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10 Nov 2008 : Column 898W—continued
School Leaving
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the increase in (a) pupil numbers and (b) school estates over the next 10 years as a result of the change in post-16 year old education provision; and at what cost. [232337]
Jim Knight: There are two fundamental changes expected in post 16 provisions over the next 10 years. Firstly by 2015, subject to the successful passage of the current Education and Skills Bill, all young people will be required to be in some form of education or training until at least 18. Secondly, in the future, all publicly funded qualifications will fall within one of four routes—Apprenticeships, Diplomas, the Foundation Learning Tier or General Qualifications (GCSEs and A Levels). The growth in numbers of Apprenticeships toward one in five young people, alongside the delivery of 17 Diploma lines, will both enable full participation of young people and mean that the growth of pupil numbers is not predominantly schools based.
In 2007/08, there were 447,500 16 to 17-year-olds and 23,800 18-year-olds participating in schools out of a total of 1,119,400 16 to 17-year-olds and 375,800 18-year-olds participating in Education and Work Based Learning. Mid-year population estimates for 2015 suggest that, with full participation, there will be around 1,197,300 16 to 17-year-olds participating in Education and WBL. The trajectory, and costs attributed to achieving these levels of participation, including the relative contribution of schools, colleges and other providers will be agreed as part of the next spending review.
The changes in provision will mean changing requirements as to what schools, colleges and learning providers offer, with some implications for school estates. The 16-19 capital fund was established to meet the cost of new post-16 places in schools and colleges. The value of this fund is £630 million in the three years to 2010-11. In addition, there will be a further £30 million in 2010-11 in recognition of the additional post-16 costs associated with raising the participation age. Further monies will need to be agreed as part of the next spending review.
Schools: Governing Bodies
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many vacancies there were for school governors in Suffolk for (a) primary, (b) middle and (c) upper schools in each of the last five years. [233507]
Jim Knight: The Department does not routinely collect this information. Suffolk county council has provided the following information. This information is not held for earlier years.
| October | ||
| Governor vacancies | 2007 | 2008 |
Schools: Voluntary Work
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to encourage volunteers to assist children with reading in schools. [233278]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department undertakes a variety of activity to support children’s reading, notably in 2008 through the National Year of Reading. We also fund Volunteer Reading Help (VRH) a national charity which recruits and trains volunteers to help children who are struggling to learn to read.
Specialist Schools: Languages
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of specialist language colleges teach languages on a compulsory basis until the age of 16 years. [233083]
Jim Knight: To date 352 specialist schools have chosen languages as one of their specialisms with the aim of becoming centres of excellence and supporting the National Languages Strategy ‘Languages for all’. Schools opting for this specialism must be able to demonstrate their commitment to promoting languages in Key Stage 4 and ensure that all students follow a language course at this key stage. However my Department does not collect data on how many specialist language schools teach languages on a compulsory basis until the age of 16 years.
Languages are already a compulsory part of the national curriculum at key stage 3. In response to Lord Dearing’s recommendations on how to increase the number of pupils doing languages post-14 we will provide better and more coherent support for teachers, introduce a more flexible curriculum and make languages compulsory at key stage 2 from September 2011.
Specialist Schools: Science
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of specialist science colleges offer GCSEs in the separate sciences. [233084]
Jim Knight: To date 433 specialist schools have chosen science as one of their specialisms with the aim of becoming centres of excellence and improving post-16 participation in science. However my Department does not collect data on how many and what percentages of specialist science schools offer GCSEs in the separate sciences.
From September 2008 all specialist science schools will offer triple science at least to all pupils who have achieved level 6+ at the end of key stage 3. In addition there are 580 technology and 68 engineering specialist schools which will be expected to offer triple science from September 2009 and 361 mathematics and computing specialist schools which will be expected to offer triple science from September 2010.
Talent Taskforce
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much he expects his Department to spend on the Talent Taskforce in each of the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [233606]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Talent and Enterprise Taskforce’s programme budget is £4 million per year for the period 2008-11. The Taskforce’s running costs are £350,919 per year over the same period. This is used to fund programmes and activities to promote the talent agenda and engage influential networks and organisations across society to do the same.
Teachers TV
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department and its predecessor paid towards the production of Teachers TV in the last three years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [233160]
Jim Knight: Teachers TV was launched in February 2005 and aims to help raise standards in classrooms by sharing good practice, supporting continuing professional development, offering classroom resources, and providing education news and information. In the channel’s first operating year the Department provided funding of £19.9 million, in the second £16 million and £16.7 million in the third operating year.
Teachers: Enfield
Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants worked in maintained schools in Enfield North constituency (i) in 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available. [233896]
Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers and teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained nursery, primary, secondary, special and pupil referral units in Enfield North constituency and England, January 1997 and 2008.
| Full-time equivalent teachers( 1) and teaching assistants( 2) in local authority maintained nursery, primary, secondary, special and pupil referra l unit, years 1997 and 2008—coverage: Enfield North constituency and England | ||
| Enfield North constituency | England | |
| (1) Includes qualified and unqualified teachers. (2) ‘Teaching assistants’ include teaching assistants, special needs support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff. Notes: 1. Excludes academies and city technology colleges. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census | ||
Teachers: Training
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding the Training and Development Agency has recovered as a result of unfilled places in teacher training in each of the last five years; and how that money has been reallocated. [233514]
Jim Knight: The Training and Development Agency for Schools recovers funding allocated to initial teacher training providers for initial teacher training places that remain unfilled. The following table shows the amount of funding recovered for the five most recent years for which figures are currently available, split between unfilled provider-based (higher education institution and school centred initial teacher training) initial teacher training places and employment-based initial teacher training places.
| £ million | ||
| Academic year | Unfilled provider-based (HEI and SCITT) initial teacher training places | Unfilled employment-based initial teacher training places |
| n/a = Not available. Source Training and Development Agency for Schools. | ||
Funding recovered by the TDA from initial teacher training providers for unfilled initial teacher training places is recycled. The amount of funding allocated to an initial teacher training provider for the next academic year period is reduced by the amount of funding recoverable from them for unfilled initial teacher training places in the previous academic year.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many providers of initial teacher training have asked for an increase in their number of teacher training places in each of the last five years. [233516]
Jim Knight: The Training and Development Agency for Schools holds records of those applications from initial teacher training providers for additional initial teacher training place allocations that are successful. The TDA does not maintain records of unsuccessful applications from initial teacher training providers. The following table shows the number of initial teacher training providers that were allocated additional places for each of the five years 2005/06 through to 2010/11.
| Academic year | Provider-based (HEI and SCITT) ITT providers | Employment-based ITT providers |
| Source: Training and Development Agency for Schools. | ||
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Business: Thames Gateway Bridge
Lyn Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge on businesses in (a) East London, (b) South East London and (c) Greater London. [232928]
Mr. McFadden: Assessments of the impact on business of the proposed Thames Gateway bridge are a matter for Transport for London as the scheme’s promoter.
Combined Heat and Power: Public Buildings
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of the electricity derived from combined heat and power plants is obtained from combined heat and power plants located on the Government estate. [220790]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
There are 10 combined heat and power (CHP) schemes located on the Government estate registered with the Government's CHP quality assurance programme (CHPQA). In 2007-08 these 10 schemes produced just over 19 gigawatt hours of good quality CHP electricity. This represents around 0.1 per cent. of the 28,677 gigawatts electricity produced in total by good quality CHP plants in the UK in 2007.
Early information from the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) as part of its annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report indicates that total CHP generated electricity consumed on the Government estate in 2007-08 was 311 gigawatt hours. This would mean that the 19 gigawatt hours of good quality CHP electricity generated on the Government estate represents around 6 per cent. of the total CHP electricity consumed on the Government estate in 2007-08.
Company Liquidations
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many businesses have entered liquidation in England and Wales in each year since 1997. [229382]
Mr. McFadden: The following table records numbers of liquidations and trading-related bankruptcies in England and Wales in each year since 1997.
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