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20 Nov 2008 : Column 778W—continued
| Table 2: Number( 1, 2 ) of registered child care places for children under eight years of age by type of care, Enfield local authority area, position at 31 March each year 2003 to 2008 | ||||||
| Type of care | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| (1) Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100, if over 100. (2) Data source: Ofsted. | ||||||
Since 2003, Ofsted has been responsible for the registration and inspection of child care providers. Ofsted have produced figures on the number of registered child care providers and places on a quarterly basis from March 2003. Their latest figures were published in their report “Registered Childcare Providers and Places, August 2008”, which is available on their website at:
Departmental Information
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East, of 17 October 2008, Official Report, column 1583W, on departmental information, what the individual names are of the publications, reports and datasets sold by his Department. [233358]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Most of the Department's publications are available free of charge on the Department's website and can be reused free of charge under the terms of the PSI Click-Use Licence which is administered by the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) in accordance with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations. Core information produced by the Department can also be reused under the terms of the Value Added Licence which is also administered by OPSI. Re-use of the information under the terms of the Value Added Licence may incur a change based on the type and amount of information.
OPSI has provided the available information on the individual names of the departmental publications, reports and datasets that have been made available for re-use
under the terms of the Value Added Licence and incurred a charge since 2005, as follows:
Child Abuse Linked to Accusations of “Possession” and “Witchcraft”
Common Assessment Framework
Identification, Referral and Tracking Software
Models of Adult Learning—A Literature Review
Open Plan Schools.
These are all publications and some of them were published by the former Department for Education and Skills.
The answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) of 17th October 2008, Official Report, column 1583W, on departmental information, covered the same information and period but inadvertently referred to the financial year 2007-08. No departmental publications, reports and datasets have been made available for re-use and incurred a charge under the terms of the Value Added Licence in the last 12 months.
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small and medium-sized businesses were paid within 30 days of receipt by (a) his Department and (b) the agencies for which his Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement. [226501]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I would direct the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford to the Departmental Published Account for 2007-08 which sets out the performance of the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in this regard. The Department paid 98.8 per cent. of all valid invoices for goods and services within 30 days.
DCSF does not currently publish information about the size of its suppliers. We do not discriminate by size of business because many small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) can be found within larger supply chains. Alongside speeding up government payments we are also looking to our main contractors to pass on the benefits to smaller suppliers in their supply chains.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007 as a result of a machinery of government change. The data included in the 2007-08 account also includes that of its predecessor department, the Department for Education and Skills.
The Department does not have any Executive Agencies.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families welcomes the statement by the Prime Minister to Prime Minister’s questions on 8 October 2008 on moving to the payment of invoices as soon as possible and within 10 days. The Department will be working towards this goal.
Further Education
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent guidance he has issued to local authorities on the provision of post-16 education. [237538]
Jim Knight: Following the proposals set out in the White Paper Raising Expectations: Enabling the System to Deliver to transfer of funding for learning for 16 to 19-year-olds from the Learning and Skills Council to local authorities from September 2010, guidance for local authorities on the new arrangements was issued on 28 July 2008 and can be found at:
This outlined the need for local authorities to work together in sub-regional groupings and the process by which readiness of the groupings would be reviewed. We will be issuing further guidance to local authorities on the second stage of the process which will focus on the governance of the sub-regional groupings and set out how we expect local authorities to come together with their partners e.g. schools, colleges and 3(rd) sector in delivering these reforms.
Additionally, the Department is working closely with the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services to support local authorities in taking on their new functions.
General Certificate of Secondary Education: Crosby
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what percentage of eligible pupils passed GCSEs at grades A to C including English and mathematics in Crosby constituency in 2008; [236676]
(2) what percentage of GCSE students in schools in Crosby constituency achieved five or more A* to C grades including English and mathematics in 2008. [236720]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information at constituency level will be available when the 2008 Secondary School Achievement and Attainment Tables have been published in January.
Higher Education: Vocational Guidance
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the extent to which careers advice influences academically-able pupils in their decision on whether to proceed to higher education. [237721]
Jim Knight: Young people’s decisions about HE are influenced by a range of factors. Research suggests that for a young person with no family history of higher education (HE), discussions with teachers, university visits and information on courses of interest enhance considerably the likelihood of a positive attitude towards HE. We also know that Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) on learning and careers can raise the aspirations of a Level 3 student who has financial concerns and no family history of HE(1).
A range of measures are in hand that will improve the careers education/IAG available to support young people. For example, we have specifically targeted gifted and talented disadvantaged young people that are eligible for Free School Meals, through City Challenge, in a programme which has the explicit aim of improving progression to university. We will bring together our
work to improve IAG in the spring in a published Information Advice and Guidance Strategy for Young People.
(1) Morris, M., and Rutt, S., Aspirations to Higher Education: A baseline analysis, (August, 2003), p 8
Morris, M., and Rutt, S., Aspirations to Higher Education: A baseline analysis, (August, 2003)
Plain English
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005. [230612]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department was formed on 28 June 2007. The Department does not offer central Plain English training courses to employees. Some plain English courses have been run in-house by writing editors in the Communications Directorate but these have been at no extra cost to the Department. Costs for individual literary training arranged for employees as part of their learning and development are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The Department does provide a writing style guide including information on standards and plain English which employees can access from the departmental intranet.
Primary Education: Greater London
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the expected demand is for primary school places for each London borough for the next four years. [235667]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department collects information annually from each local authority on their projected pupil numbers for forthcoming years, as part of the Surplus Places Survey. The following table gives a breakdown of primary pupil numbers in 2008 and primary pupil projections for the next four years for each London borough, as provided by the respective local authorities.
| London borough | Actual Pupil Numbers | Projected Pupil Numbers | |||
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| Source: Surplus Places Survey | |||||
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