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10 Sep 2008 : Column 1856W—continued
| Percentage of GCE AS level science and modern foreign language entries and achievements made by pupils in maintained mainstream and independent sector | |||||||||||
| Percentage | |||||||||||
| A | B | C | D | E | Other | A-E | Total | A | B | C | |
| Notes: Figures relate to 16 to 18-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31st August). 2. Mainstream maintained sector includes academies, CTCs, sixth form colleges and school sixth forms. 3. Numbers of AS levels recorded will depend on the extent to which pupils cash-in their AS levels. This may vary considerably from school to school. | |||||||||||
Foster Care: Grandparents
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the merits of allowing grandparents looking after their grandchildren to become foster parents without the child being first placed in care. [223209]
Kevin Brennan:
It is the general duty of every local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area who are in need and to promote the upbringing of such children by their families as required by the Children Act 1989. It is for local authorities to assess the needs of such children in the context of parental capacity and wider family and environmental factors and to decide whether they meet the criteria for the provision of accommodation under section 20 or whether care proceedings should be taken under section 31 of the Children Act 1989. A child who is voluntarily accommodated or subject to a care order is looked after. Once this decision has been made the local authority
must decide on the most suitable way to fulfil its responsibilities by providing accommodation for the child which may include as the first consideration, placing the child with a relative who has been approved as a foster carer. The Care Matters White Paper set out our commitment to develop a new framework to support family and friends care which includes greater flexibility to provide financial and other support to relatives caring for children who are not looked after.
Fraud
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many staff were prosecuted for (a) attempting to defraud and (b) defrauding his Department in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement; [214506]
(2) on how many occasions staff employed by his Department have defrauded his Department in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement; [214505]
(3) how many staff of his Department were responsible for each instance of fraud or attempted fraud in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement; [214504]
(4) what estimate he has made of the losses to his Department from fraud committed by staff of his Department in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [214507]
Kevin Brennan: The Department was formed on 28 June 2007. Cases of fraud against the Department are collected for the HM Treasury's annual fraud return. In this respect, there have been no cases submitted. There have also been no internal staff fraud cases reported.
My Department will not accept any level of fraud or corruption and any case will be thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately. The Department is committed to ensuring that the opportunities for fraud and corruption are reduced to the lowest possible level of risk.
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