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21 Jun 2007 : Column 1993W—continued
Ofsted involves young people by seeking their views during inspection and through highly focused surveys and consultation exercises. Seeking the views of young people is part of the statutory duties of the new Ofsted and developing this further is explicitly outlined in our new Strategic Plan.
Following the expansion of our remit in April this year, Ofsted is working hard to bring together the very best from all four predecessor organisations. At this stage, we are focusing on creating a high quality inspection programme across our expanded remit. We are also looking to incorporate the changes made to the National Minimum Standards and develop this work further over the next few years. This development work will include a range and choice of different methods for all children in inspected services to feed in their views about inspection outcomes.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
City Academies: Private Sector
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether any city academy school sites are owned by private sector interests. [141025]
Jim Knight [holding answer 7 June 2007]: We are aware of one case where the freehold of an academy site is held by a private sector organisation. In this case, the land has been leased to the local authority which in turn has leased it to the Academy Trust.
We do not maintain central records which record whether Academy Trusts have freehold or leasehold interests and who granted them. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, in all cases, the Academy Trust either owns the freehold of the site or will have been granted a lease of either 99 or 125 years. Where academies are being developed as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, the Academy Trust will be granted a 125-year lease from the local authority which will commence upon completion of the building.
Class Sizes
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of all pupils aged five, six or seven have been taught in classes of 31 or more in each local education authority in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [142155]
Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
Class Sizes: Middlesbrough
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size was for (a) secondary schools and (b) primary schools in Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland in each of the last 10 years. [143435]
Jim Knight: The available information is given in the table.
| Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : average class size( 2) : Position in January each year 1998 to 2007( 3) : Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency | ||||
| Middlesbrough, South and East Cleveland constituency | England | |||
| Primary | Secondary | Primary | Secondary | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Classes taught by one teacher during a single selected period on the census day in January. (3) Provisional data Source: School Census | ||||
Classroom Assistants
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many learning support assistants there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [141222]
Jim Knight: The information is not available in the format requested.
Tables have been placed in the House Library showing the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained primary and secondary schools by local authority in each year from January 1997 to 2006 the latest information available.
Curriculum: Citizenship
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the scope for teaching citizenship outside places of education. [143816]
Jim Knight:
The post 16 Citizenship support programme encourages development of relevant curriculum models across a wide range of provider types (including work-based, and youth and community providers). The emphasis is on active participation in young people’s own communities. The Ofsted report on Citizenship found that the programme has been successful in showing what can be done in
schools, colleges, youth centres and work-based training and recommended that such examples be shared more widely. This recommendation is being taken forward by the programme.
Degrees: Gender
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of (a) women and (b) men did not complete their degree in each of the last five years, broken down by the number of UCAS points on university entry. [144907]
Bill Rammell: Projected non-completion rates are released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) each year within the performance indicators in higher education publication.
The latest available non-completion projections are shown in table 1.
| Table 1:Proportion of UK-domiciled entrants to full-time first degree courses in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) who are projected to neither obtain an award nor transfer to another institution: | |
| Percentage | |
| 15.9 | |
| Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA | |
The 2004-05 figure will be released by HESA on 19 July 2007. These non-completion rates are not available broken down by gender or entry qualification. Drop-out is more likely to occur during the first year of higher education. The performance indicators also include non-continuation rates, which show the proportion of entrants who are not detected in higher education after their first year. The latest available non-continuation rates are shown in table 2.
| Table 2: Proportion of UK-domiciled young entrants to full-time first degree courses at UK HEIs not continuing in higher education after their first year | |
| Percentage | |
| Source: “Performance Indicators in Higher Education”, published by HESA | |
The 2004-05 figure will be released by HESA on 19 July 2007. The 2002-03 and 2003-04 non-continuation rates are available broken down by entry qualification, as shown in table 3.
The 2003-04 non-continuation rate is available broken down by gender, as shown in table 4.
| Table 4: Percentage of UK-domiciled young entrants to full-time first degrees in UK HEIs in 2003-04 not continuing in higher education after their first year | ||
| Rate | Benchmark | |
| Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) | ||
Departments: Compensation
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was paid in compensation to (a) pupils and (b) teachers by his Department in each year since 1997. [132382]
Jim Knight: We have no records of any compensation payments made to pupils by the Department in the period since 1997. In 2003, a payment was made by the Department to a teacher assigned to the European Schools system in respect of the threshold pay that would have been paid had the teacher remained employed in maintained schools in England and Wales. The amount paid was £2,001. This answer has been provided on the assumption that it relates to payments to serving teachers. It therefore excludes any payments made under the Teachers’ Pension Scheme to retired teachers.
Departments: Vetting
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which Ministers in his Department have been Criminal Records Bureau checked. [139185]
Alan Johnson: No DfES Minister is Criminal Records Bureau checked for holding ministerial office because such an office is not one of the excepted professions, offices, employments, work and occupations listed in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, as amended.
Education: Capital Investment
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much capital expenditure there was in the education sector in Blackpool, North and Fleetwood in each year since 1997. [143974]
Jim Knight:
The Department maintains records of capital allocations on a local authority rather than a
constituency basis, also not on an expenditure basis. This is because local authorities may have access to other capital resources, and they decide locally when and how resources should be spent. Capital allocations by the Department to Blackpool, North and Fleetwood in each year since 1997 are set out in the following table.
| £ million | |
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