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12 May 2008 : Column 1418W—continued

Nurseries: Playgrounds

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the average outdoor space (a) maintained and (b) private, voluntary and independent nurseries had as part of their premises in each year for which records are available. [205090]

Beverley Hughes: This information is not collected by the Department or Ofsted.

Primary Education

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of children who achieved level 3 or above in key stage 2 (a) English, (b) mathematics and (c) science attended maintained daycare nurseries before entering primary school in the most recent period for which figures are available. [205087]

Jim Knight: The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

12 May 2008 : Column 1419W

Pupil Exclusions: Special Educational Needs

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils who were permanently excluded had special educational needs in
12 May 2008 : Column 1420W
each year since 1997, broken down by (i) sex and (ii) age. [205078]

Kevin Brennan: The available information is shown in the table. Full information on exclusions broken down by age, gender and special education need of the excluded pupil can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

12 May 2008 : Column 1421W

12 May 2008 : Column 1422W

Maintained primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2) : number of permanent exclusions by special educational needs (SEN). England, 1997/98 to 2005/06 (estimates)( 3)
	Permanent exclusions
	Number of exclusions	Percentage of permanent exclusions( 4)	Percentage of school population( 5)
1997/98
Pupils with statements of SEN	2,250	18	0.96
Pupils without statements of SEN	10,050	82	0.14
All pupils	12,300	100	0.16
1998/99
Pupils with statements of SEN	1,920	18	0 78
Pupils without statements of SEN	8,510	82	0.11
All pupils	10,430	100	0.13
1999/2000
Pupils with statements of SEN	1,490	18	0.61
Pupils without statements of SEN	6,830	82	0.09
All pupils	8,320	100	0.11
2000/01( 3)
Pupils with statements of SEN	810	9	0.33
Pupils without statements of SEN(6)	8,330	91	0.11
All pupils	9,140	100	0.12
2001/02( 3)
Pupils with statements of SEN	1,1 40	12	0.48
Pupils without statements of SEN(6)	8,400	88	0.11
Of which:
SEN pupils without statements	4,700	49	0.35
Pupils with no SEN	3,700	39	0.06
All pupils	9,540	100	0.12
2002/03( 3)
Pupils with statements of SEN	1,030	11	0.43
Pupils without statements of SEN(6)	8,260	89	0.11
Of which:
SEN pupils without statements	5,140	55	0.46
Pupils with no SEN	3,120	34	0.05
All pupils	9,290	100	0.12
2003/04( 3)
Pupils with statements of SEN	1,040	11	0.44
Pupils without statements of SEN(6)	8,840	89	0.12
Of which:
SEN pupils without statements	5,240	53	0.46
Pupils with no SEN	3,600	36	0.06
All pupils	9,880	100	0.13
2004/05( 3)
Pupils with statements of SEN	850	9	0.37
Pupils without statements of SEN(6)	8,590	91	0.12
Of which:
SEN pupils without statements	4,620	49	0.40
Pupils with no SEN	3,970	42	0.06
All pupils(7)	9,440	100	0.12
2005/06( 3)
Pupils with statements of SEN	880	10	0 39
Pupils without statements of SEN(6)	8,280	90	0.11
Of which:
SEN pupils without statements	5,280	58	0.43
Pupils with no SEN	3,000	33	0.05
AH pupils(8)	9,170	100	0.12
(1 )Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. (3 )Figures relating to permanent exclusions are estimates based on incomplete pupil-level data. See (4). (4 )The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the total number of permanent exclusions. (5 )The number of excluded pupils by SEN stage expressed as a percentage of all pupils with the same SEN stage in primary, secondary and all special schools (excludes dually registered pupils) in January. (6 )The introduction of the new SEN Code of Practice means that the number of children with SEN without statements reported in 2000/01 and later are not directly comparable with earlier years. Includes pupils with no SEN and pupils with SEN without statements See (6.) (7 )There was one permanent exclusion for which stage of SEN was not known—this was included in total for ‘all pupils’ only. (8 )There were 17 permanent exclusion for which stage of SEN was not known—these were included in total for ‘all pupils’ only. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census.

Pupils: Offensive Weapons

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in England were found to be in the possession of (a) a weapon and (b) drugs on school premises in each of the last three years. [204378]

Jim Knight: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Runaway Children: Protection

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department allocated to initiatives to ensure the safety of child runaways in each of the last three years. [204469]

Kevin Brennan: The lead responsibility for responding to the needs of young people who have run away from home/care, including funding local initiatives if appropriate, lies with local authorities under their broader responsibilities to safeguard vulnerable young people. The Department does not routinely fund local provision, but has made funding (totalling £410,500 in 2006/07 and 2007/08) available to the London Refuge, following on from the community-based refuge pilots, to support the Refuge while they develop alternative sustainable funding sources.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of all children and young people, including those who run away from home or care, is important to this Government. In 2002, £2 million was committed over three years to pilot community based refuges for young runaways, with a subsequent evaluation of these pilots. In 2006/07, £31,000 was given to The Children's Society to support their research on how effectively local authorities were responding to the needs of young runaways.

Following The Children's Society report “Stepping Up” (August 2007) a cross- departmental working group on young runaways was established, supported by a consultative group made up of experts from the voluntary sector, to drive improvements in services for young runaways. An action plan, to be published in June, will set out ongoing actions to improve services at local, regional and national level.

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