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19 Jun 2008 : Column 1150W—continued
EMA take-up data showing the number of young people who have received one or more EMA payments during 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 and to date in 2007/08 is now also available on the LSC website, at the following address:
Hosting For Overseas Students: Vetting
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in what circumstances families in England hosting foreign schoolchildren for fewer than 28 days are required to undergo a criminal records bureau check; and if he will make a statement. [212235]
Beverley Hughes: We expect UK host families involved in providing accommodation for foreign students in organised school exchange visits to undergo enhanced CRB checks. This is in line with guidance to schools in respect of volunteers involved in activities requiring an overnight stay, as set out in paragraph 4.56 of “Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education”. We also recommend that host families are given basic awareness of child protection issues and the contact details of the designated senior person within the school with responsibility for safeguarding issues.
For other host families making private arrangements of fewer than 28 days, CRB Disclosures are not required in this area. We recommend however those involved in supervising or looking after the child are made aware of child protection issues as set out in “What To Do if You Are Worried A Child Is Being Abused”. Organisations setting up such visits should consider developing guidance and child protection policies to enable host families to clearly understand the issues and their responsibilities.
The new independent safeguarding (ISA) scheme will mean that from October 2009 those who provide care and accommodation for children under 18 for reward or in pursuance of an arrangement made by someone other than a member of the child's family will be engaged in regulated activity.
This includes host family arrangements for fewer than 28 days made by other organisations providing tuition in languages or other subjects. It will be a criminal offence for a barred individual to engage in this activity and the person organising the host family placement will be required to check that the person providing the care and accommodation is ISA registered.
Learning and Skills Councils: Finance
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has in relation to the discretionary spending powers and resources of the learning and skills councils. [204403]
Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
The 2008-09 Grant Letter to the LSC sets out a record level of investment for post 16 education and training over the next three years, with some £11.5 billion in 2008-09, raising to over £12 billion in 2009-10, and over £12.5 billion in 2010-11. The LSC has discretion over how these budgets are spent to ensure that young people are able to access learning opportunities that meet their needs, and to meet the skill needs of individuals and employers at national, regional and local level. These decisions are taken within the framework set by the annual Grant Letter, issued jointly by the Secretaries of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and Children, Schools and Families; and relevant PSA targets.
Our proposals in the White Paper ‘Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver’, published on 17 March 2008, will move resources and decision making powers away from the LSC. However, these changes require legislation and are unlikely to take full effect until the 2010/11 academic year. Until then the LSC remains legally responsible for funding and commissioning post-16 education and training.
Pre-School Education: Finance
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on the universal early years entitlement of 12.5 hours a week in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [206147]
Beverley Hughes: Local authority expenditure on under fives in the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors is shown in the following table.
The estimated £4 billion spent on the free entitlement in 2007-08 is both the largest amount ever spent by a Government on this age group and is sufficient to deliver high-quality early learning and care for all eligible three and four-year-olds in a range of settings.
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been allocated for all childcare settings to provide the early years foundation stage; and how much and what proportion of this budget has been allocated to information technology. [210025]
Beverley Hughes: The available expenditure on nursery provision (including private/voluntary/independent settings, maintained nurseries and nursery units at maintained primaries) was estimated at £4,027 million in 2007-08 (figure from the 2008 Departmental Report, Table 8.5). It is not possible to break down the information technology funding by phase, but the total figure within the schools budget in 2007-08 was estimated at £617 million (DAR 2008 Table 8.3). This figure is capital funding and is separate from the revenue funding quoted above.
Teachers: Resignations
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many qualified teachers under the age of 60 employed in local authority maintained schools in (a) Bexley and (b) London left their posts in each of the last five years. [212625]
Jim Knight: The table provides the number of full and part-time regular teachers aged under 60 who left their posts in local authority maintained schools in the London Government Office Region in each year from 2001-02 to 2005-06, the latest information available. This information is not available by local authority.
Teachers leaving their post are defined as those who left teaching service, including those retiring and those going on unpaid leave of absence such as maternity leave, or went to a teaching post outside of the local authority maintained sector in England, or who changed their school or employing authority. Teachers who left a full-time post to take up a part-time post or vice versa are also included.
Young Offenders: Administration of Justice
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) whether it is Government policy that individuals under the age of 18 years convicted of a serious offence will be dealt with primarily by children's services in the future; [211553]
(2) whether his Department has undertaken research into the effects on public confidence of the transfer of work with young offenders to local authorities' children's services and children's trusts; [211554]
(3) if he will take steps to transfer work with young offenders to children's trusts. [211838]
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what plans he has to incorporate work with young offenders into local authority children's services; [211867]
(2) what plans he has to transfer work with young offenders to children's trusts. [211870]
Beverley Hughes: The Children's Plan set out that we would publish a Youth Crime Action Plan that would examine what a more effective approach to prevention would look like and how to strengthen the approach we are taking to offending by young people. As part of this work we are examining a range of options that look at the roles of different agencies locally in tackling youth crime and our proposals will be set out in the forthcoming Youth Crime Action Plan.
Many areas are already taking steps to closely integrate the work of their youth offending services with wider services for children and we have been looking at the role that children's services play in prevention of offending and re-offending. We have not conducted any specific research into the effects on public confidence on the policy options but we will be using the Youth Crime Action Plan to seek views from the public and practitioners on the proposals.
Youth Justice Annual Statistics 2006-07
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects the Youth Justice Board to publish the Youth Justice Annual Statistics for 2006-07. [207074]
Beverley Hughes: The 2006-07 Youth Justice Board Workload Data (previously called Annual Statistics) were published on 15 May 2008. An electronic version is available at:
Health
Asthma
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has issued to primary care trusts on the management of asthma. [210422]
Ann Keen: The Department has issued an ‘exemplar’ on asthma management in children (“National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services: Asthma” 14 September 2004). This is part of the materials provided by the Department to support achievement of the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (the NSF) which was published in 2004. Copies of both publication are available in the Library.
While the ‘exemplar’ is not intended as guidance, it does illustrate one possible care pathway for a child with asthma as a way to illustrate the sort of aspects of asthma management, care and services that would enable local authority and primary healthcare trust partners in an area to meet the NSF standard on caring for the disabled child.
No similar exemplar exists for adults.
Dental Services
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many children were examined by an NHS dentist in each health authority area in each year since 2001, broken down by (a) age and (b) sex; [210513]
(2) how many adults were examined by an NHS dentist in each health authority in each year since 2001, broken down by (a) age and (b) sex. [210524]
Ann Keen: Information is not available in the form requested.
Information on the number of people registered with a national health service dentist, for adults and children, in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 are available in annex A of the “NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006”. Information is provided by strategic health authority (SHA) and by primary care trust (PCT). Further breakdown of this information by age and sex would be available only at disproportionate cost.
This information is based on the old contractual arrangements, which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006.
This publication is available in the Library and is also available at:
Under the new contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to ‘registration’ is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services (‘patients seen’) over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
Information on the number of patients seen by an NHS dentist for the specified period, for adults and children, in England, is available in table C1 of annex 3
of the “NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 3, 31 December 2007” report. Information is available for the 24-month periods ending 31 March 2006, 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, 30 September 2007, and 31 December 2007. The information is provided by SHA and by PCT. Further breakdown of this information by age and sex would be available only at disproportionate cost.
This publication is available in the Library and is also available at:
Epilepsy: Death
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will establish a database to record deaths from epilepsy; and if he will make a statement. [210714]
Ann Keen: We have no plans to establish a database to record deaths from epilepsy. However, I have agreed to meet with the Epilepsy Bereaved to discuss this matter further.
General Practitioners
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the likely number of GP practices in England in 2010-11. [203401]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire to the reply I gave on 3 April 2008.
Health Service Commissioner: Correspondence
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the time taken by the Parliamentary Health Service Commissioner to answer constituency correspondence from hon. Members. [210746]
Ann Keen: It is not appropriate for the Department to answer questions on behalf of the ombudsman; she works independently of the Government. The question should be referred to her office at the following address:
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
or by e-mail: phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk
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