the principles which should inform the setting of fees for the Diploma.
Free School Meals: Lone Parents
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of children entitled to free school meals in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools lived with a parent who had sole custody in each year since 1997. [142654]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not held centrally.
Further Education: Finance
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made towards closing the gap between the average annual per capita funding from Government for full-time equivalent learners aged 16, 17 and 18 years in further education colleges and those in sixth forms; and if he will make a statement. [138759]
Bill Rammell: As the Secretary of State confirmed in his speech to the Association of Colleges annual conference in November 2006 we have, by 2006/7, reduced the funding gap between school sixth forms and FE colleges for comparable 16 to 18 provision by 5 per cent.. We committed in the FE White Paper to take further steps to narrow this funding gap by a further 3 per cent. by 2008 and beyond that to take steps to narrow the gap further as resources allow. For the longer term we plan to establish common funding arrangements for all 16 to 18 provision with comparable funding for comparable activity, irrespective of the type of institution providing the education and training. Our recent consultation on the creation of a demand led system included proposals for this common 16 to 18 funding approach. We are currently considering responses to the consultation and plan to implement changes in time for the 2008/09 academic year.
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual per capita funding from Government for full-time equivalent learners aged 16, 17 and 18 years in (a) further education colleges and (b) school sixth forms was in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08. [138761]
Bill Rammell: Per capita funding for full-time equivalent 16, 17 and 18-year-old learners in further education colleges in 2005-06 was £5,000. In 2006-07 we estimate this will rise to £5,100 but this will not be confirmed until final student numbers are available later in the year.
For 16, 17 and 18-year-olds in school sixth forms the level of funding per pupil was £4,900 in 2005-06, this rose to £5,200 in 2006-07.
Figures for school sixth forms and colleges are not directly comparable as a range of factors affects them including the mix of provision offered, achievement and retention levels and the location in which the provider is based. It is also impossible to get an entirely accurate full time equivalent learner figure for college students whereas for schools, as almost all pupils study full time in sixth forms, the pupil count is precise.
Data for 2007-08 will not be available until autumn 2007.
Heartease High School
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which company has the contract to develop the programme for the feasibility study on the proposed academy at Heartease high school; how much has been allocated by his Department for the feasibility study; and if he will take steps to ensure that the articles of memorandum of association of the company are freely available before the consultation process is complete. [139086]
Jim Knight: Cambridge Education (CE Ltd) has been appointed to manage the feasibility study; the cost of this work is £323,000, which is in line with the average cost of a nine-month feasibility phase on other academy projects. As a limited company the articles and memorandum of association for CE are available from Companies House.
Literacy: Computer Software
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department provides to (a) local authorities and (b) schools on the use of reading and literacy software in schools. [139132]
Jim Knight: There is extensive guidance on the use of reading and literacy software for local authorities and schools on the TeacherNet website (www.teachernet.gov.uk) for both primary and secondary education. This includes the practical support pack which is an online collection of high quality lesson content, lesson plans, multimedia resources and ICT support materials designed to help teachers develop their teaching practice using ICT. It shows the role that ICT can play in teaching and learning objectives as a practical approach.
The practical support pack will soon be replaced by a new CPD microsite contained within TeacherNet, called ‘Reach’. Reach will contain all of the PSP materials and more within a new design.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average education funding was per pupil in England, broken down by local authority area in each year since 1979. [140561]
Jim Knight: The requested information has been placed in the House Library.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many parents made appeals against the allocation of their child to a school in each local education authority in each year since 1997; how many of these were upheld; and if he will make a statement. [142150]
Jim Knight: Data on heard and successful admissions appeals for all local education authorities in England, covering the years 1997-98 to 2005-06, have been placed in the Library.
Schools: Choirs
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have joined the £10 million initiative to encourage choral singing; how many extra students the initiative has assisted; and what proportion of the budget has been spent. [142590]
Jim Knight: The £10 million is not being devolved to schools at this stage. There has been huge interest in the national singing campaign and Howard Goodall, the singing ambassador, has received hundreds of messages from schools, organisations and individuals asking how they can become involved or providing details of the work they already do. Plans are being made to allocate the funding to major national initiatives to achieve the widest possible impact. This will include the production of a major song resource to be made available to every school and every child and the training of vocal leaders for schools.
Schools: Church of Scientology
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many schools have contacted his Department for guidance on visits from (a) Narconon and (b) the Church of Scientology in the last two years; and what guidance has been issued by his Department; [141161]
(2) what assessment he has made of the success of the Narconon programme in schools; [141163]
(3) what contact his Department has had with (a) Narconon and (b) the Church of Scientology in the last two years. [141164]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department has had no contact with Narconon or the Church of Scientology in the last two years, nor have schools contacted the Department for guidance on visits by these organisations.
The Department’s guidance, “Drugs: Guidance for Schools” (DFES 2004) is clear that teachers should be the main providers of drug education and maintain responsibility for the overall drug education programme in their school. External contributors can be used where they add to the drug education programme a dimension that the teacher alone cannot deliver.
The Department has not assessed the Narconon drug programme for schools as it is for schools and local authorities to decide whether to use the services of an external contributor to assist with their drug education programme, and if so who this should be.
Schools: Finance
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representations he has received in response to the school, early years and 14-16 funding consultation; what assessment he has made of the responses; if he will put a summary of the responses in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [143037]
Jim Knight: By 1 June 2007, the closing date of the consultation, my Department had received a total of 1,163 representations about our proposals for the school, early years and 14-16 funding arrangements for 2008-11. This includes 651 representations made as part of six campaigns including 542 letters supporting the position of the F40 group of authorities of which the hon. Member for Stafford is chair.
We are now considering the responses. The final total, including a number received since the closing date, will be set out in a report summarising the responses to the consultation to be published on the TeacherNet website when we announce our decisions on the proposals in the summer. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library.
Special Educational Needs: Finance
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding was allocated to (a) special educational needs and (b) gifted and talented learning in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [141220]
Jim Knight: The requested information has been placed in the House Library.
Swimming: Finance
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding is available for schools to access swimming facilities. [138804]
Jim Knight: Swimming activities and water safety is a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for physical education in primary schools and schools can choose it as a programme of study in secondary schools. Funding for schools to deliver the National Curriculum is part of their core funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant—£28.3 billion in total in 2007-08.
In addition, £5.5 million in 2006-08 is being targeted at supporting pupils to reach the Key Stage 2 requirements for swimming, including being able to swim at least 25 metres.
Teachers: Vacancies
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teaching posts have been vacant in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [142149]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of full-time vacant teaching posts in local authority maintained nursery/primary, secondary and special schools in each January from 1997 to 2007. Vacancy rates as a percentage of full-time teachers in post are also included.
A full-time teacher vacancy refers to a full-time appointment of at least one term's duration that, on the survey date, had been advertised but not filled. Vacancies include those filled on a temporary basis unless filled by someone with a fixed term contract of one term or more.
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