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7 July 2008 : Column 1414W—continued
Schools: Medical Equipment
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether requirements are placed on schools to have defibrillators on their premises and individuals trained to use them. [214558]
Jim Knight: The Department does not place requirements on schools to have defibrillators on their premises and individuals trained to use them.
Schools: Safety
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment his Department has made of the risks to children’s health and safety posed by fallen leaves from monkey puzzle trees in or close to schools. [216886]
Jim Knight: The Department has made no assessment of any risk posed by monkey puzzle trees in or close to schools.
Science: Secondary Education
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many mainstream maintained secondary schools entered one or more pupils for a GCSE in (a) biology, (b) chemistry and (c) physics in the latest year for which figures are available; [216498]
(2) how many mainstream maintained secondary schools offer three separate sciences at GCSE level. [216499]
Jim Knight: In 2007, 1,177 of the 3,200 maintained mainstream schools entered a pupil for GCSE Biology, 1,101 entered one for Chemistry and 1,092 entered one for Physics.
The Department does not hold information on schools that offer particular subjects at CSE—only on those that enter pupils. In 2007, 1,057 maintained mainstream schools entered at least one pupil for each of the three separate sciences at GCSE.
Specialised Diplomas
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many times he has met the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills to discuss the new diplomas for 14 to 19-year-olds since July 2007. [215148]
Kevin Brennan: The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has regular meetings with the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills to discuss a range of issues including diplomas for 14 to 19-year-olds.
Specialised Diplomas: Assessments
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department and its predecessor has spent on developing the online assessment system required for the new diplomas in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [216215]
Jim Knight: There is no online assessment system for diplomas, but the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has been developing an IT-based Diploma Aggregation Service to aggregate component results and enable the awarding of the qualifications.
The QCA has spent the following amounts in each year since 2005 on developing the Diploma Aggregation Service:
| £ million | |
Specialist Schools
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many high- performing specialist schools he estimates will lose that status as a result of the changes made to the designation criteria for such schools in March 2008; [214198]
(2) what the reasons were for the changes to the criteria used to award High Performing Specialist School status announced in March 2008. [214812]
Jim Knight: We estimate that as at the end of April 2008, the changes to the criteria for High Performing Specialist Schools (HPSS) introduced this year impact on six existing HPSS. These schools still have the opportunity to maintain the status if their 2008 results are above the necessary threshold.
We maintained the fundamental aspects of the 2007 criteria but raised minimum requirements for GCSE 5+ A* - C including English and mathematics. The reasons for these changes were: to reflect the introduction of the National Challenge, ensure that the top third of re-designated schools qualify for the HPSS programme and make the best use of available resources.
Students: Finance
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students received Learning and Skills Council funding in North Yorkshire in each of last five years for which figures are available. [214308]
Jim Knight: Details of student numbers receiving funding from the Learning and Skills Council at the level requested is not collected by my Department. This is an operational matter for the LSC as they determine these matters after discussions with local providers, partners and other organisations that are necessary to support the delivery of the Council’s key priorities and targets. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive, will write to the hon. Lady with further information. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
Male Teachers
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of (a) primary school and (b) secondary school teachers were male in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority area; and if he will make a statement. [215697]
Jim Knight: Information on the proportion of teachers by gender is available from the Database of Teacher Records which is collected primarily for pensions administration purposes. Figures from this source are not considered sufficiently reliable to publish at the local authority level.
The information requested is available for England and has been published in table D2 of the School Workforce Statistical First Release, January 2007 (Revised) at the following web link:
The School Workforce Census planned for 2010 will provide more detailed information on the school workforce at local authority level.
Teachers: Sick Pay
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how much sick pay was paid to teachers in each of the last five years; what proportion of staffing expenditure on teachers this figure represented in each such year; and if he will make a statement; [215971]
(2) how many teachers have received sick pay for sick leave due to (a) stress and (b) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what the average length of time sick pay was paid to a teacher in these circumstances in each year; and if he will make a statement; [215972]
(3) how many teachers have taken sick leave due to (a) stress and (b) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of serving teachers this figure represented in each such year; and if he will make a statement; [215973]
(4) how many days of sick leave were taken by teachers due to (a) stress and (b) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last five years; what proportion of sick days taken by teachers this figure represented in each such year; and if he will make a statement; [215974]
(5) what the average duration of single periods of sick leave taken by teachers was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement; [215975]
(6) what the average duration was of single periods of sick leave taken by teachers who gave (a) stress and (b) mental health and behavioural disorders as the reason for their absence in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [215976]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Information for the number of full-time and part-time teachers taking sickness absence and the total number of days taken by length of absence is collected by the Department. The information available has been published in table 14 of the School Workforce Statistical First Release, January 2007 (Revised) at the following web link:
A provisional summary for the calendar year 2007 has been published in table 13 of the School Workforce Statistical First Release, January 2008 (Provisional) at the following web link:
Teaching Methods
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make it his policy to implement one-to-one tuition as provided under the Making Good Progress pilots in areas with high levels of educational under-achievement. [215255]
Jim Knight: The Government are already committed to the delivery of national one-to-one tuition for 300,000 pupils in English and 300,000 pupils in mathematics by 2010-11. National implementation of one-to-one tuition across the country, including in areas with high levels of educational under-achievement, will begin in 2009-10.
We are also developing plans to provide additional support and flexibility for one-to-one tuition in National Challenge schools: schools where less than 30 per cent. of pupils get five or more A*-C GCSEs, including English and mathematics. This will enable those schools to extend the tuition being trialled in the “Making Good Progress” pilot to pupils in key stage 4.
Tuition in the “Making Good Progress” pilot is offered to pupils according to educational need and targeted at a pupil's specific learning gaps as identified by their class teacher. Lessons learned from the “Making Good Progress” pilot will inform the design of the national tuition programme.
Teaching Methods: Voluntary Organisations
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what role his Department sees for the third sector in meeting the target of one-to-one tuition for 300,000 pupils in English by 2010-11. [214620]
Jim Knight: Currently there are no formal plans for the third sector to deliver one-to-one tuition for 300,000 pupils in English by 2010-11.
Within the Making Good Progress pilot, volunteers provide additional tuition to those pupils who have already received ten hours of one-to-one tuition in English and/or mathematics.
Volunteers are recruited through Community Service Volunteers's retired and senior volunteers programme (RSVP), and come from a range of backgrounds, including ex-teachers and head teachers. However, the model of one-to-one tuition within the Making Good Progress pilot currently uses qualified teachers only.
Lessons learned from the “Making Good Progress” pilot will inform the design of the national tuition programme, including the use of the third sector.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families who is conducting the review of the UK's reservation against Article 37(c) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and when the review will be published. [216821]
Beverley Hughes: The review has been conducted by officials from the Joint Youth Justice Unit and the Ministry of Justice, to enable Ministers with responsibility for youth justice in England and Wales to decide whether or not the reservation remains relevant to the secure estate for children and young people in England and Wales. The officials’ advice includes legal advice: in accordance with normal practice, we are not planning to publish it. The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Delyn, (Mr. Hanson), and I will announce our conclusion in due course.
The reservation against Article 37(c) applies to the United Kingdom as a whole. Any decision to withdraw it would also require agreement from Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Dr. Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what reservations the UK has entered to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols; and which of those reservations are under review by the Government. [216822]
Beverley Hughes: The Government currently hold two reservations to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The reservations are against article 22 and article 37(C). The Government are currently reviewing both reservations. The Government have no reservations against the Convention’s optional protocols.
Westminster City Council
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what grants were made to Westminster City Council by his Department in each year since 2000-01. [216475]
Jim Knight: Revenue grant figures for Westminster local authority for the years 2000-01 to 2005-06 are provided in the following table. Figures are in real terms. The main source of revenue funding for years 2000-01 to 2002-03 was made up of the Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) and for years 2003-04 to 2005-06 the Education Formula Share (EFS). Other revenue grants provided in the years 2000-01 to 2005-06 include the following; Nursery Education Grant (NEG), Class Sized Grant, Large Education Action Zones Grant (EAZ), Standards Fund (SF), Budget Support Grants (BSG), Teachers Pay Reform Grants (TGP), School Standards Grant (SSG) and funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). These grants were not available in all years; the notes provided with the table outline specifically which of these other grants were provided in each individual year.
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