| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4 Mar 2008 : Column 2466W—continued
Teachers: Labour Turnover
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teachers in Yorkshire and the Humber have left the profession within (a) one year, (b) five years and (c) 10 years of completing their qualified teacher status induction period since its inception; and if he will make a statement. [190805]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Teaching Methods: Finance
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the timetable is for the national implementation of funding for local authorities to pay for one-to-one tuition for children in English and mathematics following the Making Good Progress pilot project; what other provisions of the project are to be implemented nationally; and if he will make a statement. [189943]
Jim Knight: The Government have committed to the delivery of national one-to-one tuition for 300,000 pupils in English and 300,000 pupils in mathematics by 2010-11. However, we expect that some tuition will also take place on a national basis in the financial year 2009-10.
School progression targets to improve the proportions of pupils making two levels of progress within a key stage are being introduced in pilot schools in the academic year 2008/09, with national progression targets coming on stream for all schools from the academic year 2009/10.
All other elements of the pilot, including the financial premium and single level tests, will be subject to further evaluation before any decision is made about whether to implement them on a national basis.
Truancy
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children are recorded as missing from education, broken down by age; how many have been so recorded in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [190061]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested by the hon. Member is not available on a national basis. A new statutory duty commenced in February 2007 for local authorities to put robust systems in place to identify children missing from education. Local authorities have been busy implementing these systems over the past year and they should now be able to provide local level data on how many children are missing in their area. However, reliable information on how many children are missing from education cannot be produced nationally using current methods of collection. This information has never been collected. The Department is considering how to collect appropriate information on children missing from education in the future.
Young People: Public Participation
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Statement by the Prime Minister of 14 November 2007, Official Report, columns 667-72, on national security, when he expects the youth panel announced by the Prime Minister to be set up; who he expects its members to be; what he expects its costs to be; and if he will make a statement. [168415]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
We are working jointly with Communities and Local Government to plan for and convene the youth panel later this year.
Communities and Local Government
Buildings: Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) under-floor insulation and (b) under-floor heating is taken into account when assessing the energy efficiency of a property for an energy performance certificate. [189548]
Caroline Flint: The energy efficiency of a new build domestic property is assessed using SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure), the Government's calculation methodology for assessing the energy efficiency of dwellings. It includes provision for accounting for (a) under-floor insulation and (b) under-floor heating.
Existing dwellings are assessed by Reduced Data SAP (RdSAP) which makes assumptions about floor insulation based on the age of the property.
The energy efficiency of the vast majority of commercial buildings is assessed using SBEM (Simplified Building Energy Model) which takes account of both under-floor insulation and under-floor heating.
Bus Services
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate her Department has made of the effect on local authorities’ expenditure of free or subsidised bus shelters provided by advertising companies; [190007]
(2) what estimate her Department has made of the effect on its expenditure if free or subsidised bus shelters were no longer provided by advertising companies. [190006]
John Healey: The Department has made no estimate of the effect on either its own expenditure or of expenditure by local authorities as a result of the continuation or cessation of free or subsidised bus shelters provided by advertising companies.
Business: Non-Domestic Rates
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 29 January 2008, Official Report, columns 226-27W, on business: non-domestic rates, what records her Department holds of the rates of levy applicable in each business improvement district. [191636]
John Healey: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Casinos: Greater Manchester
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings the regional Minister for the North West has had with (a) Councillor Richard Leese, (b) the hon. Member for Manchester Central and (c) the Prime Minister on the super-casino proposal for Manchester. [191623]
Hazel Blears: The regional Minister for the North West has not had any meetings with those suggested on the super-casino proposal for Manchester.
Community Relations: Finance
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department plans to spend on (a) the development of the new web-based one stop shop on cohesion, (b) the deployment of teams to support areas undergoing particularly rapid change, (c) the programme of work to realise increased inter-faith dialogue and social interaction within communities and (d) placing work with key partners on a more strategic footing in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09, (iii) 2009-10 and (iv) 2010-11, as referred to in the Government's response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion. [190113]
Mr. Dhanda: The Government have made a substantial increase in funding for cohesion in the Spending Review and we are currently developing plans for a wide range of activity, as set out in the Government's response to the final report of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion.
With respect to increasing inter faith dialogue and interaction, in 2007-08, £4.982 million was spent on the faith communities capacity building fund, one of whose objectives was increased inter faith activity; £175,000 was granted to the inter faith network; and a contract for research in support of the current consultation on inter faith dialogue and activity has been let to the faith based regeneration network for £32,700. Plans for work to promote inter faith dialogue and action for 2008-09 to 2010-11 have not yet been finalised. However, we are developing an inter faith strategy (which is currently out for consultation) and this will set the framework for future resourcing decisions. Plans for the one stop shop on cohesion, teams to support areas facing rapid change and placing work with key partners on a more strategic footing are currently being developed. No expenditure has yet been committed for 2007-08 to 2010-11.
Council Tax
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what measure of inflation local authorities will base council tax changes in 2008-09. [191666]
John Healey: The level of council tax is a matter for local authorities, not central Government.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the salary range is for each pay band of civil servants in her Department. [188805]
Mr. Dhanda: For the senior civil service (SCS), for whom reward arrangements are managed centrally by the Cabinet Office, the 2007-08 pay ranges are:
| £ | ||
| Minimum | C eiling | |
For staff below the SCS the 2007-08 the pay ranges in DCLG are:
| £ | ||
| Minimum | Maximum | |
Departmental Private Finance Initiative
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what private finance initiative projects were approved within her Department in each of the last three financial years; and what the (a) value and (b) start date was of each. [190863]
Mr. Dhanda: The capital value and start date for every signed PFI project are recorded centrally on the Treasury’s website at:
Departmental Public Expenditure
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of her Department’s expenditure was allocated to Government growth areas in the last year for which figures are available. [190955]
Caroline Flint: In 2007-08 Communities and Local Government has allocated:
£122.1 million through the Growth Areas Fund to support delivery in the three newer Growth Areas of Ashford, London-Stansted-Cambridge-Peterborough and Milton Keynes/South Midlands;
£182 million through the Thames Gateway Fund; and
£41.8 million through the Growth Points Fund to support delivery in the 29 existing Growth Points.
This equates to around 3.3 per cent. of the total DEL budget.
Information on the total amount of departmental funding which is directed at the growth areas through other programmes is not available other than at disproportionate cost.
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire engines were operating in Dorset Fire and Rescue Service in (a) 1997 and (b) 2007-08. [191234]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 3 March 2008]: In 1997 Dorset had 44 operational fire engines, while in 2006 there were 41. Figures for 2007-08 are not yet available.
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service: Emergency Calls
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average response time of Dorset Fire and Rescue Service to emergency call-outs was in each of the last 24 months. [191236]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer March 2008]: The most recent fire statistics available are for 2006 and only cover response times for primary fires. Response times on incidents, other than primary fires are not available. The following table shows Dorset Fire and Rescue Service's average response time, in minutes, to primary fires, by month, for 2005 and 2006.
| Table 1: Average response times in minutes, by month, to primary fires( 1) by Dorset FRS area, 2005 and 2006( 2) (time of call and time of mobilisation to time of arrival) | ||||
| Month | 2005 | 2006 | ||
| First call to attendance | Mobilisation to attendance | First call to attendance | Mobilisation to attendance | |
| (1) Incidents with a response time greater than 59 minutes are excluded as response time data maybe incorrect and will therefore skew the averages. (2) Data for 2006 is provisional and subject to change. | ||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |