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6 Dec 2007 : Column 1390W—continued
Secondary Education: School Meals
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families by what means he expects secondary schools to conduct school nutrient analysis. [170031]
Kevin Brennan: The School Food Trust (SFT) will shortly publish ‘A guide to introducing the Government’s food-based and nutrient-based standards for school lunches’. It will be on the SFT website in early December, and hard copies will be distributed to stakeholders including schools, local authorities and catering providers. The guide will explain the standards, give advice on implementing and monitoring them, and explain how to carry out nutrient analysis of school lunch provision.
The SFT has also published independent reviews of menu planning and nutrient analysis software, giving information on the types of packages available and their costs. The reviews are available on their website at:
The School Lunch Grant, paid to local authorities from 2008/09 to 2010/11, can be used to meet the costs of the nutrient and menu checking software needed to ensure that school lunches are meeting the nutrient-based standards, and the expertise to use it.
The SFT is currently running pilots in 12 secondary schools to provide tested examples of nutrient standard compliant school lunch provision acceptable to secondary school pupils. The results of these pilots will be published next year.
Special Educational Needs
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he plans to introduce a fast-track statementing process for children with very high needs. [169840]
Jim Knight: There are no plans to specify different timescales for the statementing of children with different levels or types of special educational needs (SEN). A significant part of the statementing process is a thorough assessment of the child's needs, in order to determine the appropriate provision to meet those needs. The Government's response to the July 2006 Education and Skills Select Committee report on SEN announced that Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools will review progress in the current system in 2009-10. We will then consider, in the light of HMCI's advice, whether changes are needed to the current framework.
Specialist Schools Status
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what his estimate is of the
annual cost of increasing the funding of all maintained secondary schools to at least the level obtained by those schools granted specialist status; and if he will make a statement; [169798]
(2) how many maintained secondary schools have not yet attained specialist status; how many of these have failed to meet the required minimum standards for specialist school application; and if he will make a statement. [169799]
Jim Knight: The estimate of the annual cost of increasing the funding of all maintained secondary schools to at least the level obtained by those schools granted specialist status is around £39 million.
There are 408 maintained secondary schools outside the programme. Since 2003, of those schools, 153 have applied but not met the standard for specialist school status.
Supply Teachers: Yorkshire and the Humber
Mr. Graham Stuart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of secondary school lessons in Yorkshire and the Humber were taught by a supply teacher in
each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area; and if he will make a statement. [169737]
Jim Knight: The information is not collected centrally.
Teachers: Training
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) mathematics, (b) science, (c) history and (d) English graduates entered teacher training to qualify as secondary school teachers in each year since 2001-02. [169135]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of graduate trainees entering postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) courses to qualify as a secondary school teacher in the subject for which they hold a first degree, through mainstream ITT and employment-based routes (EBR), between 2002/03 and 2005/06 for:
( a) Mathematics;
( b) Science;
( c) History and
( d) English.
| Number of graduates entering postgraduate initial teacher training to qualify as secondary school teachers in the subject for which they hold a first degree | ||||||||
| Number of graduates entering initial teacher training courses | ||||||||
| 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | |||||
| Subject of secondary ITT | Mainstream | EBR | Mainstream | EBR | Mainstream | EBR | Mainstream | EBR |
| Notes: 1. Mainstream includes universities and other higher education institutions, SCITT and OU, but excludes employment-based routes. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. The method of classifying degree subjects changed as a result of the introduction of the JACS coding structure in 2002/03. Data collected prior to this date under the HESA coding system cannot be directly compared using the direct match alone. 4. Performance profiles data is collected at the end of a trainees first year, therefore 2006/07 data is collected in autumn 2007 and will be published in July 2008. 5. The table only covers those who hold a first degree in the subject of their ITT training course, it does not cover those who have a first degree (in Mathematics, Science, History or English) but are entering an ITT course which is in a different subject to their first degree. Source: TDA’s Performance Profiles. | ||||||||
Truancy
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the truancy rate was in (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in (i) Uxbridge constituency, (ii) each London borough and (iii) England in each year since 1997. [169680]
Kevin Brennan: The Department collects data on unauthorised absences from schools, only some of which are truancy.
The two tables containing the figures for the proportion of half days missed due to unauthorised absence (of which truancy forms a part) have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established, other absence not authorised by the school and truancy.
Communities and Local Government
Home Information Packs
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home inspectors she estimates will be required for full implementation of the home information pack (HIP) policy; how this estimate was calculated; and what (i) evidence and (ii) criteria are being used to determine the market impact of HIPs. [166956]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 22 November 2007]: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement ‘Home Information Packs’ made on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 140-42WS.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of home information pack searches have been undertaken via local authorities. [168929]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether information on radon risks (a) can and (b) must form part of home information packs. [171516]
Yvette Cooper: Information on radon risk is required in the Home Information Pack as part of the local inquiries.
Home Information Packs: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the impact of the introduction of home information packs on the residential housing market in the Peterborough City Council area; and if she will make a statement. [163179]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement ‘Home Information Packs’ made on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 140-42WS.
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what definition she uses of eco-home. [164666]
Yvette Cooper: The Government do not define or set criteria for an ‘eco-home’ as such. The Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) sets standards for housing.
The Code is a set of sustainable design principles covering performance of new homes in nine key areas, including energy and CO2 emissions, water, materials, surface water run-off, waste, pollution, health and well-being, management and ecology.
New homes that are assessed against the Code receive a 1-6 star rating. A 1 star home is built to higher sustainability standards that those set out in building regulations while a 6 star home is a truly sustainable—zero carbon—home. The criteria on how to achieve each star rating is set out in detail in “Code for Sustainable Homes: Technical guide”, available on the Communities and Local Government’s website:
The Code is based on the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for homes ‘EcoHomes’, which it replaced for new homes in England from April 2007. The Code
is more robust than ‘EcoHomes’ as it sets minimum standards for Energy/CO2, water, materials, surface water run-off and waste.
Housing: Inspections
Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many qualified domestic energy assessors and home inspectors there are in (a) Eccles constituency, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) the North West. [162708]
Yvette Cooper: The most recent data as at 5 November provide the following information on the number of accredited home inspectors and domestic energy assessors in Eccles constituency, Greater Manchester and the North West.
| Home inspectors | Domestic energy assessors | |
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home information pack inspectors have had to retake their exams in the last 12 months. [165776]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Government plans to extend the home information pack scheme to one and two bedroomed properties; and if she will make a statement. [165780]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement ‘Home Information Packs’ made on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 140-42WS.
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many qualified domestic energy assessors there are in (a) North West Leicestershire, (b) Leicestershire and (c) the East Midlands. [166769]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 21 November 2007]: The most recent data as of 15 November provide the following information on the number of accredited domestic energy assessors in North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire and the East Midlands.
| Domestic energy assessors | |
David Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of domestic energy
assessors required to administer the home information pack scheme in (a) North West Leicestershire, (b) Leicestershire and (c) the East Midlands once the scheme is implemented across the housing market; and how that estimate is calculated. [166770]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 21 November 2007]: We set out the criteria for roll out of home information packs (HIPs) to Parliament on 22 May, explaining that we would extend the requirement for HIPs when sufficient energy inspectors were in place nationally and regionally to meet market demand as well as taking into account lessons learnt from the operation of the scheme.
It was estimated that 303 domestic energy assessors would be required to produce energy performance certificates for the implementation of home information packs for all properties in the East Midlands. This was based on the estimated number of properties marketed for sale in the region and working practices of assessors.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many qualified home inspectors and domestic energy assessors there are in Bassetlaw; and how many houses were sold in Bassetlaw in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [167138]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 22 November 2007]: As of 15 November, in total there were six accredited home inspectors and domestic energy assessors in Bassetlaw.
According to HM Land Registry data there were 2,573 residential property sales in Bassetlaw during 2006.
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