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19 May 2008 : Column 146W—continued
Children: Dyslexia
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children in (a) England, (b) the North East, (c) Tees Valley district and (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency have been assessed to be dyslexic. [205713]
Kevin Brennan: The available information has been placed in the House Library.
Information is collected from schools on pupils who are supported at “School Action Plus” and those pupils with statements of special educational needs (SEN) about their main or primary need and, if appropriate, their secondary need.
Information on the number of pupils with dyslexia alone is not collected centrally. Figures relating to pupils with specific learning difficulties have been provided. Pupils with specific learning difficulties have a particular difficulty in learning to read, write, spell or manipulate numbers and this includes pupils with dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
Tables showing the number of pupils by type of SEN in each local authority area have been placed in the Library. This information has not been analysed below local authority level. It is important that anyone using the data should understand the limitations of the data's reliability and validity. There are a range of factors which may affect the data recorded, including: local interpretation of definitions; classification of children with multiple needs; statistics being based on school and local authority identification of need rather than a diagnosis by medical or psychological staff; and the availability of special school provision in authorities.
Children: Finance
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent in developing its Children’s Plan. [201670]
Beverley Hughes: The total cost of developing the Children’s Plan was £1,309,956.
In developing the plan, the Department ran a consultation which had two strands; a national consultation survey and five deliberative events. We
used a range of media to encourage people to express their views about children’s services. Over 3,000 responses were received.
In addition, three expert groups (ages 0-7, 8-13, and 14-19) were remitted to look at services and policies affecting children, young people and families. Their reports informed the development of The Children’s Plan.
The Children’s Plan was published on 11 December 2007.
Cycling
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in his Department received an interest-free, advance of salary loan to purchase a bicycle in each year for which records are available. [205029]
Kevin Brennan: The following table sets out numbers and proportions of interest-free salary advances for bicycle purchase over the past five years:
| Department/Year | Number of advances | Number of staff (headcount) | Percentage of staff receiving advance |
It should be noted that the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was formed as part of the Machinery of Government changes on 28 June 2007. The earlier figures refer to the predecessor Department for Education and Skills (DfES) although the two Departments are not directly comparable due to staff changes, in particular over 500 staff moved from DfES to the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
Departmental Energy
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department has taken to reduce its energy consumption in the past 12 months; and what his Department's expenditure on energy was in (a) the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available and (b) the immediately preceding 12 months. [201746]
Kevin Brennan: Since its creation in July 2007, the Department has taken the following steps to reduce energy consumption in its headquarters buildings:
Launched an internal communications campaign to raise awareness of sustainability issues, highlight successes and initiate activities leading to a more careful use of resources;
Incorporated advice from the Carbon Trust into a sustainable operations management system with action plans in place for each of our sites;
Commissioned external specialist help to investigate options for greater carbon and fiscal savings and these are currently being integrated into the Department's action plans;
Used data for benchmarking and trend analysis from an extended utility bureau contract to provide useful planning and reporting information on our energy use.
The most recent two years of published expenditure data on energy relates to my Department’s predecessor the Department for Education and Skills and is reported as follows:
| £ | |
Departmental Official Hospitality
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many receptions he has hosted and funded in his capacity as Secretary of State in the last 12 months; which individuals and organisations (a) were invited to and (b) attended each reception; and what the cost was of each reception. [203840]
Kevin Brennan: The Department for Children, Schools and Families will publish in due course, an annual list providing information relating to official receptions hosted by the Ministers in the Department during the course of the previous financial year.
Departmental Orders and Regulations
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many statutory instruments have been (a) made and (b) revoked by Ministers in his Department and its predecessor since 1997. [204775]
Kevin Brennan: 101 statutory instruments, general and local, have been made by Ministers of the Department for Children, Schools and Families since its establishment on 28 June 2007. Its predecessor Departments were the Department for Education and Employment up to 10 June 2001 and the Department for Education and Skills from 11 June 2001 to 27 June 2007. 700 statutory instruments, general and local, were made by Ministers of the Department for Education and Employment from 1 January 1997 to 10 June 2001. 924 statutory instruments, general and local, were made by Ministers of the Department for Education and Skills from 11 June 2001 to 27 June 2007.
Numbers of statutory instruments revoked could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Translation Services
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent by his Department on translation and interpretation services in 2007-08, broken down by language. [205188]
Kevin Brennan: Details of expenditure on translation and interpretation services incurred by the Department in 2007-08 are as follows:
2007-08: £5,497.26
The figure relates to actual translation and interpretation work as recorded on the Department’s integrated financial information system. The figure excludes publishing costs, on-line or off-line, associated with the translated material. The costs incurred for translation and interpretation are recorded under a general heading of Translation Fees. To extract the specific financial data with regard to language would involve disproportionate cost.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007 as a result of a Machinery of Government change and the expenditure recorded above includes that of its predecessor department, the Department for Education and Skills.
Education: Olympic Games 2012
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what contribution his Department is making towards ensuring the 2012 Olympic Games delivers a lasting educational legacy; and if he will make a statement. [206465]
Jim Knight:
The Department is working with an extensive range of external partners including the Government Olympic Executive, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic
Games and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to ensure that the education benefits of the games are maximised.
We are developing detailed plans for a 2012 Education Programme of opportunities linked to the games which will support key policies and priorities, and in particular the five Every Child Matters outcomes and our commitments set out in the Children’s Plan. This programme will be launched in September 2008 and will run through to 2012, with projects coming on stream at different times as part of a strategy to maintain interest in the games over the four years up to 2012.
The involvement of educational institutions in the programme will be voluntary and the design of the programme is on the basis that opportunities for young people and institutions will be offered in a coherent way that supports and can be delivered alongside their existing work.
We anticipate that much of the activity will not be centrally driven but rather be planned and implemented locally within individual schools and communities and we are working with the nine English regions, through the 2012 Nations and Regions Group, to capture and share the large number of grass roots activities which we expect to take place in individual schools.
Olympic Games: China
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people from the Youth Sport Trust will attend the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in whole or in part; and at what cost. [205746]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 15 May 2008]: The Department funds the Youth Sport Trust to help manage and deliver the PE and Sport Strategy for Young People, as well as programmes to raise standards through sport. This funding would not support any international visits. Subject to that condition, attendance at the Beijing Olympic Games is a matter for the Youth Sport Trust to consider.
Outdoor Education: Greater London
Ms Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to encourage out-of-classroom learning in London; and if he will make a statement. [206466]
Jim Knight: Under the ‘New Views’ programme run by Field Studies Council (FSC), the Department has provided subsidised residential learning outside the classroom experiences for over 120,000 key stage 3 pupils from London secondary schools.
Last year the Department funded the FSC to support the provision of residential courses for 6,000 key stage 3 pupils from 100 London schools, and to deliver training for teachers to develop effective integration of the residential experience into schools. The FSC have recently developed and trialled a suite of Curriculum Adventure courses targeted at disadvantaged students in underperforming London, Black Country and Manchester schools. The
courses focused content on the Mathematics, English and science curricula using the outdoor environment and adventure activities as a stimulus and context for learning.
More widely to support schools to deliver high-quality learning outside the classroom the Department is producing a comprehensive set of ‘How to’ guidance to help with planning; funding, running and publicising learning outside the classroom. A series of continuing professional development modules will underpin this guidance.
Politics: Education
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will issue guidance to (a) local education authorities, (b) governing bodies and (c) head teachers on the balanced presentation of political issues in the classroom in relation to the distribution in schools of the European Commission's booklets (i) Passport to the European Union and (ii) The EU: What's in it for me; and if he will make a statement. [206406]
Jim Knight: This Department has not issued any guidance in relation to these two publications. Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 set out the duty of teachers to secure balanced treatment of political issues. The Department does not endorse specific resources and it is for teachers to use their professional judgment in determining which materials to use in the classroom.
Pre-School Education
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to extend the free nursery entitlement for three and four-year-olds. [205978]
Beverley Hughes: By 2010 all three and four-year-olds will be eligible to receive 15 more flexible hours of early years provision, compared to the existing 12Â1/2 hours.
20 Pathfinder local authorities are already delivering the extended entitlement and we have pledged to extend that progressively between now and 2010.
The extension to the free entitlement will offer considerable benefits both to the three and four-year-olds who will receive additional high quality early education and to the families who will benefit from the increased flexibility in balancing to both their work and family life.
Pre-School Education: Finance
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 1 May 2008, Official Report, column 690W, on pre-school education: finance, if he will monitor changes in costs experienced by private, voluntary and independent nurseries. [205499]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 13 May 2008]: As we said in our response on 1 May, the cost analysis of private, voluntary and independent nurseries is being undertaken by local authorities and will be used to inform local funding decisions. The analyses are not collected centrally. My officials will continue to work with key stakeholders, including provider representatives, to monitor all aspects of the delivery of the free entitlement to early years care for three and four-year-olds.
Pupil Exclusions
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children were permanently excluded from schools in (a) England, (b) London, (c) the North East, (d) Tees Valley district and (e) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each year since 1997. [205712]
Kevin Brennan: The requested information relating to permanent exclusions is shown in the following tables.
Information on fixed period exclusions is available from 2003-04 but can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Information on exclusions for the academic year 2006-07 is expected to be available in June 2008.
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