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19 Feb 2008 : Column 492W—continued
Children: Databases
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what assessment has been made of the security of the eCaf system; [167442]
(2) what assessment he has been made of the effectiveness of the interchange of information between ContactPoint and eCaf; [167443]
(3) what consultation took place on eCaf with the consultees of ContactPoint. [167445]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 22 November 2007]: Security measures are a fundamental component of the national eCaf system design and all proposed security requirements have been reviewed by the Department’s IT Security Officer.
When a common assessment is undertaken and fogged on the national eCaf system, it will automatically notify ContactPoint that an assessment has been carried out along with contact details of the practitioner that can provide information about the assessment (usually the practitioner who performed the assessment). This will help to prevent duplication of effort, allow practitioners to make more informed decisions and respond in a coordinated way. There will be no access to the common assessment, nor any details within it, from ContactPoint. ContactPoint will be provided with limited information (which does not include any case information) extracted from the national eCaf and other systems using a one-way process. ContactPoint will not update the case record systems.
As with ContactPoint, the development of the national eCaf system had significant input from a range of practitioners and managers across a wide range of children’s services. Some of these individuals have been involved in the development of both systems.
Children: Day Care
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what information his Department collects on the qualifications of existing child care and early years workers in registered settings. [163354]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 12 November 2007]: Data on the qualifications of existing child care and early years workers in registered settings are collected as part of the Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey.
This data source is a nationally representative survey of registered Childcare and Early Years Providers, commissioned by the Department. The survey began in 1998 and was repeated in 2001, 2002-03, 2005 and 2006. The survey is also commissioned to take place in 2007 and 2008.
The 2006 Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey shows that the workforce is becoming better qualified across all provider types. There has been a rise in supervisory staff in settings coinciding with a rise in staff qualifications. Over 70 per cent. of all paid staff in full day care, and early years settings in maintained schools hold at least a Level 3 qualification, while in children’s centres this rises to over 80 per cent. of staff. The proportion of staff with a Level 3 qualification or above in full day care is 10 percentage points higher than in 2005.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the proportion of three to four-year-olds in workless families for whom the entitlement to 12.5 hours of formal childcare per week was taken up in the most recent period for which figures are available. [181860]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 24 January 2008]: The 2007 Parents’ Childcare Survey collected information about take-up of the free entitlement for three and four-year-olds to 12.5 hours of formal child care per week, by child and family characteristics. This will allow an estimate to be made of the proportion of three to four-year-olds in workless families who had taken up this entitlement.
The findings from the 2007 survey will be published in late February 2008.
Estimates are not available for earlier years as questions about the take-up of the free entitlement to early years education for three and four-year-olds were not asked in previous surveys.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many additional childcare places have been (a) provided, (b) lost and (c) left available to the 100 local authorities with the worst incidences of multiple deprivation in each year since 1997. [185866]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate costs.
Children: Sports
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether time spent (a) on roll call and general administration, (b) changing, (c) travelling and (d) before a lesson starting late may be included in the two hours spent on physical education in the public service agreement target. [181785]
Jim Knight:
As with all other curriculum subjects, time spent on roll call in physical education (PE) lessons is part of the timetabled curriculum, so this will count towards the two-hour target. Time spent on changing for PE lessons also counts towards the
two-hour target, as this is used by teachers to explain the lesson plan to pupils and to feed back on their performance after the lesson.
Time spent travelling to or from PE and sporting opportunities does not count towards the two-hour total. As take-up of the two hours is taken from a typical week, time spent before a lesson which starts late does not count towards the two-hour target.
Class Sizes
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average pupil/teacher ratio was in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Cornwall, (ii) the South West and (iii) England in each year since 2001. [186506]
Jim Knight: The available figures are given in the following table:
| Pupil: teacher ratios at primary and secondary schools in Cornwall local authority (LA), the south-west Government office region (GOR) and England, 2001-07 | |||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Source: Schools Census | |||||||
Information on pupil:teacher ratios in each local authority are published annually by the Department. From 2005 the figures can be found in the Statistical First Release ‘School Workforce in England', the latest of which can be accessed at:
Figures for 2004 and earlier were published in the Statistical Volume ‘Statistics of Education Schools in England'. The 2004 edition can be accessed at:
Equivalent publications are available for earlier years.
Classroom Assistants: Qualifications
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teaching assistants have reached NVQ level (a) 2 and (b) 3 of the Training Development for School programme. [163205]
Jim Knight: The information is not collected in the format requested.
The following table shows the number of “NVQ for Teaching Assistant” qualifications awarded at level 2 and level 3 for each year between 2002 and 2006.
| Number of teaching assistants who achieved NVQ Levels 2 and 3 in 2002/03 to 2005/06 | ||
| NVQ Level 2 | NVQ Level 3 | |
| Source: National Information System for Vocational Qualifications (NISVQ) | ||
Comprehensive Spending Review
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the effect of the Comprehensive Spending Review on future revenue funding of (a) academies and (b) maintained schools in Dorset. [168630]
Jim Knight: The comprehensive spending review 2007 provides funding for the expansion of the academies programme, a further 50 academies will be opened in each of the next three years, bringing the total to 230 academies open by September 2010. Academies are funded on the basis of equivalence with maintained schools of similar characteristics in the same area, and this will continue.
The average per pupil increases in dedicated schools grant for maintained schools in Dorset by local authority will be as follows:
| Percentage | |||
| Dorset | Poole | Bournemouth | |
Computers: Disadvantaged
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government have taken to widen accessibility to computers and the internet for low-income families since 1997. [180067]
Jim Knight: The Government recognise the importance of closing the gap between the number of people with access to information technology and those without, commonly known as the ‘digital divide’.
Since 1997 we have run a range of education-related programmes to widen accessibility to computers and the internet for low-income families, and these have provided hardware, connectivity and training both into homes and into the local community. In 2001, for example, we opened the first UK Online centres to provide community level access to computers, the internet as well as advice and training in how to use them. There is now a network of over 6,000 centres across the country in libraries, community centres and other accessible buildings.
We also supported cross government initiatives such as the seven point action plan to close the digital divide identified in “Connecting the UK: The Strategy for a Digitally Rich Nation” and were one of the main contributors to the plan's national digital challenge for a region to give universal online access to local public services by 2008.
We have concentrated our efforts on young learners and in school the level of access has increased significantly. In a primary school for example, 19 children had to share one computer in 1997 whereas now there is one computer for every 6.2 children and through our extended schools’ programme and our support for the e-learning foundation we have helped schools to provide children with access beyond the school day.
In 2005 we started a £60 million Computers for Pupils programme to put ICT into the homes of the most disadvantaged secondary school pupils in the most deprived areas of the country and last year I established the Home Access Taskforce with representation from industry, education and the third sector. The Taskforce is due to report in April this year on how we might ensure that every family with 5 to 19-year-old learners in England has access to affordable ICT resources and support at home—and I recently announced an additional £30 million to provide further support under the Computers for Pupils programme until the task force proposals can be assessed and if appropriate, implemented.
Dance: Curriculum
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to maintain dance’s position in the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 curriculum. [166558]
Jim Knight: Dance will remain an important element for schools to deliver within the PE national curriculum. The increased flexibility allowed by the new secondary curriculum for PE, being introduced from September 2008, will make it easier for schools to offer more dance provision within curriculum PE if there is sufficient demand.
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