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19 Feb 2008 : Column 528Wcontinued
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children aged between five and 11 were receiving school milk in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by authority. [186754]
Jim Knight: The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not collect this information. However, the Rural Payments Agency has advised that in the period 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2007 subsidy on 39,524.364 kilolitres was paid. This figure divided by the maximum entitlement per pupil (250ml) and then divided by 190 school days (average) equals an average of just over 832,000 pupils per day.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of pupils attending schools which had been built within the previous five years in each of the last 10 years. [186468]
Jim Knight: The Department does not hold information on the number of pupils attending schools which had been built within the previous five years in the last 10 years.
In 2007, the Department collected information from local education authorities on the outputs of schools capital investment in the previous 10 years. The information they supplied showed that since 1997, there had been 1,100 new and replacement schools built.
Central Government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996-97 to £6.4 billion in 2007-08 and will rise further to £8.2 billion by 2010-11. Over this period, increasing numbers of pupils have benefited from being in schools with new buildings.
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of how far on average (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils travel to get to school in (i) Cornwall, (ii) the South West and (iii) England. [186501]
Jim Knight: The information requested is given in the following table:
Average straight line distance( 1) in miles from pupil residence to school( 2) attended | ||
Primary | Secondary( 3) | |
(1) Distance is the average straight line distance from pupil residence to the school attended, based on pupil and school postcode. (2) Maintained schoolspupils aged 5 to 15. (3) Secondary includes CTC and Academies. Source: School Census 2007. |
A table giving this information for all local authorities in England will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) new schools opened and (b) schools closed in the (i) maintained and (ii) independent sector in each year since 1995; and how many schools there were open in each year. [186958]
Jim Knight: We cannot provide the information requested because it would require us to manipulate large volumes of data which could only be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will review the 10 per cent. target threshold for surplus places for (a) all schools and (b) rural schools; and if he will make a statement. [185819]
Jim Knight: The hon. Member refers to our guidance to local authorities on developing a primary strategy for change. There are no plans for reviewing the guidance.
We need to ensure that local authorities are able to provide good value for money for their communities, allowing them to invest in higher standards and better facilities for pupils. One aspect of securing good value for money is taking early and decisive action to balance the demand and supply of school places, but we recognise that the extent and nature of local authority plans will depend on local circumstances.
The guidance on preparing primary capital strategies must be read in its entirety. It explains that authorities should allow scope for parental choice, support schools with high standards, ensure schools are accessible to pupils, and take account of possible future increases in pupil numbers due to demographic changes. It also recognises that in order to preserve access for young children, there may be more empty places in schools in rural areas than in urban areas.
The guidance asks authorities to put in place decisive plans for early action to ensure that no school has more than 25 per cent. surplus places, and I anticipate that local authorities will make these plans sensitively taking account of my recent letter which has been placed in the House Library. The 10 per cent. benchmark relates to surplus capacity across the whole primary school estate of a local authority, and not to individual schools. We want local authority strategies
to set out how surplus places across the authority as a whole will be managed down over time although there is no fixed timescale.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England operate as their own admissions authority; [186231]
(2) how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England have their admissions managed by (i) local authorities and (ii) other bodies. [186232]
Jim Knight: Local authorities are the admission authority for community and voluntary controlled schools. Governing bodies are the admission authority for voluntary aided and foundation schools. Academies and city technology colleges also determine their own admission arrangements in line with the requirements of the admissions code and admissions taw. The following table provides details of the number of schools in each category. Local authorities may delegate responsibility for determining the admission arrangements of community and voluntary controlled schools to individual school governing bodies, but we do not collect information centrally about the number of cases in which responsibility is delegated.
Admission authorities usually manage the process of considering applications for places themselves, but the governing body of a school which is its own admission authority may ask another body, including the local authority, to do so on their behalf. Again, we do not collect information centrally about the number of cases in which this happens.
Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number of schools by category, January 2007, England | ||
Number of schools | ||
Primary | Secondary | |
n/a = not applicable Source: School Census |
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether planned guidance on the collection of biometric data in schools will be made available other than on the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency website. [164203]
Jim Knight: There are currently no plans to make the guidance on the collection of biometric data in schools available elsewhere other than on this website.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of poor quality school buildings which are situated in deprived areas; and if he will make a statement. [185337]
Jim Knight: The Department has not made an estimate of the number of poor quality school buildings which are situated in deprived areas.
For primary schools, the most deprived areas will receive higher levels of funding in the Primary Capital Programme. For secondary schools, deprivation is a factor determining the prioritisation of funding in the Building Schools for the Future Programme.
Central government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996-97 to £6.4 billion in 2007-08 and will rise further to £8.2 billion by 2010-11. A substantial proportion of capital funding is targeted at transformational programmes, such as those referred to above.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what steps the Government have taken to improve kitchen facilities in schools since 1997; [183444]
(2) how much the Government have spent on school kitchen facilities in the West Midlands in each of the last five years. [183445]
Jim Knight: The Government have increased the capital available for investment in school buildings sevenfold in real terms between 1997 and 2010. In 1996-97, it was under £700 million: by 2010-11 it will be more than £8.2 billion a year. Most of this funding can be used for school kitchens where this is the local priority. Authorities and schools in the West Midlands will get over £1 billion over the next three years. For each of the next three years, a typical secondary school will get over £113,000 of its own money and a typical primary over £34,000 which can be used to improve kitchens and dining areas if they wish. Additionally, we are providing £150 million of targeted funding by 2010 to support authorities install new kitchens in schools which have none and where there is exceptional need.
In 2007 the Department published "Inspirational Design for Kitchen and Dining Spaces" to give good guidance to authorities and schools on how to build kitchens that are efficient and suitable to cook good healthy food, and dining areas that are attractive to children and encourage healthy eating. This was prepared in consultation with the School Food Trust and industry professionals.
Investment decisions are made locally and the Department does not collect information on how much authorities and schools have invested in kitchen facilities. In 2007, authorities provided information on school building projects, including that in the previous 10 years there had been improvement to kitchens and serveries in over 2,300 schools nationally. The School Building Investment Data are available in the parliamentary libraries, showing the information from each local authority.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have closed each year since 1997, broken down by local authority. [184991]
Jim Knight: The numbers of secondary and primary school closed in each year since 1997, by local authority, are given in the table which has been placed in the Library.
Schools can be closed for a number of reasons including: to meet demographic changes (population decline); as part of an amalgamation; to allow a Fresh Start school to replace a school in special measures; to allow a school with a religious character to replace a school without a religious character; or as part of another type of local reorganisation.
The figures also show closures as part of the Local Government Reorganisation programme.
It was not mandatory to supply school closure dates prior to January 2002 and therefore the figures for the years 1997 to 2002 may not be complete.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government have taken to encourage schools to open their facilities to community groups. [185668]
Beverley Hughes: Opening school facilities to the community is one of the key elements of the extended schools core offer. We are committed to all schools providing access to the core offer of extended services by 2010 with at least half of all primary and a third of secondary schools doing so by September 2008.
Where a school has facilities suitable for use by the local community (e.g. playing fields, halls, sport and IT facilities) they are encouraged to open these up to meet the needs of the community in response to local demand. Schools are expected to consult with pupils, parents and the local community before providing extended services.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much income has been generated by maintained schools in England providing facilities for community groups in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [186793]
Beverley Hughes: Opening school facilities to the community is one of the elements of the extended schools core offer. We are committed to all schools providing access to the core offer of extended services by 2010 with at least half of all primary and a third of secondary schools doing so by September 2008.
Information is not collected centrally on the number of school facilities that have opened up for extended school provision or how much schools charge for their facilities. Local authorities have different systems and variable rates around schools charging community groups to use their facilities.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many assaults there were on school teachers in 2005-06 which led to exclusions, broken down by (a) category of assault and (b) local education authority; and if he will make a statement. [163431]
Jim Knight: The number of incidents of assaults towards staff in schools is not collected centrally. The Department does collect information on the reasons why pupils have been excluded, either for a fixed period or permanently. This includes a category for physical assault against an adult although this is not broken down by category of assault.
Local authority level tables showing the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions by reason have been placed in the library. For 2005-06 this information is only available for secondary schools due to underlying changes in the data collection. For 2006-07 this coverage will extend to also include primary and special schools.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what expenditure on schools was as a proportion of gross domestic product in each year since 1997; what estimate he has made of the likely proportion in each year until 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [163442]
Jim Knight: The Department is unable to answer the question in the way it has been asked. The information is not held on a UK basis. However, spending on education in England is set to rise to £63.7 million in 2007-08. The Government will increase spending in education as a proportion of GDP to 5.6 per cent. in 2010-11. This compares to 4.7 per cent. of GDP spent on education in 1996-97.
Total Government education spend as a proportion of GDP | |
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