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4 July 2007 : Column 1090W—continued

We provide comprehensive advice for schools setting out a range of proven strategies for tackling bullying. We are currently revising our over-arching anti-bullying advice to schools, which we propose to issue on-line in September under the title ‘Safe to Learn: Embedding Anti-Bullying Work in Schools’. This will include specific guidance on prejudice-driven bullying, with links to the guidance on racist bullying we first issued last year, and homophobic bullying guidance
4 July 2007 : Column 1091W
specifically prepared for us by Stonewall and Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH). There will also be specific guidance on how to prevent and tackle cyberbullying. To complete this suite of guidance, we will also prepare specific advice on how to tackle the bullying of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The Education and Skills Select Committee recently examined bullying in schools, and their report welcomed key aspects of the Government's programme of work, including our main guidance and our guidance on prejudice-driven bullying. The Government's response was issued very recently.

We work with and fund a number of partners, including the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) who arrange the annual anti-bullying week, and provide a range of advice and support to local authorities; ParentLine Plus, who run a helpline for parents whose children are being bullied; and ChildLine in Partnership with Schools (CHIPS) who run peer mentoring schemes for the Department; and we also fund awards for anti-bullying work as part of the Princess Diana Memorial Awards scheme. We issue the anti-bullying charter to schools and have placed a duty on head teachers to determine measures to prevent all forms of bullying as part of their overall behaviour policy. More recently, we convened a taskforce to look at all aspects of cyber-bullying, made up of internet service providers, mobile phone companies, education professionals and those working in the youth justice system.

We are now shifting the focus of our anti-bullying work from campaigning to embedding effective practice in schools. To do this we are working with the national strategies to identify schools with weak and ineffective anti-bullying policies and provide targeted support to those schools; and with BeatBullying, a respected anti-bullying charity, to run a project on tackling inter-faith bullying, including Islamaphobia.

Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding has been allocated to the North East of England to tackle bullying in schools in the last 12 months for which figures are available; what progress has been made in reducing bullying; and if he will make a statement. [147154]

Jim Knight: Ring-fenced funding for anti-bullying campaigns is not made available on either a local authority or school by school basis. Rather it is a matter for schools and local authorities to decide how much of their budget they devote to this important work.

The Government believe that all bullying is wrong and should never be tolerated in schools, and all our guidance makes this clear. This year the Department will provide around £1.7 million for anti-bullying programmes, which covers the costs of grants to external organisations, as well as anti-bullying resources, the publication of guidance and support for local authorities and schools, and directly funded external events.

We provide comprehensive advice for schools setting out a range of proven strategies for tackling bullying.
4 July 2007 : Column 1092W
We are currently revising our over-arching anti-bullying advice to schools, which we propose to issue on-line in September under the title ‘Safe to Learn: Embedding Anti-Bullying Work in Schools’. This will include specific guidance on prejudice-driven bullying, with links to the guidance on racist bullying we first issued last year, and homophobic bullying guidance prepared for us by Stonewall and Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH). There will also be specific guidance on how to prevent and tackle cyberbullying. To complete this suite of guidance, we will also prepare specific advice on how to tackle the bullying of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

The Education and Skills Select Committee recently examined bullying in schools, and their report welcomed key aspects of the Government's programme of work, including our main guidance and our guidance on prejudice-driven bullying. The Government's response was issued very recently.

We work with and fund a number of partners, including the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) who arrange the annual anti-bullying week, and provide a range of advice and support to local authorities; ParentLine Plus, who run a helpline for parents whose children are being bullied; and ChildLine in Partnership with Schools (CHIPS) who run peer mentoring schemes for the Department; and we also fund awards for anti-bullying work as part of the Princess Diana Memorial Awards scheme. We have issued the Anti-Bullying Charter to schools and have placed a duty on head teachers to determine measures to prevent all forms of bullying as part of their overall behaviour policy. More recently, we convened a Taskforce to look at all aspects of cyberbullying, made up of internet service providers, mobile phone companies, education professionals and those working in the youth justice system.

We are now shifting the focus of our anti-bullying work from campaigning to embedding effective practice in schools. To do this we are working with the National Strategies to identify schools with weak and ineffective anti-bullying policies and provide targeted support to those schools; and with BeatBullying, to run a project on tackling inter-faith bullying, including Islamaphobia.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2007, Official Report, column 797W, on pupils: intimidation, (1) on what date his Department’s work to tackle cyber-bullying began; [147165]

(2) how many staff worked on the anti-bullying strand of this programme in each financial year given, broken down by payband; [147171]

(3) whether reduced funding for anti-bullying work in 2005-06 was a result of decisions taken in the 2004 Spending Review process; [147172]

(4) how much funding his Department has given to each organisation listed since it started working with them; [147173]

(5) how many schools’ anti-bullying policies have been classified as weak and ineffective; and how many such schools have received targeted support. [147174]


4 July 2007 : Column 1093W

Jim Knight: Further to research published by Goldsmiths University on behalf of the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), the Department first published interim guidelines on cyberbullying in July 2006. Around the same time, we formed the Department’s Cyberbullying Taskforce, consisting of industry leaders, particularly Internet Service Providers and mobile phone operators, as well as education practitioners, the professional associations and law enforcement agencies (such as the Youth Justice Board) to develop a range of initiatives to combat cyberbullying in schools, and to ensure parents are provided with the information they need to keep their children safe online.

The team within the Department with responsibility for anti-bullying had, in 2003/04, the earliest year for which authoritative figures are available, one Grade 7, two Higher Executive Officers (HEOs), three Executive Officers (EOs) and one Administrative Officer (AO). Some of these officers also had other duties besides anti-bullying work. By 2005/06 the team consisted of one Grade 7, one Senior Executive Officer (SEO), one HEO and 60 per cent. of one EO, all working on anti-bullying work. By the following year this had changed to one Grade 7, two HEOs and 60 per cent. of one EO.

This decrease in funding was not a result of decisions made in the 2004 Comprehensive Spending Review. The increased funding in 2004-2005 can be accounted for by the launch of the Department’s “Make the Difference” nationwide conference series on bullying, a high-profile series of events attended by over 5,000 heads and school staff.

Our records show funding as represented on the following table:


4 July 2007 : Column 1094W
2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

Childline

75,000

258,000

166,800

200,000

200,000

Parentline Plus

188,928

285,324

193,000

200,470

200,000

Anti-Bullying Alliance

480,064

600,628

632,943

Diana Awards

50,000

50,000

50,000

Beatbullying

80,000

Stonewall/EACH

45,000

Childnet International

35,200


All figures are exclusive of VAT.

The programme of work to identify schools with weak and ineffective anti-bullying policies is carried out for the Department by the National Strategies Behaviour and Attendance team and they hold the relevant data. In order to maximise the participation of Local Authorities (LAs) and schools on this programme, the National Strategies have given an undertaking that they will not pass this information on to the Department. Bullying can often be covert and difficult to identify so we think it is important to ensure the problem is not driven underground by “naming and shaming” schools which are deemed to have weak and ineffective anti-bullying policies.

The National Strategies use a number of monitoring prompts to assess whether a school needs additional support with its anti-bullying work. One such prompt relates to the use of the Department’s Anti-Bullying Charter for Schools. According to recent figures from the National Strategies nearly 75 per cent. of secondary and over 50 per cent. of primary schools use the principles of the Charter to draw up effective anti-bullying policies.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been spent per pupil in Warrington in each year since 1997. [146259]

Jim Knight [holding answer 28 June 2007]: The revenue funding figures per pupil in Warrington in each year since 1997 are provided in the following table:

1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-4 2004-5 2005-06

Warrington

(1)

2,310

2,510

2,700

2,960

3,200

3,450

3,550

3,910

(1) Figures are not available. Notes: 1. The combined LA and school based expenditure includes all expenditure on the education of children in LA maintained establishments and pupils educated by the LA other than in maintained establishments. This includes both school based expenditure and all elements of central LA expenditure except youth and community and capital expenditure from revenue (CERA). A sector breakdown for combined LA and school based expenditure is not available from 2002-03 and consequently this table shows the total LA recurrent expenditure (except youth and community) per pupil by LA since 1995-96. 2. 1999-00 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the R01 form collected by the ODPM to the section 52 outturn forms collected by the DFES. 2002-03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of consistent financial reporting (CFR) and the associated restructuring of the outturn tables. The change in sources is shown by the dotted line. 3. Pupil figures include all pre-primary pupils, including those under fives funded by the LA and being educated in private settings, pupils educated in maintained mainstream schools and other LA maintained pupils. The pupil data for pupils attending maintained mainstream schools and other LA maintained pupils. The pupil data for pupils attending maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools are taken from the DFES annual schools census. Private voluntary and independent (PVI) under five pupil numbers are taken from the early years census but are only included for 1999-00 onwards. For 1998-99 onwards other LA maintained pupils are included in the pupil count. This includes all pupils attending schools not maintained by the authority for whom the authority is paying full tuition fees, or educated otherwise than in schools and pupil referral units under arrangements made by the authority drawn from Form 8b submitted to the DFES. Also included as other LA maintained pupils are all pupils attending pupil referral units who are not registered at a maintained school drawn from the DFES annual school census. All pupil numbers are adjusted to be on a financial year basis. 4. Local government reorganisation (LGR) took place during the mid to late 1990s. Warrington was part of that reorganisation and figures are not available for 1997-98. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and are subject to change by the LA.

4 July 2007 : Column 1095W

Schools: Capital Investment

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what capital expenditure has been allocated to (a) secondary schools and (b) primary schools in each local authority area in England in each of the last five years for which information is available. [146685]

Jim Knight: The Department does not maintain central records which analyse, for each capital funding stream, the proportion that relates to (a) secondary schools and (b) primary schools in each local authority area. This is because local authority formulaic funding is not ring-fenced. When received by each local authority, it decides locally what proportion of formulaic funding shall be allocated to secondary schools and to primary schools.

The following table shows total schools capital allocations in each local authority area in England in each of the last five years.


4 July 2007 : Column 1096W

4 July 2007 : Column 1097W

4 July 2007 : Column 1098W
Local authority 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08

Barking and Dagenham

5,852

7,395

10,129

27,252

11,252

Barnet

12,024

18,533

15,102

41,490

13,379

Barnsley

61,039

10,122

7,161

8,407

6,603

Bath and North East Somerset

11,848

7,330

5,551

14,864

6,935

Bedfordshire

18,359

20,621

16,250

18,939

19,429

Bexley

23,749

16,812

12,540

44,948

10,378

Birmingham

102,593

54,287

40,367

45,833

46,130

Blackburn with Darwen

10,062

6,006

9,629

9,999

6,608

Blackpool

17,032

14,992

11,606

8,808

5,041

Bolton

15,167

11,403

9,322

24,214

11,793

Bournemouth

5,066

5,801

5,151

4,725

4,884

Sheffield

58,357

83,165

25,473

22,264

17,297

Bracknell Forest

8,648

4,203

4,313

4,273

4,388

Bradford

20,819

35,284

30,507

19,230

19,380

Brent

14,706

13,827

10,031

20,183

16,413

Brighton and Hove

7.338

13,357

5,487

6,424

6,929

Bristol, City of

73,789

16,368

17,296

14,456

14,699

Bromley

12,490

18,774

18,480

18,715

19,395

Buckinghamshire

27,460

26,443

21,055

20,583

21,365

Bury

7,556

10,833

5,283

18,571

6,854

Calderdale

9,555

15,093

7,437

8,548

8,933

Cambridgeshire

38,682

33,212

24,598

30,757

19,777

Camden

12,152

8,251

11,124

8,014

8,519

Cheshire

34,224

30,488

26,421

25,528

26,351

City of London

159

97

42

66

71

Cornwall

99,602

33,273

18,582

45,532

21,859

Coventry

13,574

15,234

13,453

19,656

12,685

Croydon

14,376

12,610

12,022

16,154

12,777

Cumbria

21,193

23,723

19,008

21,494

22,272

Darlington

44,980

4,199

4,454

24,954

4,074

Derby

53,692

12,763

9,404

21,546

10,164

Derbyshire

74,516

41,778

32,577

42,338

33,219

Devon

122,740

56,137

24,974

79,810

42,674

Doncaster

13,809

55,974

19,179

12,069

12,286

Dorset

22,855

16,276

18,933

64,634

15,462

Dudley

13,415

15,703

12,933

19,732

11,671

Durham

33,035

25,282

25,815

30,500

22,644

Ealing

16,392

77,589

13,936

21,999

9,530

East Riding of Yorkshire

20,432

21,642

16,997

26,299

14,475

East Sussex

24,402

23,721

17,703

20,647

17,526

Enfield

69,375

19,537

13,085

30,790

11,535

Essex

63,462

63,202

55,620

51,245

52,028

Gateshead

22,804

6,957

65,954

6,505

6,385

Gloucestershire

28,486

36,782

30,180

68,389

36,469

Greenwich

9,051

16,361

13,074

20,313

14,872

Hackney

11,470

13,356

7,739

10,229

9,473

Halton

6,969

4,879

5,611

10,727

5,217

Hammersmith and Fulham

4,987

10,900

4,972

11,879

6,012

Hampshire

70,786

62,874

50,886

59,906

55,967

Haringey

23,672

20,708

20,334

15,380

13,279

Harrow

6,422

6,574

7,055

17,804

6,909

Hartlepool

7,586

3,527

2,989

3,645

3,754

Havering

11,506

11,327

8,299

14,192

9,734

Herefordshire

27,643

8,354

8,712

6,982

7,140

Hertfordshire

43,353

60,759

63,787

69,203

50,055

Hillingdon

14,815

18,885

12,280

31,642

12,855

Hounslow

36,193

9,515

8,210

10,962

10,338

Isle of Wight

10,797

11,424

6,857

14,973

15,556

Isles of Scilly

285

228

153

141

144

Islington

9,417

11,314

7,039

6,152

6,455

Kensington and Chelsea

2,918

4,024

4,413

8,987

5,595

Kent

92,848

181,101

90,483

85,225

73,318

Kingston upon Hull, City of

10,691

10,871

8,365

6,487

8,348

Kingston upon Thames

10,942

14,951

5,992

42,583

8,255

Kirklees

17,253

19,324

14,004

19,523

16,454

Knowsley

7,495

6,688

8,225

10,391

4,750

Lambeth

15,125

22,195

12,750

20,815

16,382

Lancashire

62,607

44,234

38,067

54,715

46,664

Leeds

28,263

63,654

135,406

24,510

24,183

Leicester

12,329

18,259

25,540

12,986

7,434

Leicestershire

27,582

33,834

35,673

40,998

25,063

Lewisham

16,601

15,070

16,571

17,813

10,379

Lincolnshire

28,157

33,779

29,350

42,750

29,536

Liverpool

22,706

18,481

12,826

14,124

15,224

Luton

11,734

10,056

6,448

9,926

6,881

Manchester

56,424

24,853

14,980

21,696

22,141

Merton

7,293

5,836

5,446

15,810

10,762

Middlesbrough

10,039

7,013

6,228

4,199

4,734

Milton Keynes

29,083

39,116

30,831

52,464

42,610

Newcastle upon Tyne

16,280

70,368

8,523

12,485

8,336

Newham

50,660

16,028

17,193

11,488

8,414

Norfolk

39,292

108,282

34,492

70,474

39,356

North East Lincolnshire

7,718

7,521

5,967

19,020

7,199

North Lincolnshire

6,113

10,272

5,295

6,244

5,949

North Somerset

17,971

27,122

17,954

8,166

8,472

North Tyneside

11,528

7,134

5,839

18,584

6,964

North Yorkshire

34,086

27,377

22,037

56,547

25,610

Northamptonshire

130,466

36,015

25,035

38,845

25,829

Northumberland

13,730

15,920

11,700

14,269

14,691

Nottingham

10,402

17,579

10,488

13,337

9,464

Nottinghamshire

157,700

31,112

26,170

30,311

30,673

Oldham

14,042

71,191

14,087

11,664

11,539

Oxfordshire

33,394

36,896

36,248

26,789

27,536

Peterborough

13,297

68,781

16,579

26,830

7,447

Plymouth

16,397

56,593

11,728

20,747

11,994

Poole

6,161

4,952

4,202

18,394

6,595

Portsmouth

10,871

7,028

9,043

5,967

6,093

Reading

9,733

5,211

6,564

10,376

4,488

Redbridge

13,084

16,768

20,789

17,159

17,942

Redcar and Cleveland

59,355

5,903

4,910

17,476

5,662

Richmond upon Thames

4,277

6,056

9,584

39,317

9,844

Rochdale

12,033

69,346

7,485

8,781

8,829

Rotherham

18,005

10,396

8,163

11,708

10,359

Rutland

1,284

1,704

1,832

1,614

1,681

Salford

10,210

56,770

9,947

11,989

7,869

Sandwell

16,344

16,435

12,992

17,223

12,694

Sefton

16,930

12,079

13,303

19,464

12,294

Sheffield

58,357

83,165

25,473

22,264

17,297

Shropshire

10,822

10,366

13,800

12,695

10,865

Slough

7,618

52,188

4,498

25,645

6,134

Solihull

9,424

9,801

13,175

7,670

7,940

Somerset

19,249

21,831

18,240

28,632

21,312

South Gloucestershire

14,853

19,134

11,040

14,194

14,657

South Tyneside

6,596

21,922

5,150

4,439

4,479

Southampton

12,006

6,823

10,728

9,845

7,063

Southend-on-Sea

9,907

13,793

7,799

10,833

17,278

Southwark

12,593

27,031

21,199

16,184

16,080

St. Helens

7,152

6,772

5,783

18,936

7,056

Staffordshire

35,529

41,071

29,198

41,187

33,219

Stockport

11,709

10,731

11,518

11,232

11,395

Stockton-on-Tees

11,858

11,786

7,705

10,863

7,669

Stoke-on-Trent

11,333

14,891

6,973

5,235

5,263

Suffolk

34,673

44,931

31,273

34,765

28,079

Sunderland

13,436

11,049

9,287

12,925

9,881

Surrey

48,336

45,928

47,164

44,580

37,867

Sutton

11,286

8,702

8,125

12,637

10,299

Swindon

80,240

11,594

9,182

8,747

8,927

Tameside

9,008

11,616

11,327

11,427

8,976

Telford and Wrekin

77,507

12,310

7,550

14,879

7,830

Thurrock

11,007

13,289

8,904

22,969

17,604

Torbay

9,470

10,959

8,994

31,837

9,893

Tower Hamlets

8,912

8,586

17,942

14,296

15,028

Trafford

14,773

13,569

8,389

11,284

8,834

Wakefield

16,743

15,790

16,804

24,201

12,558

Walsall

19,361

17,518

13,384

23,948

12,428

Waltham Forest

10,364

10,260

10,752

6,967

7,032

Wandsworth

11,741

10,371

10,495

23,102

14,936

Warrington

8,821

8,006

9,805

12,092

8,152

Warwickshire

34,454

25,499

19,169

34,055

22,856

West Berkshire

7,647

7,957

6,546

19,358

7,575

West Sussex

30,799

34,381

36,018

43,006

31,828

Westminster

15,195

10,110

7,779

10,708

6,962

Wigan

19,790

17,511

10,370

24,387

12,775

Wiltshire

27,615

21,251

15,740

42,850

18,149

Windsor and Maidenhead

5,972

5,456

4,439

5,726

5,963

Wirral

18,774

14,354

13,418

18,486

12,401

Wokingham

9,042

12,002

5,185

18,035

6,246

Wolverhampton

10,311

15,655

9,498

26,755

11,125

Worcestershire

24,264

88,860

19,602

22,138

22,537

York

9,651

9,429

8,739

28,494

6,364


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