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15 Oct 2008 : Column 1282W—continued
Departmental Marketing
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of his Department. [226517]
Ed Balls: All campaigns have an evaluation mechanism such as response targets (calls to a campaign telephone number or hits on a website). In addition, where the advertising spend is more substantial, campaigns are additionally evaluated through independent customer research which tracks the campaign impact against its objectives, measuring levels of customer awareness and exploring shifts in attitude and behaviour among the target audience.
All departmental advertising is bought on our behalf by the Central Office of Information (COI), which is able to use its purchasing power to negotiate significant discounts, ensuring that our advertising budgets are cost effective in the amount of media they purchase.
Departmental Pay
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost. [226413]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the Department annual non-pensionable bonuses were awarded on 1 April 2008 for the 12 month performance reporting period ending on 31 March 2008. The number of bonuses paid was 1,403 and the amount was £1.9 million.
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much (a) his Department and (b) its executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [226807]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: My Department was established on 28 June 2007. The costs paid to recruitment consultants and for external recruitment advertising for senior civil service (SCS) recruitment from 28 June 2007 to the end of the financial year was £213,343. The recruitment consultants employed for these purposes were all drawn from the Cabinet Office Framework agreement.
The costs for vacancies below SCS level are not recorded in the form requested and figures could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department has no agencies.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day his Department has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date. [226902]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department has received 773 named day questions so far this session. 396 (50 per cent.) questions have been answered on time.
Food Technology
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to encourage schools to enhance the skills of pupils to prepare and cook meals. [226379]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The new secondary curriculum introduced in September 2008 focuses food technology on practical cooking skills and knowledge. In January 2008, the Government announced that as part of their obesity strategy, food technology will be compulsory for 11 to 14-year-olds from September 2011. Cooking is already compulsory in primary schools.
The Licence to Cook programme delivers a training programme for teachers and supports collaboration between schools that offer food technology and those that currently do not so that more 11 to 16-year-olds have the opportunity to learn how to cook. We have also announced £150,000,000 ring fenced capital investment to build food technology teaching areas in secondary schools currently without facilities and £750,000 for new facilities fro teacher training providers to enable us to reach our target of providing around 800 training places for food technology teachers in the next three years.
Higher Education: Admissions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils participated in an Aimhigher programme in each year since 2005, broken down by local authority; and if he will make a statement. [227015]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
Information is not currently available as requested on the number of pupils participating in Aimhigher activities. Information is gathered from Aimhigher partnerships via annual monitoring reports. Due to the diversity of activities delivered by partnerships and differences in recording those activities it has not been possible to collate these in a coherent and reliable format. We are currently working with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on the design of a new monitoring report which will enable us to gather data in a more consistent way.
Aimhigher is an important part of the Government's policies to widen participation in higher education amongst people from under-represented groups. Evidence from predecessor programmes shows that the type of activities supported by Aimhigher are successful in raising the
aspirations of young people towards higher education, and their attainment whilst at school or college.
The Department, together with HEFCE, is working hard to improve the impact of Aimhigher further. Last year, HEFCE published guidance to help aimhigher partnerships target their interventions more effectively on young people from lower socio-economic groups and other priority target groups. More recently, guidance was published on how to develop programmes of interventions to build up commitment, rather than delivering one-off interventions.
Higher Education: Disadvantaged
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of 18 year olds from households with annual incomes (a) up to £20,817, (b) between £20,818 and £25,521, (c) between £25,522 and £30,810 and (iv) over £30,810 enrolled at (i) university, (ii) a Russell Group university and (iii) Oxford or Cambridge university in each of the last five years. [226040]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The annual income bands referred to in the question relate to the 2007/08 thresholds for education maintenance allowance (EMA) entitlement of £30 per week, £20 per week, £10 per week and no entitlement to EMA respectively. Neither the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills nor the Department for Children, Schools and Families holds information on the destinations of young people after they have been in receipt of an education maintenance allowance. The Learning and Skills Council are planning a future piece of work to analyse UCAS data on young people progressing into higher education, and to match that with those who have previously been in receipt of an EMA. A copy of that study, when available, will be placed in the House Library.
Learning Disability
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what provision is available outside normal school hours to assist children with learning difficulties with their studies. [226759]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: There are currently over 14,200 schools providing access to the core offer of extended services which includes opportunities to participate in study support activities as part of a varied menu activities from 8 am to 6 pm. By 2010 all schools will be extended schools.
£265.5 million in additional funding over the next couple of years will help ensure that extended schools activities are accessible to all children, including those with special educational needs. A pathfinder is under way, involving schools in 18 local authorities, with the aim of developing best practice and case studies for the full roll-out in 2010.
In addition, the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) has recently produced guidance on access to extended schools and children's centres for disabled children. It identifies practice that promotes access to, and participation in, extended services by disabled children so that they can enjoy the same opportunities as others.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what guidance his Department has issued on the number of feeder schools which may be named as part of a maintained school's admission criteria; [226829]
(2) what representations he has received from independent schools linked to maintained secondary schools on the question of remaining as named feeder schools; [226830]
(3) whether, under his proposed revised admissions guidance in circumstances where an independent Catholic school is one of 19 named Catholic feeder schools for admission to a Catholic maintained school, such an arrangement would be deemed to unfairly disadvantage children from deprived areas. [226831]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Guidance on school admissions is provided in the School Admissions Code. The code does not limit the number of feeder primary schools which maintained secondary schools can include in their admission arrangements. However, giving priority to children attending an independent school, whether faith-based or not, gives those children an unfair advantage over children living nearer the school and attending maintained schools.
In the recent consultation that ended on 2 October there were four representations from individual independent schools or their representative bodies relating directly to the feeder school proposal.
Schools: Catering
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) secondary and (b) primary schools do not have a kitchen, broken down by local authority area. [225840]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not collect this information. However, the School Food Trust’s annual survey which can be found at
includes information on catering facilities at national and regional but not local authority level. In response to the trust’s latest survey LAs reported that, across England, 20 per cent. of primary and special schools had no kitchen facilities (data from 107 LAs). Virtually all secondary schools have kitchens (data from 100 LAs).
Schools: Health
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on health visitors; and if he will make a statement. [225967]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues on issues of mutual interest.
Special Educational Needs
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many communication support workers working with deaf children there are; and how many of these have a qualification in sign language equivalent to a Council for Advancement of Communication with Deaf People Level 3 qualification. [227391]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Culture, Media and Sport
Advertising Standards Agency: Public Appointments
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who appoints those sitting on the Advertising Standards Agency; and for how long they are appointed. [227005]
Andy Burnham: The Chair of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is appointed by the Advertising Standards Board of Finance and the Broadcast Advertising Standards Board of Finance. Members of the ASA Council are appointed by the Chair and serve a three year term.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria are used to appoint those holding a position on the Advertising Standards Authority. [227008]
Andy Burnham: The ASA Council operates independently of the Government and the advertising industry, it consists of 15 members appointed by an independent Chairman, currently the right hon. Lord Smith of Finsbury, and criteria for appointment are therefore primarily a matter for the ASA. Council members are chosen for their breadth of experience and do not represent any sector or business. The membership covers both the non-broadcast and the broadcast remit.
Archery: Finance
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which competitive archery centres received funding originating from his Department in 2008. [224910]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Sport England and UK Sport have advised that no awards from lottery or Exchequer funds have been made to competitive archery centres in 2008.
Art Works: Exports
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, columns 21-23W, on art works: exports, which objects (a) were purchased before the expiration of the bar and (b) were sold to overseas buyers in each year since 2002-03. [226314]
Barbara Follett
[holding answer 13 October 2008]: I refer the hon. Member to the published annual reports of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, copies of which are available from the House Library. The information for (a) can be found in part I under 'items acquired'. The information for (b) is not available as it is neither
the Committee's—nor DCMS's—responsibility to record an object's movements in the event of an export licence being granted.
Big Lottery Fund: Recruitment
Mr. Hunt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent by the Big
Lottery Fund on advertising for recruitment in each of the last five years. [225470]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The Big Lottery Fund has provided the following information about their advertising costs for recruitment in each of the last five years. These figures include all executive posts, but not public appointments.
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