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8 Jan 2008 : Column 410W—continued
The fees data collected in this survey should be treated with caution as the figures have been derived from a number of variables. In addition a large number of providers who responded to the survey were unwilling or unable to provide details on the fees they charged.
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been spent by his Department on international flights since it was established. [174351]
Kevin Brennan: Since 1999 the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over £500. Information for the last financial year was published on 25 July 2007. Details for the current financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. From next year, the list will include details of overseas visits undertaken by all Ministers. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Information in respect of flights taken by officials could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Consultants
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was paid in consultancy fees by his Department and its predecessors in each year since 1997. [171996]
Kevin Brennan: Historical figures are not available for the Department for Children, Schools and Families and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Figures for the Department for Education and Skills show that it spent £66.6 million on consultancy from 2005-06 to 2006-07. This figure comprises £7.6 million charged to administration budgets; and £59 million charged to programme budgets.
Figures for the Department for Education and Skills show that the following costs of consultancy were charged to administration budgets from 1997:
| £ million | |
The costs of consultancy charged to programme budgets before November 2004 were not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The total cost of consultancy charged to programme budgets from November to March 2004-05 was £4.4 million, and from April 2005 to March 2007 was £59 million.
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many press officers are employed by his Department. [163211]
Kevin Brennan: The Department for Children, Schools and Families currently employs the full-time equivalent of 23 press officers. This team provides a 24 hour service to national, regional and specialist sector media.
Departmental Manpower
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of posts in his Department were recategorised from back office to frontline posts as classified by the Gershon efficiency review in each year since 2004. [172248]
Kevin Brennan: The Department for Children, Schools and Families is committed to achieving its workforce reduction target, shared with the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, by the end of 2007/08. This is a net target and no posts will be reallocated to the frontline as part of it.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) men and (b) women of each Civil Service grade are employed by his Department. [172730]
Kevin Brennan: The following table sets out how many men and women are employed in each civil service grade in my Department:
| Grade | (a) Men | (b) Women | Total |
| (1) The Department for Children, Schools and Families has recently merged the Administrative Assistant (AA) and Administrative Officer (AO) Civil Service grades into an Executive Assistant (EA) role. | |||
Departmental Publicity
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been spent by his Department on advertising in the last 12 months. [167962]
Kevin Brennan: In 2006-07 the Department (then the Department for Education and Skills) spent £6.265 million on advertising as part of information campaigns. Additionally, the Department's spend in advertising vacancies at senior civil service level for the last financial year was £97,605.00. The costs for advertising vacancies below senior civil service level are not recorded in the same way and figures could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Sick Leave
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff in his Department have been (a) disciplined and (b) had their employment terminated as a result of a poor sickness record in each of the last five years. [163679]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested is as follows:
| Staff disciplined | Employment terminated | |
Educational Psychology
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what progress is being made on the implementation of recommendations from the Children’s Workforce Development Council on the training of educational psychologists; [174592]
(2) what plans he has to ensure adequate numbers of educational psychologists over the next 10 years; and if he will take steps to ensure that their numbers do not fall below the current level; [174593]
(3) how many educational psychologists are employed by local authorities in England; [174595]
(4) what assessment he has made of the role of educational psychologists in the education system; [174733]
(5) whether agreement has been reached between his Department and the Local Government Association on funding for the training of educational psychologists. [174734]
Kevin Brennan: My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools and Learners has signalled his support for the recommendations contained within the Children’s Workforce Development Council’s (CWDC) paper on educational psychologists (EPs), which identified a number of options for the future funding and administration arrangements in relation to the initial entry training of EPs.
We have asked the CWDC and the Local Government Association, as the representative body of the local authority employers, to take matters forward in terms of the funding and administration of trainee EP places/courses commencing in September 2008. Further information can be accessed via the CWDC website at:
The full-time equivalent number of EPs in post in local authorities in England, as at January 2007, was 2,352, with 73 full-time vacancies. EPs are employed by local authorities, and it is for those authorities to determine how many to employ in light of their assessment of local needs and available resources, and to plan for future needs. It is not the role of the Department to undertake any manpower planning or funding assessment for this group of local authority employees.
EPs play an important role in assessing special educational needs and in helping to formulate support arrangements for children with a wide range of needs, including those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The value of their contribution was confirmed in an independent study, conducted by the School of Education, University of Manchester, published by the Department on 31 August 2006. A copy of the report, “A Review of the Functions and Contribution of Educational Psychologists in England and Wales in light of Every Child Matters: Change for Children” (Research Report No. 792) was placed in the House of Commons Library, and can also be accessed via the Department’s research website:
Further Education: Truancy
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of persistent truants went on to post-16 education in the latest period for which figures are available. [174205]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
General Certificate of Secondary Education: Truancy
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of persistent truants gained five A* to C grades including English and mathematics in the last year. [174294]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Illegal Immigrants
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many illegal immigrants have been discovered working for his Department and its agencies in the last year for which figures are available. [170480]
Kevin Brennan: No illegal immigrants have been discovered working for my Department or its agencies.
Nurseries: Copeland
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many free nursery places have been provided within Copeland over the last five years. [175943]
Beverley Hughes: The available information is shown in the table.
The table provides information about the part-time equivalent number of free early education places filled by three and four-year-olds in Copeland parliamentary constituency area. Data are provided for 2004-07 only because data are not available at constituency level for 2003.
| Number of part-time funded places( 1, 2, 3) filled by three and four-year-olds, parliamentary constituency: Copeland, position in January | ||||||
| Three-year-olds | Four-year-olds | |||||
| Maintained nursery and primary schools( 4) | Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers( 5) | Total three-year-olds | Maintained nursery and primary schools( 6) | Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers( 7) | Total four-year-olds | |
| (1) A place is equal to five or more sessions and can be filled by more than one child. (2) Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 if they exceed 1,000 and to the nearest 10 otherwise. (3) Prior to 2004, information on early education places was derived from returns made by local authorities as part of the nursery education grant (NEG) data collection exercise. These data were collected at local authority level, therefore, data for this parliamentary constituency for 2003 is not available. (4) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Schools Census. (5) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Schools Census. (6) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Schools Census. (7) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Schools Census. | ||||||
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