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16 July 2007 : Column 98W—continued


Departments: Standards

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what priorities have been set for his Department by the Prime Minister; and if he will make a statement. [149153]

Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Children Schools and Families set out his priorities in a statement to the House on 10 July 2007.

Education: Children

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children did not reach a good level of development at the end of the Foundation Stage, defined as a score of six points on all the assessment scales for personal, social and emotional development and communication, language and literacy of the Foundation Stage Profile, in the latest period for which figures are available. [149235]

Beverley Hughes [holding answer 12 July 2007]: The latest figures for 2006 indicate that 56 per cent. of children in maintained schools were not achieving a good level of development, defined as a score in the Foundation Stage profile of a minimum of 6 points in each of the assessment scales relating to the two key areas of communication, language and literacy and personal, social and emotional development. This estimate is subject to a margin of statistical sampling error as the figures were derived from a sample of individual child records submitted by each local authority. The level of sampling error calculated by analysts within my Department indicates a probability of 0.95 that the true value will be between 55.5 per cent. and 56.4 per cent.

The latest figures on the percentage of children on the Foundation Stage Profile were published in a Statistical First Release (SFR) 03/2007 "Foundation Stage Profile 2006: National Results" on 25 January 2007. A copy of this release is available on my Department's website at:

Education: Tamworth

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was allocated for capital expenditure on education in Tamworth in each year since 1997. [148795]

Jim Knight: Allocations of capital expenditure are made on a local authority rather than a constituency basis, and central records are maintained by local
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authority. Capital allocations to Staffordshire in each year since 1997, including Tamworth, are set out in the following table.

£ million

1997-98

7.4

1998-99

28.4

1999-2000

18.5

2000-01

34.1

2001-02

27.4

2002-03

32.9

2003-04

35.5

2004-05

41.1

2005-06

29.2

2006-07

41.2

2008-08

33.2


In recent years, the £41.1 million allocated in 2004-05 includes targeted capital funding (TCP) of £3.6 million, and the £41.2 million in 2006-07 TCP of £8.7 million.

Education: Young People

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of (a) 16 year olds, (b) 17 year olds and (c) 18 year olds were in full-time education or training in each year from 1997 to 2007. [149133]

Jim Knight: The figures provided in the table are for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds in ‘total education and training' in each year from 1997 to 2007 in England, and will include some learners in part-time training.

Young people in education and training in England
Percentage
16 17 18

1997

86.9

80.3

62.7

1998

86.3

80.2

62.1

1999

87.1

80.9

62.4

2000

86.4

80.5

62.3

2001

85.7

78.3

61.1

2002

86.4

78.4

60.7

2003

86.9

79.5

60.6

2004

87.6

79.6

60.7

2005

88.7

80.3

61.5

2006 (provisional)

89.7

81.5

61.1


Where ‘total education and training’ includes those in full-time education (maintained schools, further education, higher education), LSC funded work-based learning (minus WBL in full-time education), employer funded training and other education and training.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) if he will bring forward measures to abolish the practice of maintained faith schools of giving priority to children on the grounds of religious belief and practice in admissions criteria; and if he will make a statement; [149264]

(2) what the legal basis is for maintained schools to give priority in their admissions arrangements and criteria to children on the grounds of religious belief and practice. [149266]


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Jim Knight [holding answer 11 July 2007]: We have no plans to prevent faith schools that are oversubscribed from giving priority in admissions to children of their faith. Faith schools play an important role in ensuring diversity of provision and there is a high demand for faith-based education from parents.

It is unlawful under section 49 of the Equality Act 2006 for a school to discriminate against a child on the grounds of his religion or belief in the terms on which it offers to admit him or by refusing to accept an application for a place. However, schools designated as having a religious character under section 69 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 are exempt from this prohibition by virtue of section 50 of the Equality Act 2006 and may, therefore, give priority, when oversubscribed, to children on the basis that they are members of or practise their faith.

Faith Schools: Finance

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of its (a) revenue and (b) capital funding each maintained secondary school designated as having a particular religious character or ethos, and which gives priority in admissions on such grounds, received from the public purse in 2006-07. [149265]

Jim Knight: Schools with a religious character receive their revenue funding from local authorities on the same basis as other maintained schools. It is a matter for each local authority—in consultation with their Schools Forums—to determine the level of funding between different providers, based on an assessment of local circumstances.

Capital funding for schools with a religious character depends on their category. Voluntary controlled and foundation schools with a religious character receive their capital funding from local authorities.

The governing bodies of voluntary aided schools are responsible for capital expenditure at their schools, normally supported by grant from the Secretary of State.

I shall arrange for details of capital grant paid by the Secretary of State to the governing bodies of voluntary aided schools, over 93 per cent. of which have a religious character, to be placed in the Library of the House. The Government do not collect data on capital expenditure on individual schools by local authorities and governing bodies.

Financial Services: Curriculum

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether financial education in schools will be delivered through personal, social and health education; and if he will make a statement. [149928]

Beverley Hughes: Opportunities for the teaching and learning of financial capability occur across the curriculum. It is for schools to decide how to organise their provision but commonly it is delivered through personal social and health education (PSHE) or across subject areas including maths, citizenship, business studies and enterprise education. My Department has
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published curriculum guidance for all key stages to help teachers identify where financial capability sits within the curriculum and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has published units of work to help teachers with lesson planning and assessment of pupil progress.

The revised curriculum for secondary schools, launched last week, includes a new dedicated programme of study for “Economic Well Being and Financial Capability” as part of a revised personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. The new curriculum will begin teaching from September 2008 and will add a new focus on financial education in schools. We are revising curriculum guidance for schools in light of these changes and will publish the updated guidance in due course.

Foster Care: Gravesend

Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many foster parents are required in the Gravesham area to meet current demand for placements. [149303]

Kevin Brennan: Data on the number of foster parents which are required in the Gravesham area to meet the current demand for placements are not collected centrally by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Further Education: Departmental Responsibilities

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which aspects of further education in England are the responsibility of his Department; and if he will make a statement. [149134]


16 July 2007 : Column 102W

Jim Knight: The Department will take on responsibility for policy and funding for the education of children and young people up to age 19 from the Department for Education and Skills. Sponsorship of the FE service will sit with the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Both Departments will work closely together to ensure strategic objectives and policy pre and post-19 are coherent and consistent.

GCE A Level

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what records his Department holds on the number of 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 who were taking at least two A-levels in the last four years for which figures are available. [147892]

Jim Knight: The Department holds two different records on the achievement of Advanced level qualifications. The first is a list of candidates who have been entered for any Level 3 qualification during the academic year and the second is a list of all Level 3 qualification entries and the grades awarded for these. There are common variables on each list that allow them to be linked together to determine which qualifications were taken by each candidate.

The Department uses this information to publish the School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables, and from this exercise, figures for the number of candidates taking at least one A-level or equivalent are readily available and are presented in the following table.

16 to 18-year-olds attempting at least one GCE/VCE A-level or VCE Double Award in summer of academic year
2003 2004 2005 2006

Comprehensive schools

111,565

113,013

116,452

116,545

Selective schools

18,844

19,322

19,980

20,057

Modern schools

3,490

3,416

3,805

3,966

Other maintained schools

33

292

309

304

Independent schools

34,106

34,846

33,586

33,763

Sixth form colleges

47,821

47,738

49,913

50,093

Other FE sector colleges

52,812

46,630

39,590

33,563

All schools and colleges

268,671

265,257

263,635

258,291


Figures for those taking two or more A-levels are not readily available and can be produced only at disproportionate cost.


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