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4 Dec 2007 : Column 1144W—continued
Departmental Foreign Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) EU foreign nationals and (b) non-EU foreign nationals are employed by his Department. [168113]
Kevin Brennan: The information about EU and non EU foreign nationals could be obtained only in the form requested at disproportionate cost. All potential new appointments to the Department for Children, Schools and Families are subject to nationality, passport, proof of identity and reference checks before contracts of employment are issued.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what changes were made to his Department’s upper pay spine as part of the Spending Review 2004 efficiency programme. [167760]
Kevin Brennan: The pay of senior civil servants is centrally controlled by Cabinet Office. For departmental staff, we operate a pay system with a pay minima and maxima for each grade and progression to the maxima based on performance. The 2004 pay band maxima were agreed as part of a multi year pay deal covering 2003 to 2005 with the payband maxima increasing by 2 per cent. in each year.
Free School Meals
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of pupils were entitled to free school meals in each school in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [168760]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to my reply given on 19 November 2007, Official Report, column 632W.
GCSE
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether it is his policy to retain (a) GCSE and (b) A-level qualifications. [163532]
Jim Knight: GGSEs and A-levels are long-established and valued qualifications. The Government believe that their future should be decided by the demands of young people, schools and colleges. The review which we have announced for 2013 will consider the evidence and experience following the introduction of Diplomas and the implementation of changes to A-level and GCSE, with a view to reaching conclusions about how in practice the overall offer meets the needs of young people in progressing to further study and employment.
Gifted and Talented Programme
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of students in each London borough were on the gifted and talented programme in the latest period for which figures are available. [169240]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the proportion of students identified as gifted and talented by maintained primary and secondary schools for each London borough as at January 2007.
| London borough | Percentage |
Languages: GCSE
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made in reviewing the standards of GCSE modern language examinations and their level of difficulty in comparison with other GCSE examinations; and if he will make a statement. [163295]
Jim Knight: Lord Dearing’s Languages Review, published in March 2007, identified the need to resolve the widely held perception that languages GCSEs are harder than other subjects. This is a matter for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) which, as qualifications regulator, has responsibility for ensuring consistent standards in GCSE. Following the Languages Review, the Secretary of State asked QCA to investigate this matter and report back to him. We expect to receive QCA’s report in the near future.
Pupil Exclusions
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many pupils who were given a permanent exclusion were sent to another mainstream school in each year since 1997; [169134]
(2) how many pupils who were given a permanent exclusion were sent to a Pupil Referral Unit in each year since 1997. [169129]
Kevin Brennan: Information on the number of permanently excluded pupils who are sent to a maintained school can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information on the number of permanently excluded pupils who are sent to a Pupil Referral Unit is not available.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many children readmitted to school by an independent appeals panel after expulsion were expelled again within (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) five years in each relevant period since 1997; [169151]
(2) how many children who won their independent appeals panel hearing against exclusion were readmitted to the school from which they had been excluded in the latest period for which figures are available; [169152]
(3) how many children who won their independent appeals panel hearing against exclusion and were readmitted to the same school were subsequently permanently excluded in the latest period for which figures are available; [169153]
(4) how many children who won their independent appeals panel hearing against exclusion and were readmitted to the same school were subsequently given a fixed period exclusion in the latest period for which figures are available; [169154]
(5) how many children readmitted to school after permanent exclusion were permanently excluded again within (a) one year, (b) two years and (c) five years in each year since 1997. [169182]
Kevin Brennan: Information on pupils who have successfully appealed their exclusion and then go on to be excluded (either permanently or for a fixed period) is not available centrally.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils received more than one fixed term exclusion in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by reason of exclusion. [169184]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Pupils: Transport
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what transport support provision is available for journeys from home to school or college for students in further education in each London borough; and if he will make a statement. [169234]
Jim Knight: From 1 September 2006 Transport for London introduced free travel concession on buses and trams for under 18s who are attending a full-time education course. The concession expires at the end of the academic year in which the student turns 18.
Religion: Curriculum
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department has taken to improve the way that faith and culture are addressed through the national curriculum as recommended in the Preventing Extremism Together report. [169610]
Jim Knight: As recommended by Sir Keith Ajegbo a new strand of citizenship education entitled ‘Identity and Diversity: Living Together in the UK’ has been made part of the national curriculum which will be rolled out in secondary schools from September 2008 onwards. Identity and diversity also is a cross-cutting theme across the whole revised curriculum and provides schools with the opportunity to teach pupils about the connections between the diverse cultures and communities in the UK.
In addition, the national framework for religious education has been incorporated into the revised secondary curriculum. The framework places inclusion, tolerance, diversity and interfaith dialogue at the heart of children's learning. A regional training programme to support schools in delivering the new curriculum is being rolled out from January 2008.
School Leaving
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will publish the review commissioned by his Department of existing evidence on the merits of raising the education participation age to 18 years. [169155]
Jim Knight: The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) were commissioned, by the Department, in May 2007 to undertake an independent external review of existing national and international evidence to explore the likely impact, benefits and challenges associated with raising the education and training participation age to 18. The report from this review of evidence is being published on 29 November 2007.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what changes will be made to the eligibility criteria for education maintenance allowances when the raising of the participation age is implemented. [169159]
Jim Knight:
We made clear in the document “Raising Expectations; staying in education and training post-16—from policy to legislation”, that financial constraints should not be a barrier to participation and that we will look at the structure of financial support to make sure it continues to be as effective as possible. This will
include looking at a variety of options to ensure that financial support for learning is restructured in the most effective way to ensure young people are enabled to participate. In doing this we will build on the foundation of the educational maintenance allowance, and the views we gathered in the public consultation on ‘supporting young people to achieve’.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children living in each local education authority area attended a maintained school in a different local authority area in the latest period for which figures are available. [167719]
Jim Knight: The requested information was published on 27 September 2007 in the Statistical First Release “Schools and Pupils in England: January 2007 (Final)”.
www dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000744/index.shtml
Copies of the relevant tables have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Teachers
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will publish research his Department has completed into teachers' workload in the last five years. [169157]
Jim Knight: All external research commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families is published as a matter of course. The Department has not completed any research that specifically looks at teacher workload in the last five years as the Office of Manpower Economics (OME) conduct and publish a survey on teacher workload to inform the work of the School Teachers' Review Body. Over last five years OME have conducted their survey in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the results from the 2004 survey onwards can be found at:
Departmental Staff
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff of the former Department for Education and Skills are employed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. [169164]
Kevin Brennan: The Department came into being with the Machinery of Government changes of 28 June 2007 with 2,890 staff from the former Department for Education and Skills now employed at the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
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