| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
13 Oct 2008 : Column 843W—continued
Adoption
14. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made on the Government’s plans to encourage adoption; and if he will make a statement. [225791]
Beverley Hughes: Since the Prime Minister’s review of adoption in 2000, the Government have introduced new legislation—the Adoption and Children Act 2002—which represents a complete overhaul of the adoption system in England and Wales; new statutory guidance; new practice guidance and a range of other linked initiatives to modernise and reform adoption practice. In addition, we have commissioned the Adoption Research Initiative specifically to examine the impact of the Act.
21. Mr. Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to encourage adoption; and if he will make a statement. [225798]
Beverley Hughes: Through the implementation of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 we have already overhauled the adoption system in England and Wales. We will next year issue strengthened care planning guidance to ensure that each child has a thorough assessment of their needs and circumstances leading to the right permanence plan. We will also disseminate good practice and the findings from the Adoption Research Initiative to ensure that adoption continues to be seen as an important option for those children who need it.
Special Needs Pupils
15. Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps have been taken to integrate special needs pupils into mainstream education; and if he will make a statement. [225792]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The present statutory framework provides for children with statements of special educational needs to be taught in mainstream schools where this is what their parents want and is compatible with the efficient education of other children. It also provides for parents to seek a special school place and to have this preference considered. We published guidance last year which encourages local authorities to have a range of provision for children with SEN and disabilities.
Education Maintenance Allowances
16. Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average time to process an education maintenance allowance application is; and if he will make a statement. [225793]
Jim Knight: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) have informed me that due to problems with their automatic system, their contractor have had to resort to manual processing of EMA applications. As a consequence it is taking longer than in previous years to process EMA applications. It is not yet possible to give an average time to process applications under these revised arrangements.
I know that some students are still waiting for their allowances, and we have asked colleges to use their discretionary support funds for learners who may need financial help in the meantime. No learners should lose out as a consequence of the current delays.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
18. Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what progress has been made of the review of child and adolescent mental health services; and if he will make a statement. [225795]
Beverley Hughes: The independent review of CAMHs is progressing extremely well. A comprehensive programme of research, visits and consultation events has been completed, and an interim report published in July 2008. The Secretary of State for Health and I recently met the review’s expert group to discuss the emerging findings with them. As the independent chair, Jo Davidson, is planning to publish the final report in November, it would be pre-emptive to make a statement at this point.
Sex and Relationship Education
19. Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects the review of the provision of sex and relationship education in schools to report. [225796]
Jim Knight: The sex and relationships education (SRE) review steering group has had its final meeting and is in the process of finalising its report, which it intends to publish shortly.
School Meals
22. John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to increase the percentage of school children who have a cooked school lunch; and if he will make a statement. [225799]
Jim Knight: The Department for Children Schools and Families and the School Food Trust have a wide programme to increase take-up of cooked school lunches, including:
£240 million subsidy to help keep down prices;
£150 million capital for new kitchens and dining rooms;
support for local authorities where take-up is stuck or declining;
training for catering staff;
School Food Trust promoting what works in increasing take-up; and
encouraging take-up of free school meals, including piloting universal free meals for primary pupils.
Secondary School Funding (Rural Areas)
23. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much and what proportion of secondary school funding was allocated to rural areas in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [225800]
Jim Knight: Secondary school funding is not identified nationally as separate from primary school funding. DCSF distributes revenue funding for schools to local authorities (LAs) through the Dedicated Schools Grant.
Each LA decides the distribution of core funding to individual schools, according to their local funding formula, which will have been agreed with the schools forum and designed to reflect local need. It is for local discretion how much of that authorities spend on the increased costs associated with rural schools and some authorities have specific protection for small rural schools within their local formulae.
Sandhill View School: Sunderland, South
25. Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will visit Sandhill View School in Sunderland, South constituency to discuss its standards. [225802]
Ed Balls: I understand that Sandhill View school has made excellent progress in the proportion of students gaining five or more good GCSEs including English and mathematics, and I congratulate the school's staff and students on their success in the past year and wish them well for this academic year. I hope that my diary will permit me to visit the school when I am next in the area.
Building Schools for the Future
Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Building Schools for the Future programme. [225784]
Jim Knight: Our assessment has two main strands. First, PricewaterhouseCoopers is evaluating the impact of Building Schools for the Future investment on pupil achievement. We aim to publish the second annual report of that evaluation later this year. Secondly, schools capital including Building Schools for the Future is one of three strands of a Public Value Programme review that we are conducting with HM Treasury. We expect to finish that review this winter.
Bullying
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to tackle bullying of children with special needs in schools. [225794]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We published guidance in May 2008 which reminds schools of their legal obligations in respect of children with special educational needs and disabilities. The guidance provides comprehensive advice on how to prevent the bullying of these children, and how to respond to bullying incidents. We are funding the Anti-Bullying Alliance and National Strategies to ensure the guidance is effectively implemented on the ground, and to provide challenge and support. We are monitoring the situation closely.
Academy School: Wirral, South
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether there are plans to introduce an academy school in Wirral, South constituency. [225797]
Jim Knight: My Department is not aware of any plans to introduce an academy school in the Wirral, South constituency.
Free School Meals
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the cost of providing free school meals to all pupils in maintained (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England. [225801]
Jim Knight: The Department has not made an estimate. However, a report commissioned by the School Food Trust estimated that providing free school meals for all pupils would cost at least an additional £853 million in maintained primary and £673 million in maintained secondary schools.
The Department together with the Department of Health recently announced a £20 million free school meals pilot. Local authorities in deprived areas will be invited to bid to take part in the pilots.
Public Libraries: Newcastle Upon Tyne
Mr. Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much additional spending has been allocated for public libraries in the Newcastle upon Tyne area for the next 12 months. [222629]
Barbara Follett: I have been asked to reply.
Funding for public libraries is allocated to local authorities by the Department for Communities and Local Government, as part of the local government settlement. Local authorities then distribute funding among local library authorities. In addition, funding for various libraries related programmes such as “Boys into Books” and “Book Ahead” are made available from other funding streams in Government to fulfil certain strategic aims.
We have defined the "Newcastle upon Tyne area" as the locality containing Newcastle upon Tyne city council, Gateshead metropolitan borough council and Sunderland city council. We have interpreted the wording of the question as a request for projected spend for these local authorities for the next 12-month period, and also as a request for comparative historic data.
As funding arrangements relate to specific financial years it is not a simple matter to provide 12-month projected spend from a set starting point within year.
The figures set out in the table have been provided by the local authorities in question as projected spend for the financial year 2008-09, alongside comparative figures for the financial year 2007-08.
| £ million | ||
| Local authority | Projected library spend, 2008-09 | Library spend 2007-08 |
House of Commons Commission
Annual Leave
Lynne Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 21 July 2008, Official Report, column 788W, on annual leave, when the leave arrangements for the Senior Commons Service were put in place; and if the Commission will review all leave arrangements for House staff and Members’ staff. [225044]
Nick Harvey: The leave arrangements for the Senior Commons Structure have been in place for at least 10 years. There are no current plans to review leave arrangements. I understand that minimum leave arrangements for Members’ staff are set out in the standard contract, but individual Members have discretion to grant more leave if they wish.
Catering
Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons
Commission pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 9W, on Department of Facilities: fats, what the nine products purchased by the House of Commons catering service are that contain hydrogenated fats or oils. [226138]
Nick Harvey: The nine products purchased by the House of Commons catering service so far identified as containing hydrogenated fats or oils are:
Cadbury's Highlights hot chocolate drink;
Cadbury's Instant Break hot chocolate drink;
Jacob's Club Biscuits (orange flavour only);
M and Ms (Mars confectionery);
Snickers Bars (Mars confectionery);
Brakes Vegetable Suet;
Maggi Beef Bouillon;
Maggi Chicken Bouillon;
Trenwax (spray fat used to grease baking moulds).
Four of the nine products already identified as containing hydrogenated fats or oils were specifically selected because they are gluten-free and, hence, are suitable for coeliacs.
Departmental Manpower
Ben Chapman: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) how many staff were employed by the House at the most recent date for which figures are available; [223927]
(2) what the total salary costs of House staff were in each of the last five years; [223928]
(3) what the pay grades for all House staff were in each of the last five years. [223929]
Nick Harvey: The House employed 1,696 full-time equivalent permanent staff during 2007-08. Total salary costs incurred during the last five years were:
| Salary cos t (£000) | |
The pay bands for all House staff during the last five years were:
| (a) Senior Commons staff | ||||||
| £ | ||||||
| 1 April each year | ||||||
| Pay band | Pay range | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |