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26 July 2007 : Column 1405W—continued
Schools: Great Yarmouth
Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on upgrading teaching facilities and new build in schools in Great Yarmouth in each of the last 10 years. [151962]
Jim Knight:
The Department maintains records of capital allocations to local authorities, and does not maintain records on a constituency basis. Capital
allocations to Norfolk county council and schools in its area in each of the last 10 years are set out in the following table
Schools: Offensive Weapons
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many times assault or attempted assault with a weapon occurred in school grounds in each (a) local education authority and (b) type of school in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type of weapon; [151219]
(2) how many times police have been summoned for assistance on school grounds in each local education authority in each of the last 10 years, broken down by type of incident; [151220]
(3) how many (a) students and (b) staff members in each local education authority were killed on school premises with a weapon in each of the last 10 years; and what the type of school and type of weapon was in each case; [151232]
(4) how many times a student has been found in possession of a weapon in each local education authority in each of the last 10 years; and what the age of student and type of weapon was in each case. [151233]
Jim Knight: Numbers of persons, by age group, convicted of possession of an offensive weapon and of having a bladed article on school premises for 1999 to 2005 (the years for which figures are available) are on the following table. One pupil was killed with a weapon on school premises in the past 10 years (in a community secondary school, with a knife), and no members of staff. Neither this Department nor the Home Office collects any other relevant data. In the main, schools are very safe places: most pupils never carry a knife in school. Schools can screen for weapons if they wish, and have a statutory power to search pupils they suspect of carrying one. Safer School Partnerships, programmes to improve behaviour, curriculum opportunities for learning about responsibility, conflict, and safety, and other DCSF programmes for young people and parenting can also help.
Schools: Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the average cost of (a) building and (b) maintaining a school (i) under a private finance initiative contract and (ii) through the public sector. [152469]
Jim Knight: As part of the procurement process all local authorities are expected to demonstrate that PFI method of procurement provides value for money in comparison to other procurement options.
The Department, Treasury, or the National Audit Office have not undertaken any studies of average costs. However, as part of our BSF developments, benchmarking data will be available in the future which will enable us to provide information on estimate of average costs.
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of estimated payments under his Department's private finance initiative contracts is projected to be spent on rebuilding of schools in each year between 2008 and 2019. [152474]
Jim Knight: Information on all signed private finance initiative contracts, including balance sheet treatment and future unitary charges, is included in HM Treasury's PFI Signed Projects List, which is available through www.hm.treasury.gov.uk/documents/public_private _partnerships/ppp_pfi_stats. The information covers the unitary charge payment projections up to 2033-34. (A unitary charge can frequently include capital repayments, service provision, inflation and major refurbishment).
Announcement will be made later this year on the amount of PFI credits available for the next comprehensive spending review period from 2008 to 2011.
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to the public purse was in the last 12 months of paying off contracts with private finance initiative investors for schools that have been prematurely closed. [152476]
Jim Knight: The Department is only aware of one public finance funded school which has closed prematurely in the last five years. (College of Media, Arts and Technology in Brighton and Hove). All detailed cost information regarding closure of the school, including any payment to the PFI investor is held at the local authority level.
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of schools categorised as a school causing concern in each of the last 10 years was built and maintained (a) under private finance initiative contract and (b) through the public sector. [152477]
Jim Knight: Ofsted has provided the table which shows the number of schools in categories of concern for each year since 1996/97.
The Department and Ofsted do not centrally hold information specifically on schools built in the last 10 years which are categorised as causing concern.
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