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6 Mar 2008 : Column 2697W—continued
Drinking Water
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on bottled water in the latest year for which figures are available. [189808]
Kevin Brennan: The total spend on bottled water for the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ predecessor Department DFES for 2006-07 was £53,000 per annum.
Educational Visits: Negligence
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what representations he has received on the impact of the provisions of the Compensation Act 2006 on school visits; and if he will make a statement; [191899]
(2) how many awards have been made under the Compensation Act 2006 for claims of negligence or breaches of statutory duties by teachers on school visits. [191900]
Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 5 March 2008, Official Report, column 2644W.
English Language
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on English language classes for staff in the last year for which figures are available. [177431]
Kevin Brennan: The Department does not provide or fund English language classes for staff.
The Department has signed and is committed to the Government Skills Pledge to encourage and support all
staff to achieve at least a full level 2 qualification. Some element of this support may in a few cases include supporting the attainment of basic literacy. This is provided via local colleges and incurs no direct cost to the Department
Ministerial Visits
Mr. Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make a statement on his visit to Liverpool, West Derby constituency on Friday 1 February 2008; at whose invitation he attended; where he visited; and whom he met. [192153]
Ed Balls: I did not visit Liverpool, West Derby constituency on 1 February 2008.
Physical Education: Teachers
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2008, Official Report, column 927W, on physical education: teachers, if he will breakdown the figure of 1,570 physical education initial teacher training (ITT) places between those which are (a) school-centred and (b) employer-based. [190433]
Jim Knight [holding answer 29 February 2008]: The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has allocated 1,130(1) of the 1,570 places available for physical educational Initial Teacher Training in 2008/09 to mainstream training providers. The remaining 440(1) places will be for Employment Based Routes which have yet to be allocated to specific providers.
(1) Source :
TDA
Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
Pupils: English Language
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of children in schools in Lincolnshire speak English as a second language. [175792]
Jim Knight: The information is available in the following table. This can be found in tables 34 and 35 of Statistical First Release ‘Schools and Pupils in England: January 2007 (Final)’, which is available on the Department’s website:
Schools: Community Relations
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government has taken to assist schools with the promotion of community cohesion since 1997. [191892]
Beverley Hughes: Good schools, through improvements to their teaching and learning; and through work to narrow achievement gaps and engagement with the community, have been developing an understanding and appreciation of others among their pupils and preparing them for active participation in a diverse society,
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 placed a new duty to promote community cohesion on the governing body of maintained schools in England, which came into effect from 1 September 2007. Guidance to schools on the new duty was issued in July 2007. Ofsted plan to inspect schools against this duty from September 2008 as part of school inspections.
Furthermore, we launched the Schools Linking Network on 3 October 2007 to support schools in linking with other schools and encourage interaction between pupils from different backgrounds A national conference and nine regional conferences were held to raise awareness of the duty. Currently, we are developing a resource pack to provide further practical support for schools in meeting the duty.
Schools: Offensive Weapons
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people were convicted for possession of a blade or offensive weapon on school premises in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007. [187877]
Mr. Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
Data on convictions for possession of knives and offensive weapons on school premises for 2005 and 2006 are provided in the following table.
Data for 2007 will be available in autumn of this year.
| Number of persons found guilty for having an article with a blade or point or an offensive weapon on school premises, England and Wales, 2005 and 2006( 1, 2, 3) | ||
| Article with a blade or point( 4) | Offensive weapons | |
| (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Offences under Criminal Justice Act 1988 SS.139 and 139(2) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1) (4) Figures for this offence for 2005 exclude convictions in West Mercia PFA due to an issue with the data. | ||
Teenage Pregnancy
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government has taken to reduce teenage pregnancy rates since 1997. [191905]
Beverley Hughes: The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy was launched in 1999 and included:
the establishment of a media campaign aimed at 13 to 17-year-olds;
measures to improve the quality of sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools;
measures to improve sexually active young people’s access to contraceptive and sexual health services;
support for parents to talk to their children about sex and relationship issues; and
additional support to help teenage parents and their children achieve better outcomes.
Between 1998 (the baseline year for the Strategy) and 2006 (the latest year for which data are available), the under-18 conception rate has fallen by 13.3 per cent. to its lowest level for over 20 years. The under-16 rate has fallen by 13.0 per cent. over the same period.
As well as giving young people the ‘means’ to avoid teenage pregnancies, we are also tackling the underlying factors that increase their risk of teenage pregnancy—low attainment, poverty, early disengagement from learning and low aspirations—through the Every Child Matters reforms.
Written Questions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) when he will answer questions (a) 163291, (b) 163205, (c) 163194, (d) 163314, (e) 163318, (f) 163211, (g) 163320, (h) 163319, (i) 163310, (j) 163386, (k) 163193, (l) 163102, (m) 163455, (n) 163548, (o) 163554, (p) 163534, (q) 163759, (r) 163564, (s) 163557, (t) 164018, (u) 163821, (v) 164017, (w) 163765, (x) 163766, (y) 163762, (z) 173767, (aa) 163764, (ab) 163311 and (ac) 163209 tabled by the hon. Member for Yeovil; [175151]
(2) when he will answer questions (a) 164444, (b) 164421, (c) 164420, (d) 166028, (e) 166037, (f) 164423, (g) 166105, (h) 166107, (i) 166030, (j) 165755, (k) 166686, (l) 166106, (m) 168199, (n) 168191, (o) 166731, (p) 169801, (q) 167782, (r) 168194, (s) 169834, (t) 169839, (u) 169832, (v) 169838, (w) 169800, (x) 169833, (y) 169837, (z) 170196, (aa) 170790 and (ab) 170786 tabled by the hon. Member for Yeovil. [175149]
Kevin Brennan: The Department has responded to all of the above parliamentary questions. PQ 173767 was not allocated to this Department but a check with the official report indicates that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has issued a response. We were informed that PQ 165755 had been withdrawn as the text of the PQ was identical to PQ163222 which has received a full reply.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Citizenship: Young People
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps his Department has undertaken in consequence of the Resolution of the Council of the European Union of 14 November 2006 on participation by and information for young people in view of promoting their active citizenship; and if he will make a statement. [184058]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply;
The Resolution of the November 2006 European Council is consistent with the considerable work we are doing in this country under ‘Aiming High’ the Government’s 10-year strategy for young people published in July 2007. This strategy has the objective of improving the life chances of young people and their relations with the communities in which they live through participation in positive leisure-time opportunities, activities and improved support services.
Music: Internet
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many prosecutions there have been for the illegal (a) copying and (b) downloading from the internet of music under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; and if he will make a statement. [190854]
Ian Pearson: The Government keep no central records of specific prosecutions for illegal copying and downloading from the internet of music under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Near Earth Objects Task Force
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many of the recommendations of the Near Earth Objects Task Group’s report (a) have been implemented, (b) are in the process of being implemented, (c) have not been commenced and (d) will not be implemented; and if he will make a statement. [174285]
Ian Pearson: The last update to the Government response to the task force recommendations was issued in January 2005. At that time, it was decided that many of the issues had moved on significantly from 2000 when the recommendations were made and that there was limited value in revisiting them in their original form. The UK Government remain committed however to their original policy, namely to address this global issue at an international level. The recent establishment of a working group on NEOs within the United Nations, chaired by the UK, and emerging opportunities such as ESA’s plan for a space situational awareness programme; encompassing NEOs, demonstrates that the UK remains effective in delivering on this commitment.
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