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8 Oct 2007 : Column 370W—continued
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service: Information Officers
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many press officers are employed by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service [154677]
Kevin Brennan:
This is a matter for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the chief executive,
has written to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 26 September 2007:
I am writing to you in response to the parliamentary question that you recently tabled.
Cafcass has four staff members in its Communications Team, covering a range of functions. The press office function takes approximately the equivalent of 0.5 to 1 full time member of staff; this work of a press officer is however spread across the whole team.
A copy of this reply will be placed in the House Library.
Children: Abuse
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the incidence of physical violence against children by parents and carers was in each year since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [153939]
Kevin Brennan: The Government collect data on children who became the subject of a child protection plan. In the past this has also meant being placed on a child protection register, although these arrangements are now being altered. Figures are available for the years ending 31 March 1990 to 2001 under the category of physical injury and for years ending 31 March 2002 to 2007 under the category of physical abuse. This information is provided by local authorities and includes cases of children suffering, or at risk of suffering significant harm from parents and carers (though it will also include other cases such as those where parents are unable to protect children from others posing a risk of harm to them). This information is set out in the following tables.
Up until year ending 31 March 2001 physical injury was recorded and could also be identified in cases where concerns about children included a mix of different categories. After that point, local authorities ceased reporting mixed categories separately so figures from year ending 31 March 2002 onwards are only available for registrations and child protection plans that are attributed to physical abuse as a single category. In the same year, there was also a change to the registration category where physical injury was redefined as physical abuse. As a result of this change in definition, the figures reported in year ending 31 March 2002 onwards for physical abuse may not be wholly comparable to the figures reported for ‘physical injury alone’ in preceding years.
| Table 1: Children who became the subject of a child protection plan( 1 ) as a result of physical abuse during the year ending 31 March 2002 to 2007 | ||
| Number | Percentage( 2) | |
| (1) A child may be registered more than once during the year. (2) Percentage of children who became the subject of a child protection plan as a direct result of physical abuse. Excludes children who are subject to multiple forms of abuse including physical abuse. | ||
| Table 2: Children who became the subject of a child protection plan( 1) as a result of physical injury during the year ending 31 March 1990 to 2001 | ||||
| Physical injury alone | Percentage( 2) | Total physical injury( 3) | Percentage( 4) | |
| (1) A child may be registered more than once during the year. (2) Expressed as a percentage of the total children who became the subject of a child protection plan. (3) Includes children who have suffered physical injury in conjunction with other categories of abuse. Children may be counted more than once in these mixed categories. (4) Percentage of children who became the subject of a child protection plan as a result of physical injury alone or in conjunction with other reported forms of abuse. | ||||
Children: Databases
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the written statement on 25 July 2007, on the electronic common assessment framework, whether Criminal Records Bureau checks and other checks made to personnel authorised to use the system will also be applied to those who are commissioned to service and maintain the system. [154081]
Beverley Hughes: The Government will ensure that the electronic common assessment framework (eCAF) system is secure and that it will comply with stringent Government and international protective security standards. Access to it will be restricted to authorised users, who need to use it as part of their job. There are two types of authorised user: practitioners, who use eCAF to perform their professional roles relating to children; and system administrators, who perform IT-related tasks on the eCAF system itself, or on the data held by eCAF. Both types of user must pass CRB checks and will also be subject to the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS).
Children: Play
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what support his Department gives to the provision of opportunities for play for children. [152093]
Kevin Brennan:
We recognise fully the benefits of play for children and we continue to take steps to support and promote the provision of opportunities for play. For example, from September 2008, it will be mandatory for all schools and early years providers in Ofsted registered settings to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage—a play-based approach to supporting and improving the wellbeing and development of children from birth to age five. Extended schools will offer additional opportunities for safe, supervised play out of normal school hours.
“Aiming High for Young People” published in July 2007 will support a major expansion of positive activities for young people over the next 10 years. The Department new has joint policy responsibility for play with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and will work closely with that Department and with Communities and Local Government and other Departments to build on the Government’s support for play outlined in the “Time for Play” document published by DCMS in 2006. As a first step, the Minister for Sport and I will meet Play England later this month.
Class Sizes
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the pupil to teacher ratio was in English (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) 2006 and (ii) 2007. [154710]
Jim Knight: In January 2006 the overall pupil to teacher ratio in local authority maintained primary schools was 22.0 and 16.6 in secondary schools for English. In January 2007 the provisional figures in primary schools was 21.8 and 16.5 in secondary schools.
This information is from the Department of Children, Schools and Families school census.
Academies and city technology colleges are not included in the figures.
Classroom Assistants: Training
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on training teachers’ assistants in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [154451]
Jim Knight: This information is not held centrally as the employment, deployment and training of support staff, including teaching assistants, is a matter for schools and local authorities to determine as their employers.
Departments: Consultants
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department spent on (a) management consultants and (b) other external consultants and advisers in each year since 2000; and which of these consultants undertook work for the Department with a total contractual value in excess of £10 million over this period. [146338]
Kevin Brennan: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which private consultancy firms (a) his Department and (b) agencies which report to his Department engaged in each of the last three years; which programmes or projects each firm worked on; and what the approximate cost to the Department or agency concerned was of each engagement. [155877]
Kevin Brennan: This information could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Disabled
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of people employed by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies are disabled. [153578]
Kevin Brennan: The proportion of people employed in my Department and its agencies who have declared their disability is 5.9 per cent.
Departments: Families
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to support (a) families and (b) marriage through his policies; and if he will make a statement. [154712]
Kevin Brennan: We know from evidence that parenting and the quality of adult relationships in families are primary factors in improving children's outcomes; and family and relationship support are an integral part of DCSF family policy and vision. ‘Every Parent Matters’ and ‘Aiming High for Children: Supporting Families’ (both published in March 2007) signal our intent to continue to support families through our policies. This has been reinforced by the new Machinery of Government changes putting families in the title of the Department for the first time, moving us beyond arbitrary distinctions between services for children and adults. We are looking at how we should champion families across Government.
We recognise that the traditional family structure has evolved and not all children are born to parents who are married or are raised in a two-parent family, Emerging family policy recognises the personal choices of people in their family lives, and seeks to support and strengthen the relationships they choose to make. We continue to work in partnership with the third sector to deliver our policies and provide high quality services for families.
Departments: Manpower
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many civil servants are working for his Department. [150740]
Jim Knight: The Department has 2,800 full-time equivalent staff.
Departments: Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on overnight accommodation by civil servants within his Department's areas of responsibilities in the last 12 months. [149040]
Kevin Brennan: The amount spent on overnight accommodation for civil servants in the former Department for Education and Skills for the period July 2006 to June 2007 was £1,046,062.
Departments: Pay
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make a statement on his Department's submission to the Pay Review Bodies for 2008 to 2011. [151872]
Kevin Brennan: The Department has provided its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body, covering teachers' pay for the period 2008-11, and this is currently being considered by the Review Body. In addition, the Department has also provided evidence jointly with its social partners, representing teacher unions, associations and employers. Both sets of evidence are available at the following link:
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