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26 Jun 2007 : Column 698W—continued
Children: Protection
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on co-operation between European Union countries on preventing sex offenders from gaining employment with children, with particular reference to the exchange of information on criminal records. [140660]
Joan Ryan: I have been asked to reply as the Home Office is leading UK negotiations within the EU to enhance the contents and format of the criminal records which are exchanged.
A framework decision has recently been agreed under which member states will be obliged to inform other member states of all criminal convictions imposed against their nationals as soon as possible. These provisions, which will improve and speed up existing exchange systems, will ensure that each member state holds a complete criminal record for its nationals, containing all convictions imposed by EU member states. Disqualifications arising from criminal convictions must also be exchanged where they are recorded in the criminal record. This will facilitate the taking into account of the final judgments of the courts of other member states in the course of new criminal proceedings and in employment vetting in the state of nationality.
A new Vetting and Barring scheme is being introduced under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 which will focus on providing the maximum possible protection for children and vulnerable adults from possible harm from unsuitable persons in the workplace.
There will be a further opportunity to look at these issues as part of the review of criminality information currently underway.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations he has received on the ability of sex offenders in the European Union to move between countries and take up employment with children. [140661]
Joan Ryan:
I have been asked to reply as the Home Office is leading UK negotiations within the EU to
enhance the contents and format of the criminal records which are exchanged.
I refer the hon. Lady to the reply I gave in response to her question on 19 June 2007, Official Report, column 1781W.
There have been no representations on the ability of sex offenders in the European Union to move between countries and take up employment with children to the Home Office.
City Academies: General Certificate of Secondary Education
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) GCSE and (b) GCSE equivalent examination results for each city academy were in 2006; how many pupils were entered for each subject; and how many achieved each grade, broken down by subject. [144319]
Jim Knight: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Class Sizes: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of classes in the West Chelmsford area for five to seven year olds exceed 30 pupils in size. [145617]
Jim Knight: The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 places a duty on local authorities and schools to limit the size of infant classes for five, six, and seven year olds taught by one teacher to 30 or fewer pupils. The Education (Infant Class Sizes) Regulations 1998 allow the limit of 30 to be exceeded in limited circumstances. In prescribed circumstances, this allows children to be treated as “excepted pupils” for the purposes of ascertaining whether or not the class size limit has been exceeded.
As at January 2007 there was one infant class in West Chelmsford constituency with 31 pupils. However, this class did contain one excepted pupil making the class lawfully large.
Departments: Delivery Unit
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 4 June 2007, Official Report, column 117W, on Departments: Delivery Unit, what the (a) start date and (b) end date was of each review; and on what date a final report was produced for each. [144462]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department does not collect this information centrally.
Departments: Families Unit
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which Minister has responsibility for the Families Unit; what its current annual budget is; how many staff it employs; what its aims are; and which organisations are the unit's strategic partners. [145798]
Mr. Dhanda: Families Unit is part of the DfES Schools Directorate. It seeks to promote the importance of the family, including support to parents, across national and local government policy development. It supports the Parents Strategy Programme—a sub-programme of the Every Child Matters: Change for Children Programme—which brings together the main areas of DfES work on parents. It has 22.6 staff and a budget in 2007-08 of £105 million. Staff in the Unit work with a wide range of strategic partners across the parenting and children services sector including: 2as1, AFCS, Coram Family, Families Need Fathers, Family Planning Association, Fathers Direct, Family Welfare Association, Marriage Care, National Association of Children's Information Services, National Children's Bureau, National Family and Parenting Institute, One Parent Families/Gingerbread, One Plus One, Opportunity Links, Project for Advocacy, Counselling and Education, Parenting UK, Parentline Plus, Relate, Safe Ground, Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationship, The Place2Be, Time for Families, Training and Development Agency.
I lead joint work to secure coherence in, and drive forward, the Department's policies in relation to parents and families, working with other Ministers, in particular, the Minister for Schools and 14-19 Learners and the Minister for Children, Young People and Families.
Departments: Northern Ireland
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the concordat governing the relationship between his Department and the Northern Ireland Administration. [145941]
Mr. Dhanda: The concordats between my Department and the Department of Education, Northern Ireland, and the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland, are publicly available via the DfES website:
Departments: Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of staff in his Department were over 60 years of age in each of the last three years. [145679]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is set out as follows and is at 1 April for each of the last three years.
| Percentage | |
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people aged (a) over 55 years of age and (b) over 60 years of age have been recruited by his Department in each of the last three years; and what percentage in each case this is of the number of new recruits in each year. [145707]
Mr. Dhanda: The information is set out in the following tables. All numbers and percentages relate to permanent staff.
| 2004 | ||
| Numbers recruited | Percentage of total recruits | |
| 2005 | ||
| Numbers recruited | Percentage of total recruits | |
| 2006 | ||
| Numbers recruited | Percentage of total recruits | |
Faith Schools: Abuse
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to prevent the verbal or physical abuse of children in faith-based learning environments before the implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Scheme in 2008. [145413]
Mr. Dhanda: Safeguarding children in all communities is a top priority for this Government.
No community supports the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of children. And wherever we see abuse, in whatever context, we need to challenge it. Abuse in any community will not be tolerated. “Working Together to Safeguard Children” was recently updated and sets out clearly how individuals should work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This guidance must be followed wherever there is concern about the welfare of a child. Local Safeguarding Children Boards have an important role to play in engaging with organisations in their area, including key faith groups, with a view to safeguarding all children.
The DFES recognises the significant contribution over a great number of years that many communities make towards the education of our children, particularly children from minority ethnic backgrounds, through supplementary school initiatives.
In recognition of the many achievements of the supplementary and mother tongue school sector, DFES recently announced the establishment of a new National Resource Centre (NRC) to support and promote supplementary schools in England. The centre jointly funded by the Department and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and managed by ContinYou, will support the development of more and better supplementary schools through, in particular, the extended schools and specialist schools programme, and will help to spread good practice in all areas, including safeguarding children.
Foster Care
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many foster family arrangements in all local authorities (a) remained as a stable family unit and (b) have broken down with the children returning to care facilities in the last 12 months. [144445]
Mr. Dhanda: At 31 March 2006, 23,600 children looked after by a local authority had been in the same foster care placement for more than 365 days.
During the year ending 31 March 2006, 15,800 children looked after by a local authority moved to another placement from a foster care placement. This figure excludes children who return to be placed with their parents.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children are in private foster care arrangements in England. [145764]
Mr. Dhanda: The number of children who were in private fostering arrangements notified to local authorities in England at 31 March 2006 was 980.
Free School Meals
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils attending the 200 highest performing comprehensive schools by unweighted attainment of five or more A*-C grade GCSEs, are in receipt of free school meals. [141746]
Jim Knight: The information for all schools has been placed in the Library.
GCE A-level
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students at (a) state comprehensive schools, (b) state grammar schools, (c) state secondary modern schools, (d) other state secondary schools, (e) further education colleges, (f) state sixth form colleges and (g) independent schools and colleges were taking at least two A-levels in each of the last four years for which figures are available. [145947]
Jim Knight: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many and what percentage of pupils from (a) independent, (b) maintained and (c) grammar schools received a grade A in two or more of mathematics, further mathematics, physics, chemistry, French, German and Spanish A-levels in the latest year for which figures are available; [142985]
(2) how many and what percentage of pupils from (a) independent, (b) maintained and (c) grammar schools received three or more A grades at A-level in the latest year for which figures are available. [142975]
Jim Knight: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
GCE A-level: Languages
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils took A-levels in (a) French, (b) German, (c) Italian, (d) Spanish and (e) Russian in each year since 2000. [141416]
Jim Knight: The figures requested are in the following table.
| GCE A-level entries in selected languages by 16 to 18-year-old( 1) candidates, all schools and colleges, 1999/2000 to 2005/ 06 | |||||
| French | German | Italian | Spanish | Russian | |
| (1) Age at start of academic year (at previous 31 August). | |||||
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