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6 Nov 2008 : Column 756W—continued
| 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007 | ||
| Establishment | Number arriving after 1900 hours | Places available for young people under 18 years( 1) |
| (1) At 31 October 2007. | ||
| 1 January 2008 to 30 September 2008 | ||
| Establishment | Number arriving after 1900 hours | Places available for young people under 18 years( 1) |
| (1) At 31 October 2008. | ||
Children, Schools and Families
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to ensure that CAFCASS mediation, investigations and section 7 reports under the auspices of the Children Act 1989 include consideration of the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren; and if he will make a statement. [232908]
Beverley Hughes: Each case, CAFCASS is involved in complies with the principles and detail of the Children Act 1989, which states at s1(1) that the child’s welfare shall be the paramount consideration. CAFCASS also take account of the welfare checklist in the Act, which requires consideration of the capability not only of the parents, but any other person in relation to whom the court considers the question to be relevant.
The Government recognise the important role played by family relatives in the lives of children and young people, including grandparents. The option of sole, shared or occasional care by grandparents is considered routinely by CAFCASS in its assessments, case analyses and case plans. At a national level, CAFCASS liaises with all the major organisations representing grandparents, and takes account of their views when shaping its policies.
Children: Day Care
Mrs. Maria Miller:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what estimate his Department has made of the number of unregistered
child minders operating in England; and what assessment has been made of trends in that number in recent years; [233560]
(2) how many unregistered child minders have been reported to (a) his Department, (b) Ofsted and (c) another relevant authority in each of the last five years. [233561]
Beverley Hughes: All child minders are required to be registered with Ofsted and to satisfy their safety and quality criteria.
We do not hold information centrally concerning reports of unregistered child care providers.
When completing their child care sufficiency assessments, local authorities should have developed an understanding of parents’ use of informal child care as part of the context for assessing the sufficiency of formal child care.
Departmental Liability
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on what dates in each of the last five years his Department informed the House of the creation of contingent liabilities relating to his Department or its non-departmental public bodies. [232726]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Details of all the Department's contingent liabilities are reported to Parliament on an annual basis in its statutory resource accounts and in its Supply Estimates. Details of contingent liabilities relating to the Department's non-departmental public bodies will be similarly published in their annual resource accounts.
The publication dates for the Department's resource accounts for the last five years (including the former Department for Education and Skills) are:
2007-08: 16 July 2008 (Department for Children, Schools and Families);
2006-07: 16 July 2007 (Department for Education and Skills);
2005-06: 20 July 2006 (Department for Education and Skills);
2004-05: 23 November 2005 (Department for Education and Skills);
2003-04: 27 January 2005 (Department for Education and Skills).
Departmental Mass Media
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which organisations provided media monitoring services to (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last three years; and what the total cost was of each contract over that period. [231368]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families was supplied media monitoring—TV, radio, newspapers, regional and national—services by the following organisations:
Media Monitoring Unit of the Central Office of Information: £78,000 for 2008-09 and 2007-08 and £75,000 for 2006-07;
Durrants: £150,000 p.a. for 2008-09 and 2007-08;
Electronic Data Services: £163,000 p.a. for 2006-07;
TNS: £12,000 for 2008-09;
Government News Network: £30,000 for 2007-08 and £30,000 for 2006-07.
We have no information on services used by the Department's agencies or non-departmental public bodies.
Faith Schools: Health Services
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 488W, on faith schools: health services, if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the questionnaire that was issued to teenage pregnancy co-ordinators in each top-tier local authority in England and (b) the response received from each; and if he will make a statement. [232003]
Beverley Hughes: Copies of the questionnaire issued to teenage pregnancy co-ordinators and the subsequent report that summarised the findings of the mapping survey will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
The information provided to DCSF by the Sex Education Forum—which carried out the mapping survey—gave only the prevalence of on-site services nationally, and in each region and top-tier local authority. The individual questionnaires were completed by teenage pregnancy co-ordinators on the understanding that they would not be used in a way which could identify individual schools and this information is not held by this Department.
Foster Care
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many foster children aged (a) 17, (b) 18, (c) 19 and (d) 20 years were with foster families as at one appropriate date in each of the last five years. [233213]
Beverley Hughes: The available information can be found in the following table.
| Children looked after in foster placements at 31 March( 1, 2) | ||
| Number of 17-year-olds looked after in foster placements | Total number of looked-after children in foster placements | |
| (1) Source: SSDA903 return on children looked after. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements. | ||
Young people above the age of 18 are not in care and their placements are not defined as foster care, therefore, the requested information is not available. However, increasing numbers of young people are staying with their former foster carers after they reach 18 and our “Staying Put” pilots support local authorities to make these arrangements.
The Department collects statistics annually on the activity and accommodation of care leavers at age 19. The definitions of categories of accommodation do not currently include a ‘with former foster carer’ category. During the Report stage of the Children and Young Persons Bill on 8 October, the Minister for Schools and Learners announced that consideration would be given to amending, from 2010-11, the categories in this collection to highlight placement with former foster carers.
Health Education: Sex
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Review of Sex and Relationship Education; whether he plans to consult on these recommendations; and if he will make a statement. [233919]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government published their response to the sex and relationships education (SRE) review on 23 October. This set out their response to each recommendation and their plans for further consultation. A copy of the Government’s response is available at:
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