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23 Apr 2008 : Column 2091W—continued
The information requested prior to 1999 is not available.
Remploy
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) disabled and (b) non-disabled people Remploy employed in its factories on 31 March. [198244]
Mrs. McGuire: As at 31 March 2008, 3,101 disabled people and 348 non-disabled people were employed by Remploy in its factories.
Remploy: Company Cars
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what regulations cover the provision of company cars for senior management in Remploy. [199703]
Mrs. McGuire: The provision of company cars for senior managers in Remploy is an operational matter for the company. There are no specific regulations covering this.
Social Security Benefits: Inverness
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed benefits in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency in each year since 1997, broken down by benefit claimed. [200082]
Mr. Plaskitt: Constituency information is not available prior to 2005. The available information is in the following table.
| Working age and pensioner client groups, by statistical group in the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, as at May each year | |||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Figures for Attendance Allowance, Carers Allowance, and Disability Living Allowance include those cases with entitlement but where payment is currently suspended (for example because of an extended stay in hospital or being in receipt of an overlapping benefit). 4. Statistical group is a hierarchical variable. A person who fits into more than one category will only appear in the top-most one for which they are eligible. Job Seeker: claimant on Jobseekers Allowance; Incapacity benefits: claimant on Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance; Lone Parent: claimant on Income Support with child under 16 and no partner; Carer: claimant entitled to Carer's Allowance; Other Income Related Benefit: claimant on Income Support or Pension Credit; Disabled: claimant on Attendance Allowance or Disability Living Allowance; Bereaved: claimant on Bereavement Benefit or Widow's Benefit; State Pension only: claimant in receipt of State Pension only. For example a claimant of Disability Living Allowance and Jobseekers Allowance would appear in “Job Seeker”, not in “Disabled”. Source: DWP Information Directorate | |||
Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the take-up rate of each benefit in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency was in each year since 1997; [200085]
(2) what the value of unclaimed income-related benefits in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency was in each year since 1997, broken down by benefit type. [200086]
Mr. Plaskitt: Estimates of take-up and the value of unclaimed benefits are not available below the level of Great Britain. It is therefore not possible to say what the take-up rate, or amount of unclaimed benefit was in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency.
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Language
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children attending (a) daycare and (b) sessions with a childminder spoke English as a second language in each year since 1997. [200554]
Beverley Hughes: Data are not collected centrally on the number or proportion of children attending full day care or childminders for whom English was a foreign language.
Departmental Flexible Working
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in his Department and its predecessors had flexible working arrangements in each year since 1997. [200578]
Kevin Brennan: Since 1997, all staff in the Department and its predecessors have had the opportunity to work flexibly. A very high proportion of staff have made use of the opportunity, including the 15 per cent. who work part-time and the over 50 per cent. who have occasionally or regularly worked at home over the last 12 months.
We do not keep records of exact figures centrally and they could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Higher Civil Servants
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of his Department's and its predecessors' senior civil service staff were women in each year since 1997. [200581]
Kevin Brennan: In December 2007 the Department had a total of 106 staff in the senior civil service, of these 48 (45.28 per cent.) were women.
The Department was formed as part of the machinery of government changes announced on 28 June 2007. Although not directly comparable due to staff changes, its predecessor was the Department for Education and Skills which had 131 staff in the senior civil service, of which 53 (40.46 per cent.) were women at December 2006. Figures for earlier years can be found in the civil service statistics archive:
Departmental Legislation
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what criminal offences have been abolished by primary legislation sponsored by his Department and its predecessors since May 1997. [198288]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what criminal offences have been created by primary legislation sponsored by his Department since July 2007. [198308]
Kevin Brennan: No new offences have been created by primary legislation sponsored by the Department for Children, Schools and Families since July 2007.
Departmental Part-Time Employment
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in his Department and its predecessors worked part-time in each year since 1997. [200582]
Kevin Brennan: The latest figures available (December 2007) record a total of 2,914 staff in the Department, of which 453 (15.59 per cent.) worked part-time.
The Department was formed as part of the Machinery of Government changes of 28 June 2007. It is therefore not exactly comparable to its predecessor, the Department for Education and Skills, but it does build on a wide range of flexible working patterns that were developed in the previous Department. As a guideline, the Department for Education and Skills had a total of 3,547 staff in December 2006, of which 521 (14.69 per cent.) worked part-time. Figures for earlier years can be found in the civil service statistics archive:
Departmental Redundancy
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2008, Official Report, column 1269W, on departmental redundancy, what the cost was of redundancies in the predecessors to his Department in the 12 months preceding (a) 30 June 2004, (b) 30 June 2005 and (c) 30 June 2006. [193357]
Kevin Brennan: Further to my previous reply (PQ 175333) that the Department for Children, Schools and Families has had no redundancies since it was formed, I can also confirm that there were no redundancies in the predecessor Department for Education and Skills in the periods described, and therefore no redundancy costs.
Departmental Vetting
Mrs. Maria Miller:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department has taken to ensure that (a) paid staff and (b) volunteers
are subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check before starting work in the last 12 months. [200579]
Kevin Brennan: All individuals recruited to a regulated post or to a post where they have access to personal or sensitive data about children or vulnerable adults, have been subject to, or are currently undergoing, enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, as a matter of course.
We do not currently have any volunteers in the Department.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress his Department has made on its Parliamentary Question tracking system to record whether named day questions are provided with a substantive answer on the due day since November 2007. [199994]
Kevin Brennan: Although parts of the Department's PQ tracking system have been upgraded there is still some outstanding work to be completed on the parts of the system that provide management information reports. In the interim, the parliamentary team are maintaining a manual check on all named day questions to monitor the timeliness of replies.
Education: Assessments
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the pilot Stage Not Age tests; and if he will make a statement. [201062]
Jim Knight: Single level tests are being trialled as one element of the Making Good Progress pilot, which runs from September 2007 to July 2009. One round of tests has taken place as part of the pilot, with three other test windows to follow. Making Good Progress is being independently evaluated by PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose final report is due in 2009.
Education: Research
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on educational research in each of the last five years. [200332]
Jim Knight: Details of the Department’s expenditure on educational research for each year since 2003 are noted as follows.
| £ | |
Home Education
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of children under the age of 16 years who were home educated in each year since 1997. [200323]
Jim Knight: We have made no estimate of the numbers of children under the age of 16 who were home educated in each of the years since 1997.
Languages: General Certificate of Secondary Education
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many non-selective mainstream maintained schools entered 90 per cent. or more of their eligible pupils for a modern language GCSE in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007; [200529]
(2) how many non-selective mainstream maintained schools entered 10 per cent. or less of their eligible pupils for a modern language GCSE in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007; [200530]
(3) how many non-selective mainstream maintained schools entered no pupils for a modern language GCSE in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007; [200531]
(4) how many non-selective mainstream maintained schools did not have any pupils awarded a modern language GCSE at grades A* to C in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006 and (d) 2007; [200532]
(5) how many non-selective mainstream maintained schools did not have any pupils awarded a (a) French and (b) German GCSE at (i) grades A* to C and (ii) any grade in (A) 2004, (B) 2005, (C) 2006 and (D) 2007. [200533]
Jim Knight: The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Parents: Advisory Services
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the cost of parenting advisers in each year from 2008-09 to 2011-12; what their function will be; and if he will make a statement. [200991]
Beverley Hughes: The Children’s Plan announced funding for up to two ‘parenting experts’ in every local authority. These experts will deliver one to one and group-based support to parents as well as supporting local parenting commissioners in the implementation of their Parenting Strategy. In 2008-09, over £8 million has been allocated to fund these posts and we expect to spend around £12 million each year over 2009-10 and 2010-11.
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