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18 Feb 2008 : Column 204W—continued
Smuggling
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) what fines were imposed on offenders following conviction for offences of illegally importing products of animal origin (POAO) into the UK in each year since 2001; and what the (a) weight, (b) country of origin and (c) type of POAO seized in each case was; [185622]
(2) how many offenders received custodial sentences following convictions for offences of illegally importing products of animal origin into the UK in each year since 2001. [185621]
Maria Eagle:
Information on the number of offenders sentenced and fines imposed for the offences
of illegally importing products of animal origin is contained in the following table.
Statistics for 2007 will be published in the autumn.
It is not possible to identify separately the weight and country of origin on the Court Proceedings Database as the circumstances of offences are not collected centrally.
| Number of persons sentenced( 1) to immediate custody and given fines for the offence of illegally importing products of animal origin, all courts, England and Wales, 2001-06 | ||||||||||||
| Number of offenders | ||||||||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||
| Offence | Fine | Immediate custody | Fine | Immediate custody | Fine | Immediate custody | Fine | Immediate custody | Fine | Immediate custody | Fine | Immediate custody |
| (1) Principal offence basis. (2) Classified as an offence under Products of Animal Origin Regulations 2003 and 2006. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice 8 February 2008 Ref: PQ(RN)069 and 070-08 | ||||||||||||
Trade Unions
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with which trade unions his Department has a recognition agreement. [186074]
Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice has in place formal arrangements that recognise the following trade unions and employee representative bodies:
FDA
General Municipal Boilers (GMB)
National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO)
Prospect
Prison Officers Association (POA)
Prison Governors’' Association (PGA)
Public and Commercial Services (PCS)
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
Unite (includes TGWU/Amicus)
Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT)
UNISON.
Wills
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the effects of self-regulation of the will-making sector; and what plans he has to regulate the making of wills. [186194]
Bridget Prentice: In 2005, this Department considered the case for the regulation of will-writing. Since then we have worked with consumer bodies, the legal profession, providers of will-writing services and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), and asked for evidence that would suggest that there is a systemic failure in the will-writing market. While we received information about some cases, we reached the conclusion that there was no convincing evidence, either before or during the scrutiny of the Legal Services Bill, to warrant the regulation of will writing services.
The Department recognises that improvements must be made in the control of quality and standards of will-writing and related services in order to protect consumers and in 2006 we held meetings with interested stakeholders to discuss more effective options such as the OFT's voluntary codes scheme. If evidence emerges in the future of any systemic failure which is putting consumers at risk, the Legal Services Act 2007 does provide suitable provision so that will-writing might be brought into the regulatory net.
Young Offenders: Injuries
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the new system for recording injuries to young offenders in the secure estate identifies (a) the type of institution in which the injury occurred and (b) (i) the age and (ii) ethnicity of the person injured. [184839]
Mr. Hanson: The Youth Justice Board introduced a new system for recording incidents of restrictive physical intervention, assault, self-harm and single separation in April 2007. Information can currently be broken down by institution, ethnicity and sex. The YJB intends to begin collecting details of the age of the young person from April 2008.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies: Norwich
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will meet representatives of the area which may be served by the Heartsease Academy in Norwich before the Academy's approval date. [177330]
Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State would be pleased to do so.
Building Schools for the Future
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 18 October 2007, Official Report, columns 1292-4W, on Building Schools for the Future, (1) what progress he has made in reviewing the operation of waves seven to 15 of the programme; [185958]
(2) what progress he has made with developing the programme to accelerate the entry of education authorities into it. [185959]
Jim Knight: It is still my aim to consult on how we manage waves seven onwards of Building Schools for the Future, and also to give all authorities with projects in these waves the opportunity we have already offered, to revise their expressions of interest in the programme. Wave seven authorities will be able to access funding from 2011-12. I would like to see all authorities having a project in the programme as soon as possible, but this will depend on their readiness to deliver, and on future public spending decisions.
We have not consulted to the timetable indicated in my response to the question of 18 October last year. As the Select Committee said in its report on Building Schools for the Future last year, the important thing with this major programme is to get it right. This delay reflects our aim to do this, and is a sign of the Government's continued commitment to Building Schools for the Future and to getting it right.
Mr. Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many schools built under the Building Schools for the Future programme have provision for (a) fewer than 500 pupils, (b) between 500 and 1,000 pupils and (c) more than 1,000 pupils; [185391]
(2) how many new schools have been built under the Building Schools for the Future programme; how many have been refurbished; and what proportion of funding to the programme has been spent on each activity. [185392]
Jim Knight: The number of pupils in the schools that have been rebuilt or refurbished as part of Building Schools for the Future is set out in the following table. Funding for these schools from Building Schools for the Future totalled £100.5 million and includes ‘early win’ projects. The proportion of this funding used for refurbishment was £58.75 million and for new build was £41.75 million.
| Building schools for the future—newly modernised schools | ||||
| Number of pupils | ||||
| 0-500 | 500-1 , 000 | 1 , 000+ | Total | |
Children in Care
Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in local authority care are waiting for (a) placement with a foster parent or parents and (b) adoption. [183547]
Kevin Brennan: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my predecessor on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 532W.
Class Sizes
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average class sizes were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Cornwall, (ii) the south-west and (iii) England in 2006-07. [186502]
Jim Knight: The average class sizes for both primary and secondary schools in Cornwall, the south-west and England are all shown in the following table.
| Average class size | ||
| Primary schools | Secondary schools | |
| Source: School Census | ||
These figures are for classes taught by one teacher. The figures were taken from table 21 and table 23 of the Statistical First Release ‘Schools and Pupils in England: January 2007’, available at:
Education: Disadvantaged
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of pupils (a) entitled and (b) not entitled to free school meals left school (i) without any recognised qualification and (ii) with five A* to C grade GCSEs in 2007. [185643]
Jim Knight: The following table shows pupil achievement at the end of Key Stage 4 in maintained schools by eligibility for free school meals (FSM) in 2007:
| Number of pupils | Percentage achieving 5 A*-C grades | Percentage with no recognised qualifications | |
These figures are taken from Table 8 in SFR38/2007 which can be found using the following link
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils who were eligible for free school meals left education without qualifications in each of the last three years. [186188]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to his question 182171 on 28 January 2008, Official R eport, columns 161-62W.
Female Genital Mutilation
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what advice his Department provides to schools on female circumcision. [184579]
Beverley Hughes: The Department provides advice to schools about female genital mutilation (FGM), which encompasses female circumcision, in ‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education’, which came into force in January 2007. The guidance makes clear that FGM is a criminal offence, extremely harmful and is a form of physical abuse which is not justified as a cultural or religious practice. It refers to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 and signposts further sources of information available on the Department’s teachernet website.
It is important that people who work with children who may be at risk of FGM know the warning signs that could indicate that a child is being prepared for FGM, which may involve being taken abroad, and that they are alert to the signs that FGM may have been carried out.
Forced Marriage
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral answer to the hon. Member for Reading, West of 30 January 2008, Official Report, column 315, on forced marriage, when the Government plan to report back to the House. [184797]
Kevin Brennan: The Department is looking into this issue, jointly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Forced Marriage Unit. We will report back to the House in March.
GCE A-Level
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many secondary schools did not enter any candidates for chemistry A-Level in 2007; [186224]
(2) how many secondary schools did not enter any candidates for physics A-level in 2007; [186225]
(3) how many secondary schools did not enter any candidates for mathematics A-level in 2007; [186226]
(4) how many secondary schools did not enter any candidates for biology A-level in 2007. [186227]
Jim Knight: The information is provided in the following table:
| Number of schools who did not enter any candidates | Percentage of schools who did not enter any candidates | |
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