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24 Nov 2008 : Column 1013W—continued
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many children under the age of 11 live in single-parent families in the Tamworth constituency. (237339)
The number of children living in lone parent families in the UK can be estimated using the Annual Population Survey (APS). Using this source, it is estimated that there were 2,000 children under the age of eleven living in lone parent families in the Tamworth constituency in 2007.
New Manton Primary School
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what information his Department has on the number of books per pupil there were in New Manton Primary School in (a) 2007 and (b) 2008. [238194]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: This information is not collected centrally; it is for schools to decide how best to spend their budgets and what resources they secure for their pupils.
Performance Appraisal
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff in his Department did not achieve an acceptable assessment grade in their annual report in the latest reporting year for which figures are available. [235230]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the Department, 54 (2 per cent.) employees did not achieve the acceptable performance assessment in their annual report for 2007-08.
Schools: Crosby
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools have been (a) built and (b) rebuilt in Crosby constituency in the last 10 years. [236674]
Jim Knight: In 2007, the Department gathered information from all authorities on the improvements to their school buildings over the previous 10 years. These data are summarised in the report "School Building Investment Data", available in the parliamentary Libraries and at:
However, parliamentary constituencies are not identified in the data.
Teachers: Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what the average cost was of suspending (a) a head teacher, (b) a deputy head teacher and (c) a mainstream teacher for each month
of suspension in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the average length of time of such suspensions was in each category in the last 12 months; [238400]
(2) what steps he plans to take to ensure that suspensions of head teachers, deputy head teachers and teachers are for as short a time as possible; [238401]
(3) what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on (a) dealing with the media and (b) communication with parents in cases of suspension of teaching staff. [238402]
Jim Knight: The operation of disciplinary procedures, including those that result in suspension, is a matter for local determination. To support schools in this area there are a variety of sources of advice available to help governing bodies with their responsibilities. The DCSF's ‘A Guide to the Law for School Governors and Staffing’ guidance set out the statutory responsibilities falling to schools as employers. This guidance is available through www.governornet.co.uk and www.teachernet.co.uk. These sources also provide access to an extensive range of additional guidance material including materials from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. Schools are therefore able to draw from a wide variety of guidance when devising their policies and handling disciplinary cases.
Our guidance concentrates on making schools aware of their responsibilities so that they can deal with the media and inform parents appropriately. It does not go into detail about issues such as the length of any suspension. Decisions of this nature are best left to schools to determine, drawing on the guidance that is available and where appropriate on advice and support from local authorities.
The information requested about the average cost of suspending teachers and the average length of time of such suspension is not held centrally.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Copyright: EU Action
John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the European Commission’s 2005 Recommendation on collective cross-border management of copyright; and what plans his Department has to implement the recommendation. [234894]
Mr. Lammy: The Government have considered the European Commission’s Recommendation of 18 October 2005 on collective cross-border management of copyright and related rights for legitimate online music services and there is no requirement for it to be implemented. Industry continues to work to implement the recommendation and therefore the Government do not believe it is appropriate to press for legislative action at this time.
Copyright: Works of Art
Derek Wyatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the implementation of the
Artists Re-sale Right Regulations 2006 on the UK art industry since 2006; and what assessment he has made of the performance of the art markets in (a) the United States and (b) Switzerland since 2006 for benchmarking purposes. [238154]
Mr. Lammy:
The Government commissioned the Intellectual Property Institute to produce an independent report on the effect on the UK art market of the
introduction of artist's resale right. That report, published in April 2008 and available in the Library of the House (I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement on 2 April 2008, Official Report, column 59-60WS, by my hon. Friend Ian Pearson, the then Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills), compares the values of the art markets in the UK, the United States and Switzerland, over three specific periods, as follows:
| £ | |||
| Country | Value | ||
| 1 March 2003 to 29 February 2004 | 15 February 2006 to 31 July 2006 | 1 August 2006 to 31 July 2007 | |
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his policy on the Artist’s Resale Right is; what account he has taken of the evidence received on the subject during the UK-IPO consultation; and what his policy is on the future of the right after 2010. [238280]
Mr. Lammy: The UK implemented directive 2001/84/EC on artist’s resale right into its law in 2006. It needs to decide, before the end of this year, whether or not to seek to extend from 2010 to 2012 the current derogation under the directive which applies artist’s resale right only to sales of the works of living artists. It launched a consultation on this issue in June and is currently considering, in the light of the responses, what decision should be made.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many staff in his Department are responsible for branding activity; and what the cost of employing such staff was in 2007-08. [237472]
Mr. Simon: The Department has one member of staff who works on branding and this accounts for 15-20 per cent. of their time; during the first six months of the Department's existence in 2007, a larger percentage of time was spend on branding issues. The total staff cost on branding activity in 2007-08 was approximately £12,000.
In addition the staff member's line manager is responsible for multiple areas of work, therefore it is not possible to quantify any specific branding element within this role.
Further Education: Debts
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what guidance is provided to further education colleges on (a) taking on commercial debt to fund the costs of renovating or constructing buildings and (b) the use by the general public of buildings constructed using commercial debt. [235331]
Mr. Simon: The guidance provided to further education (FE) colleges on (a) taking on commercial debt to fund the costs of renovating or constructing buildings; and (b) the use of buildings constructed using commercial debt by the general public, is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC’s Chief Executive, Mark Haysom, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 20 November 2008:
I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questions that asked: what proportion of payments by the Learning and Skills Council were made within 30 days of the receipt of the invoice in the last period for which figures are available, and what the level of total debt taken out by further education colleges at commercial rates of interest has been in each year since 2001, and what guidance is provided to further education colleges on (a) taking on commercial debt to fund the costs of renovating or constructing buildings and (b) the use of buildings constructed using commercial debt by the general public.
In the financial year April 2007 to March 2008, the LSC paid 95.3 per cent of its invoices within 30 days. This information forms part of the LSC’s annual report, which has been audited by the National Audit Office.
The level of total debt is as follows:-
| Total debt levels of FE colleges between 2001 to 2007 | |||||||
| £000 | |||||||
| 2001/02 | 2002/03 | 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | |
Assumptions
Above data is based on 2001/02 to 2006/07 audited college financial records submitted in Dec of each respective year
2007/08 data is based on the forecast Financial Plan 2008-11 submitted in July 2008
College sample sizes per year: 408 (2001/02), 399 (2002/03), 392 (2003/04), 377 (2004/05), 380/380 (2005/06), 374/376 (2006/07), 359/364 (2007/08).
Total debt level comprises overdrafts, short-term loans and long-term loans for the purpose of this exercise
(a) It is normally expected that colleges will have long-term borrowings (15-25 years typical) within the range 30-40% of annual turnover. This produces interest charges around 2% of turnover and annual capital repayments at a similar level, thus debt charges (interest plus capital repayments) are normally about 4% of annual turnover. This is considered reasonable, has proven not to have caused undue financial hardship to the sector, and is in line with the level of borrowings guidance to the Higher Education sector. It has also enabled many more colleges to be rebuilt at a far faster rate than would have been the case without the requirement to borrow.
The LSC’s policy since 2003 has been to assess the level of capital grant support on the basis of affordability. It is intended to continue using the same criteria in that assessment process going forward, there is no reason to assume that those colleges that still require capital investment will not be as financially sound as those that have already invested in their estates. The key elements of that affordability judgement are a reasonable level of commercial bank borrowings within a financial forecast that demonstrates robust financial health by the third year after project completion and improving still further beyond then, with a robust risk management plan in place to demonstrate financial solvency against a range of downside scenarios going forward. This is carefully assessed before the LSC gives consent for a college to enter into a capital project.
(b) The LSC issues no specific guidance on the use of buildings constructed using commercial debt by the general public. FE colleges are, however, encouraged to offer the use of their facilities, when not being used for their primary purposes of providing
education and training, for both community uses and commercial income generating purposes such as conferences.
Higher Education: Admissions
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what percentage of students studying at each higher education institution in the 2007-08 academic year were from (a) state schools and (b) socio-economic groups 4-7, broken down by ethnic origin; and how much quality-related research funding each institution received for that year. [238088]
Mr. Lammy: The latest available information for the 2006-07 academic year is given in the table. Figures for 2007-08 will become available in June 2009. The figures that have been provided are not available broken down by ethnicity.
For each institution, the state school proportion and the NS-SEC 4-7 proportion are each shown against a benchmark. This is a sector average which is adjusted for each institution to take into account the following factors: subject of study, qualifications on entry and age on entry. The benchmarks can be used to show how a university is performing compared to the sector as a whole, and also help to determine whether a meaningful comparison can be drawn between two or more universities.
The proportion of students, from state schools and low socio-economic classes has been calculated using information on students whose state school/socio-economic class background is known. A significant proportion of students' social backgrounds are unknown and so exact numbers cannot be determined.
For figures relating to quality-related research funding I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Northampton South (Mr. Binley) on 28 October, Official Report, column 994W.
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