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3 Nov 2008 : Column 186W—continued
Departmental Training
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what personal training courses at public expense he has undertaken since his appointment. [230964]
Ed Balls: I have undertaken no personal training courses at public expense since my appointment as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.
Employment Agencies
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which recruitment agencies (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have used in the last three years; and how much was paid to each of these recruitment agencies in each year. [230942]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department was established on 28 June 2007. The costs paid to recruitment agencies from July 2007 to date are as follows:
| £ | |
The recruitment consultants employed for these purposes were all drawn from the Cabinet Office framework agreement.
The Department has no agencies.
Financial Services: Education
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he has taken in response to OFSTED’s evaluation of personal financial education in schools; and if he will make a statement. [232382]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We are working hard to improve personal finance education in schools through the “My Money” programme. This is a £10 million programme of support which will give children and young people a planned and coherent programme of financial capability education in schools. It is being driven by a consortium led by PFEG (Personal Finance Education Group) and will draw on best practice in financial education to develop resources and provide tailored support to schools. It will increase the capacity of teachers to deliver stimulating learning opportunities for young people in personal finance so that they leave school with the skills to manage their money well.
We also recently announced our intention to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic education statutory, with an independent review looking into how to achieve this in an effective and practicable way. This underlines our commitment to ensuring that all children and young people have the confidence and competence to manage their money effectively.
Further Education: Student Wastage
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the drop out rates of colleges were in September (a) 2008, (b) 2007 and (c) 2006. [228927]
Mr. Simon: I have been asked to reply.
The percentage of qualifications being aimed for in FE colleges that learners did not complete is given in the following table. Figures relate to 16 to 18-year-olds and adults for 2004/05 to 2006/07. We cannot provide rates for September because they are calculated for whole academic years only. Figures for 2007/08 are not yet published.
| FE college qualifications not completed( 1) | |||
| Percentage | |||
| Age group | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 |
| (1) Calculated using 100—Retention rate. Retention rates are for all FE colleges and exclude external institutions. Source: SFR: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000784/index.html | |||
General Certificate of Secondary Education
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) independent and (b) home-school candidates of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's decision to change GCSE coursework arrangements from September 2009. [229587]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Controlled assessments will be introduced within GCSEs from next year to replace coursework. This will help to reassure the public that the work that students submit is their own, and maintain the integrity of the GCSE. Students who study from home by choice will attend centres, usually local schools or colleges, so that they can participate in these assessments. Those who study from home because they are sick or disabled will have special arrangements put in place which ensure they are not prevented from participating. We will keep these arrangements under review to ensure that all candidates have the best opportunity to have their learning accredited.
Grammar Schools: Admissions
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what estimate he has made of the likely changes in grammar school admission numbers consequent upon the Building Schools for the Future programme in the Bexley local authority in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford and (b) Old Bexley and Sidcup constituencies in the next three years; [232307]
(2) what estimate he has made of the likely changes in grammar school admission numbers consequent upon the Building Schools for the Future programme in the Southend-on-Sea local authority area in (a) Rochford and Southend East and (b) Southend West constituencies in the next three years. [232306]
Jim Knight: Each local authority assesses its pupil capacity just before entering the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, and puts forward proposals in its Strategy for Change (SfC) submission. Bexley and Southend-on-Sea are not yet in the BSF programme, so no information about their plans is available.
Learning and Skills Council
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many full-time equivalent staff will work for each new agency resulting from the dissolution of the Learning and Skills Council. [224569]
Mr. Simon: I have been asked to reply.
Following the consultation on the White Paper “Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver” DCSF and DIUS are developing the organisational designs for the proposed new Young People’s Learning Agency and Skills Funding Agency. These will be subject to consultation with employee representatives. A blueprint for the YPLA and a Post 19 implementation strategy are being developed for publication this autumn which will provide further detail.
It is therefore too early to be able to provide staffing numbers for each agency at this stage. However, we are committed to retaining the valuable expertise of as many LSC people as possible and will continue to do all we can to support LSC staff, working with their representatives, to ensure they have as much certainty as possible about what their options will be, as the new organisational set up becomes clearer. The LSC has a good track record of delivering major restructuring programmes. For example, ‘theme 7’ of the LSC’s Agenda for Change programme undertaken last year was designed to further streamline the organisation and give local offices a more strategic role, built around a stronger relationship with local authorities and other key stakeholders. Since 2003 staffing levels at the organisation have reduced from 7,000 to 3,451 (the average number of staff in full time equivalent numbers employed by the LSC for the year ending March 2008, including 269 agency and temporary staff and five inward secondees).
Pre-school Education: Qualifications
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of people who qualified in (a) a Cache level two, (b) a BTEC certificate, CACHE and City and Guilds and (c) an NVQ level two in childcare in each year since 1997. [229701]
Mr. Simon [holding answer 23 October 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
Data on learners achieving childcare qualifications have been provided for 2002-03 onwards. Comparable information is not available prior to the formation of the Learning and Skills Council in 2001.
Table 1 shows the number of learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject where the awarding body is CACHE.
Table 2 shows the number of learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject where the awarding body is CACHE or City and Guilds, or where the qualification type is a BTEC Certificate.
Table 3 shows the number of learners receiving an NVQ level 2 qualification in a child care related subject.
| Table 1: Learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject, where the awarding body is CACHE | |||||||
| Qualification type | Awarding body | Qualification | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. ‘—’ represents a figure of less than five. 3. These figures include qualifications gained at FE colleges and through work based learning. Source: FE and WBL ILR data | |||||||
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