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8 May 2008 : Column 1134W—continued
Children, Schools and Families
Children in Care: General Certificate of Secondary Education
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many and what percentage of eligible children in care were not entered for any GCSE in each of the last 10 years; [203591]
(2) how many and what percentage of eligible children in care did not achieve five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics in each of the last 10 years; [203592]
(3) how many and what percentage of eligible children in care were not entered for an English, mathematics, science or foreign language GCSE in each year since 1997. [203594]
Jim Knight:
The national data collections on the educational outcomes for looked-after children were
introduced in 2000. Data collected since 2000 and published in “Outcome Indicators for Looked After Children Twelve months to 30 September”, show the GCSE performance or equivalents of children who were looked after for at least 12 months. The available information for England is shown in the table.
| GCSE performance or equivalents of children who are looked after continuously for at least 12 months in year 11( 1) , 12 months ending 30 September 2000 to 2007, England | ||||||||
| Sat at least one GCSE or GNVQ | One GCSE at grade A* to G or a GNVQ | Five A* to C GCSE grades (or equivalent) | Five A* to G GCSE grades (or equivalent) | |||||
| Number | Percentage( 2) | Number | Percentage( 2) | Number | Percentage( 2) | Number | Percentage( 2) | |
| (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 1,000, and to the nearest 100 if over 1,000. (2) Expressed as a percentage of all looked-after children in year 11. Source: OC2 Survey. | ||||||||
Although we do not collect figures on the number of children looked after who were entered for a GCSE, we do have information on the number who sat at least one GCSE/GNVQ. This is shown in the table.
We do not collect information about the number of looked-after children who achieve GCSE grades in individual subjects. However, these data are available at a local level enabling local authorities to set targets for the attainment of looked-after children at key stage 4 which include English and mathematics. These targets are negotiated with the National Strategies and Government offices and form a statutory part of a local authority’s local area agreement.
Since 1997, there has been an unprecedented focus at national and local level on improving outcomes for looked-after children. Over a five-year period from 1998, the Government invested £885 million through the Quality Protects initiative and a further £113 million through their Choice Protects funding. Looked-after children often have highly complex needs and improving their outcomes is a top Government priority.
In-spite of improvements, outcomes are nowhere near good enough. That is why we are now building on the Care Standards Act 2002, which introduced National Minimum Standards for children’s services, and the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, which for the first time provided a legislative framework to support care leavers make the transition to adulthood. We have made nearly £300 million extra available to deliver “Care Matters: Time for Change” and the implementation plan “Care Matters: Time to deliver for children in care”, including the introduction of a personal education allowance for all looked-after children who are at risk of not reaching the expected national standards of attainment. Through the Children and Young Persons Bill, currently before Parliament, we intend to require all schools to have a designated teacher to champion the needs of looked-after children and to ensure that local authorities do everything possible to avoid disrupting their education and training.
Children: Day Care
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of nursery children who travel to and from nursery (a) by car, (b) by public transport, (c) on foot and (d) by bicycle. [200559]
Jim Knight: The Department does not hold complete data relating to mode of travel to school. Provision of this information is only compulsory for those schools with an approved Travel Plan. The scope of collection includes: maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools, city technology colleges, academies and special schools.
In the spring 2007 School Census, mode of travel data was supplied for almost 70 per cent. of pupils. The available information relating to nursery pupils is provided in the following table.
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many child care staff left the profession within (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five years of entering the profession in the latest period for which figures are available. [204159]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Children's Centres
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of children's centres to be located in the super output areas ranked in the (a) first to third, (b) fourth to seventh and (c) eighth to tenth deciles of deprivation by 2010. [204177]
Beverley Hughes: Local authorities are responsible for the planning and delivery of Sure Start children's centres. There are currently 2,906 designated centres. On average we expect children's centres to offer services to around 800 children under five and their families so in practice one children's centre will serve a number of Super Output Areas (SOAs), as well as the SOA in which it is located. From the information provided by local authorities to our delivery partner, Together for Children (TfC), our current estimate is that around two-thirds of designated centres predominantly serve children and families living in the 30 per cent. most disadvantaged SOAs. The remaining centres predominantly serve children and families living outside of the 30 per cent. most disadvantaged SOAs.
Local authorities, supported by TfC, are currently planning the final phase of delivery of the children's centre programme, so that by 2010 there will be 3,500 centres nationally, one for every community. As part of the planning process local authorities are reviewing the reach areas of existing centres to ensure that by 2010 all under fives and their families have access to a children's centre; that the range and intensity of services in each centre reflects the needs of the local community; and that resources continue to be focused on the most disadvantaged areas.
Citizenship: Teachers
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many teachers of citizenship there were in secondary schools in Easington constituency at the most recent date for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the average number of hours each week of citizenship teaching which took place in each school in the constituency in the last 12 month. [203786]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Information is available for the number of teachers teaching citizenship for England overall from the Secondary Schools Curriculum Staffing Survey (SSCSS) which is an occasional sample survey last conducted in 2002 and 2007. 2007 figures will be published on 29 May 2008. The 2002 survey showed that there were 9,000 teachers in secondary schools teaching citizenship.
Departmental Telephone Services
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public are in use by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to his Department. [200120]
Kevin Brennan: The information as requested is not readily available centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). To respond fully would involve an extensive internal and external information collection exercise which would exceed the recommended disproportionate cost threshold. DCSF does not keep central telephony records for its arms length bodies, However, to be helpful, the following information, relating solely to DCSF headquarters, can be provided.
DCSF currently employs a total of 24 non-geographic telephone numbers. These can be categorised broadly into two groups: those for use by citizens; and those for use internally by DCSF staff.
Services used by citizens and accessed by customers calling non-geographic telephone numbers are shown in the following table.
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