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24 Jun 2008 : Column 278W—continued
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what representations he has received on ETS’s performance in marking SATs papers in the academic year 2007-08; and if he will make a statement; [213182]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of ETS’s online system for marking SATs papers and recording results. [213183]
Jim Knight [holding answer 23 June 2008]: As in previous years, the Department has received representations about aspects of the national curriculum tests, including marking. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is responsible for the development and administration of national curriculum tests and the National Assessment Agency (NAA) administers the tests and manages the delivery contract with ETS Europe on the QCA’s behalf. This function is performed independently of the Government. On completion of the test cycle, the NAA will fully evaluate the effectiveness of the test delivery systems, taking account of feedback from stakeholders, to ensure that any necessary improvements are made.
Responsibility for regulating the development and delivery of national curriculum tests lies with the independent interim regulator, the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual). In fulfilling its regulatory function, Ofqual is monitoring the delivery of the 2008 tests.
Financial Services: Education
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department has issued to schools on education in personal financial management; and if he will make a statement. [212760]
Jim Knight: We issued separate guidance to primary schools and secondary schools on the teaching of personal finance education in 2000. (“Financial Capability through Personal Finance Education: Guidance for Schools at Key Stages 1 and 2”).
We have asked the Personal Finance Education Group to update the guidance for secondary schools in light of the introduction of a new programme of study for economic well-being and financial capability within the revised secondary curriculum. The new guidance will be available to schools this summer.
The guidance for primary schools is expected to be updated once Sir Jim Rose has completed his review of the primary curriculum in March 2009.
As part of the £11.5 million investment to support good financial education in schools announced in September 2007, the Department will also be producing a range of curriculum resources. These will be available from summer 2009.
General Certificate of Secondary Education: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of pupils of (a) state schools and (b) private schools in (i) Leeds Metropolitan District and (ii) Leeds West constituency achieved (A) five grades A* to C at GCSE and (B) three A to C grades at A Level in each year since 1997. [213351]
Jim Knight: The information requested in (B) requires significant data development and recalculations, which can be done only at disproportionate cost. However, figures showing the percentage of 15-year-olds achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE are shown in the following table:
| Proportion of 15-year-olds( 1) achieving 5 or more A* to C grades at GCSE and equivalent( 2) | ||||
| Parliamentary Constituency of Leeds West( 3) | Leeds Metropolitan District( 4) | |||
| State schools( 5) | Independent schools( 6) | State schools( 5) | Independent schools( 6) | |
| n/a= not applicable (1) Age at the start of the academic year (i.e. 31 August). (2) From 1997 includes GNVQ equivalences and from 2004 other equivalences approved for use pre-16. (3) Pupils attending schools located in Leeds West constituency. (4) Pupils attending schools located in Leeds Metropolitan District (5) All maintained schools including maintained special schools. (6) All independent schools and non-maintained special schools. | ||||
Infant Foods: Finance
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of local authorities fund the provision of baby formula milk. [213507]
Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
The Department does not collect information on the extent to which local authorities fund the provision of infant formula. Through the Nursery Milk scheme, the Great Britain Health Departments reimburse providers of early years education and daycare for 1/3 pint milk given daily to children under five attending for two hours or more. This may be given as infant formula for babies under one. We do not monitor the proportion of claims relating to infant formula, but estimate that they represent a small proportion of all claims.
Languages: Curriculum
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which languages have been added to the national curriculum in the last 10 years; and what criteria are applied to assess the eligibility of modern foreign languages for inclusion in the syllabus. [212979]
Jim Knight: In 1998, schools were teaching the 1995 version of the national curriculum which did not specify which languages schools should teach.
Since 2000 the requirement on schools at Key Stage 3 has been to first teach a working language of the European Union. The new Key Stage 3 curriculum, which will be taught in schools from September 2008, broadens this requirement to allow schools to teach any major European or world language they choose, which may include Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese,
Mandarin, Russian, Spanish and Urdu. This change was made to allow schools more freedom to offer world languages, in response to the increasing global economy.
Sir Jim Rose is conducting a review of the primary curriculum, one of the aims of which is to introduce languages as a compulsory subject at Key Stage 2. He will be considering which languages primary schools should teach as part of this review.
Nurseries
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) private and voluntary independent and (b) maintained day nurseries there were in London in each year since 1997. [212717]
Beverley Hughes: The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey collects information on the ownership of child care provision; the estimated number and proportion of full day care providers by type of ownership in London in 2006 is shown in table 1 as follows. Data for previous years are not available in the format requested.
| Table 1: Ownership of full day care provision in London, 2006 | ||
| Number | Percentage | |
| Note: Percentages may not sum to 100 per cent. due to rounding. | ||
Pre-School Education
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of parents taking up the free early years entitlement who are using part or all of the entitlement on childminders; [213467]
(2) how many and what proportion of the settings delivering the free early years entitlement are childminders; [213468]
(3) how many and what proportion of childminders are delivering the free early years entitlement. [213481]
Beverley Hughes: Childminders delivering free early learning places for three and four-year-olds must be registered with Ofsted and be accredited as part of a childminder network that meets the requirements of a suitably rigorous quality assurance scheme. The Early Years census, therefore, collects information for childminding networks rather than individual childminders. 126 childminding networks have members delivering the free entitlement.
Pre-school Education: Finance
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure on the early years entitlement in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [211492]
Beverley Hughes
[holding answer 16 June 2008]: Payment for the free early education entitlement is made as part
of the Dedicated Schools Grant which provides funding for pupils between the ages of three to 16. We do not separately identify the amount of funding made available for early years. Local authorities are best placed to determine the most effective use of resources at local level and have discretion over the rate at which they fund settings for delivery of early years provision.
From September 2010 the free entitlement for three and four year olds will be extended from 12Â1/2 to 15 hours per week for 38 weeks per year, and access will be more flexible. A longer and more flexible offer will give parents greater choice in balancing work and family life. This large injection of additional funding emphasises the Government's commitment to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life. We will invest £80 million in this year, £170 million in 2009-10 and £340 million in 2010-11 to extend the entitlement. Funding levels for the next CSR period (2011-14) are yet to be decided.
Television
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on (a) commissioning and (b) funding the production of television programmes (i) in each of the last three years and (ii) in 2008-09 to date; what programmes these were; and which companies made them. [213499]
Jim Knight: Teachers’ TV was launched in February 2005 and aims to help raise standards in classrooms by sharing good practice, supporting continuing professional development, offering classroom resources, and providing education news and information. Teachers TV commission all programmes directly with third party suppliers.
In the channel’s first operating year the Department provided funding of £19.9 million, in the second £16 million and £16.7 million in its third year. £731,936 has been funded during 2008-09 to date.
Young Offender Institutions
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children under the age of 18 years were in custody in (a) local authority secure units, (b) young offender institutions and (c) secure training centres at the latest date for which figures are available. [211868]
Beverley Hughes: The following table, which contains information provided by the Youth Justice Board, shows the number of children and young people held in young offender institutions, secure training centres and secure children’s homes on 30 April 2008.
| Number | |
Young Offenders
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what account he takes of the requirements of (a) justice and (b) welfare in determining his policy on children (i) convicted of criminal offences and (ii) involved in anti-social behaviour. [211866]
Beverley Hughes: All justice and antisocial behaviour interventions for young people consider the need to protect victims, witnesses and the community while enabling the young person to recognise the consequences of their behaviour and support them to change, The Youth Taskforce Action Plan, published on 18 March 2008, sets out the Government’s approach to antisocial behaviour by young people and provides a clear focus on prevention, early intervention and enforcement. The focus on prevention and early invention ensures that the welfare of the young person is a central feature of our triple-pronged approach.
We have also clarified the purpose of sentencing for young people which places a duty on the court to have equal regard to:
(a) the principal aim of the youth justice system (which is the prevention of offending or re-offending by young people)
(b) the welfare of the young person in accordance with section 44 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, and
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