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18 Oct 2007 : Column 1302W—continued
‘Every Child Counts’ (ECC), a more intensive initiative specifically designed for intervention in mathematics during Key Stage 1, which will be a counterpart to ‘Every Child a Reader’ (ECAR).
Under the Making Good Progress pilot we are offering up to 10 hours of one to one tuition in mathematics for pupils who are behind, or at risk of falling behind, national expectations. Tuition will be delivered outside school hours by fully qualified teachers working in partnership with the class teacher.
ECC, set to start in 2010, will be aimed at children whose attainment as six-year-olds shows they are failing to make expected progress for their age. In Year 2, they will get intensive support in half hour sessions each day from teachers, mostly provided one-to-one, but also through group work.
We are investing £144 million over the next three years into rolling out nationally ECAR and ECC and by 2011 30,000 seven-year-olds who need help with mathematics will benefit from the programme each year. We are working with the charitable KPMG Foundation on this programme.
Mathematics is a compulsory subject at Key Stage 4. It is not compulsory for students to be entered for the GCSE, though achievement in GCSE mathematics is an important gateway to opportunities for further study and employment and we therefore expect the vast majority of young people to be entered for it. As part of our 14-19 reform programme we have developed new functional skills standards at entry level and levels 1 and 2 in mathematics which will be incorporated into all qualification routes (GCSE, Diplomas and Apprenticeships) and will also form the basis of freestanding qualifications. The freestanding qualifications will provide opportunities for achievement and progression in mathematics for those young people for whom a GCSE might not be the most appropriate option at the end of Key Stage 4.
Pupils: Truancy
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many pupils took unauthorised absences at least once in each of the last five school years; [154280]
(2) how much the Government have spent on anti-truancy measures since 1997. [154281]
Kevin Brennan: The pupil numbers requested are shown in the following table.
| Number of day pupils of compulsory school age | Unauthorised absence number of pupils with at least one session missed | |
Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes ail unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and other unauthorised absence.
On the cost of attendance measures, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 July 2007, Official Report column 894W, to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws).
School Milk
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many schools have taken up the EU school milk subsidy scheme in each constituency; [158085]
(2) how many school children are eligible for the EU school milk subsidy scheme. [158086]
Kevin Brennan: This Department does not collect the information requested. Local authorities are not obliged to provide milk, but where they do so they must provide it free of charge to pupils entitled to receive a free school lunch. They are also free to make use of the EU school milk subsidy scheme, which reduces the cost of whole milk and semi-skimmed milk purchased.
The Rural Payments Agency, a DEFRA executive agency, is responsible for the administration of the EU subsidy scheme in Britain, It provides advice online, in response to individual requests and via its helpline to those schools and local authorities which choose to participate in the scheme, including how to apply for the payment of subsidy.
Schools: Admissions
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of secondary school pupils in each London borough secured a place at their parents’ (a) first, (b) second and (c) third choice of secondary school in each academic year since 1997. [158820]
Jim Knight: We do not currently hold these data However, my officials are currently consulting on draft regulations which will enable us to have this information in future. The consultation document is available on the DCSF website at:
Schools: Construction
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make it his policy to require all major new-build for schools to meet a minimum BREEAM rating of excellent in accordance with the Common Minimum Standards; and if he will make a statement. [153858]
Jim Knight:
The Department currently has no plans to require new-build schools to meet a minimum BREEAM rating of excellent. We have adapted the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for schools and since
2005 it has been our requirement that major school building projects achieve a minimum BREEAM rating of ‘very good’. This is a challenging but achievable target.
The Department is funding demonstration schemes that will achieve a BREEAM schools rating of ‘excellent’ and we have commissioned a study to investigate the potential implications of raising the target to ‘excellent’. The outcomes of these initiatives will inform future policy.
The Department has also allocated £110 million over the next three years to test the aim of reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent. in new schools built in Building Schools for the Future and the Academies programme. Around 200 schools will benefit from the additional investment.
Schools: Finance
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will rescind his policy requiring all schools to repay five per cent of any surplus carried forward from the financial year 2006-07; and if he will make a statement. [159030]
Jim Knight: The Government believe it right to take action to reduce the total of schools’ revenue balances which more than doubled from £740 million to nearly £1.6 billion between 1999-2000 and 2005-06. This is taxpayers’ money voted by Parliament for the education of the pupils in schools in the year in question and it should not be steadily accumulating in schools’ bank accounts.
The Department is consulting on the detailed implementation of the proposal to require local authorities to redistribute 5 per cent. of all surplus revenue balances locally, as part of consultation on the draft school finance regulations for 2008. Consultation closes on 26 October and I will announce our final decisions after taking careful account of the responses received.
Schools: Sports
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of secondary schools offer at least (a) two hours and (b) five hours of supervised sport for pupils in years 7, 8 and 9 each week. [158545]
Kevin Brennan: Information is not collected in the format requested. The 2006/07 School Sport Survey collected data from all maintained schools in England about the percentage of pupils who take part in at least two hours high quality PE and school sport each week. The results of the survey are being published today. They show that 92 per cent. of pupils in year 7 are taking part in at least two hours high quality PE and sport each week. For year 8 pupils, the figure is 91 per cent., and for year 9 pupils, the figure is 86 per cent.
Data on take-up of five hours of sport are not collected centrally.
Copies of the results of the survey are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Secondary Education: Curriculum
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families why it was decided not to make reference to (a) knowledge and (b) culture in the aims of the review of the secondary curriculum as set out in the draft summary of findings document. [150394]
Jim Knight: In the draft summary of the findings document, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority stated that one of the aims of the secondary review was to help schools refresh and renew their curriculum by
“embedding the curriculum aims to help pupils become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens”.
The curriculum aims are described in more detail within the new secondary curriculum, where explicit references are made to knowledge and culture. For example, included in the definition of ‘Successful Learners’ are our expectations that successful learners should:
have the essential learning skills of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology;
have inquiring minds and think for themselves to process information, reason, question and evaluate;
know about big ideas and events that shape our world.
All of these outcomes rely on knowledge acquisition.
Under the heading of ‘Confident Individuals’, the curriculum aims state that confident pupils will be
“open to the excitement and inspiration offered by the natural world and human achievements”.
This is intended to include cultural achievements.
More specifically, under the heading of ‘Responsible Citizens’, the aims state that responsible citizens should
“understand their own and others’ cultures and traditions, within the context of British heritage”.
Stockwell Park School: Swimming Pools
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for what reason the Building Schools for the Future proposal for the new Stockwell Park School in Lambeth does not include a replacement for the existing swimming pool; and if he will make a statement. [158795]
Jim Knight: BSF funding is allocated formulaically, based on pupil numbers and DCSF area guidelines for secondary schools (‘BB98’). Within BB98 swimming pools are not considered to be part of the core school facilities which DCSF fund.
It is for each local authority to decide how to make the best use of its overall BSF funding allocation across the schools in a particular project and the scope of works at each school. An authority can choose to use some of its BSF allocation to refurbish an existing pool where it considers this to be the best use of the available funding. There is also the option of exploring other sources of funding (e.g. DCMS/Sport England) to supplement that from BSF.
Lambeth council took the view that using funding to replace the pool at Stockwell Park would not represent good value for money. Other, better, facilities are available locally and swimming pools require
significant investment, not just of capital funding but also of revenue to support the considerable ongoing running costs—costs which were unlikely to be recouped in this case through community use.
Teachers: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants work in schools in (i) Chorley and (ii) Lancashire; and what the equivalent figures were in 1997. [158757]
Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers and teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in Chorley constituency and Lancashire local authority in January 1997 and 2007.
| Full-time equivalent teachers arid teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in Chorley constituency and Lancashire local authority, January 1997 and 2007 | ||||
| 1997 | 2007 | |||
| Teachers( 1) | Teaching assistants( 2) | Teachers( 1) | Teaching assistants( 2) | |
| n/a = not available (1) Qualified and unqualified teachers. (2) Teaching assistants include teaching assistants, special needs support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff. (3) Lancashire local authority was reorganised in 1999 and therefore 1997 figures are not comparable with 2007. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census and the Annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, 618g (Lancashire LA teacher numbers) | ||||
Written Questions
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he will answer question 148140, on the Building Schools for the Future programme, tabled on 3 July by the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. [156239]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 15 October 2007, Official Report, column 866W.
Youth Citizenship Forum
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) when he expects the Youth Citizenship Forum to meet; [158954]
(2) whether his Department will have lead responsibility for the Youth Citizenship Forum. [158955]
Kevin Brennan: I assume the hon. Member’s question refers to the Youth Citizenship Commission. The Commission will be launched this autumn. It will report to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and the Secretary of State for Justice. The Commission will be supported by a small Secretariat, based at the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Co-ordination
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the case for appointing an International Coordinator for Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement. [157384]
David Miliband: The UK was instrumental in the adoption of the Afghanistan Compact, which recognises the central co-ordinating role exercised by the UN. We have long supported the need for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to provide effective co-ordination for the international community's effort in Afghanistan and continue to do so.
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