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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1852W—continued
Ofsed
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent by Ofsted on (a) hospitality, (b) entertainment, (c) advertising and (d) outside consultancy in 2007-08. [239860]
Jim Knight: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Ofsted: Pay
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent by Ofsted on bonuses to staff in each of the last 10 years. [239859]
Jim Knight: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Overseas Students: Finance
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the reasons are for ceasing to fund scholars from Australia, the Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cyprus, Malta, New Zealand and Singapore after 2009. [225511]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 10 November 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
The FCO will stop funding scholarships for developed Commonwealth countries after 2008-09 because, as the then Minister for Europe explained to my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) on 8 May 2008, column 1105W, it concluded that the Chevening and Marshall scholarship schemes better achieve its purpose of building relations with international leaders of the future.
In recognition of the value of attracting high-quality students from developed Commonwealth countries to UK institutions, DIUS will fund scholarships for students from these countries from 2009. These scholarships will be for PhD students and will be jointly funded by UK universities.
The FCO will also continue to fund Masters awards for students from the developed Commonwealth countries (except Cyprus and Malta because they are in the EU) through the Chevening scholarship scheme.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what the cost to his Department of answering parliamentary questions was in each year since 2004; [234568]
(2) how many people in his Department are employed to answer parliamentary questions. [234779]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We do not employ anyone directly to answer parliamentary questions; it is a small part of many people’s job roles. It is not possible to estimate an equivalent cost.
Powers of Entry
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation sponsored by his Department and its predecessors has (i) amended and (ii) enhanced existing powers of entry since May 1997. [221996]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Home Office on 7 October 2008, Official Report, column 576W.
Pre-school Education: Standards
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what enforcement actions Ofsted may take in circumstances where an early years provider is found to be inadequate; how many early years providers have been found to be inadequate on more than one occasion in the last 10 years; and which of the enforcement actions available to Ofsted have been used. [237191]
Beverley Hughes: These are matters for Ofsted. The Chief inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and copies of her replies have been placed in the Library.
Pre-school Education: Teachers
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) male and (b) female nursery school teachers there are. [239873]
Beverley Hughes: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Primary Education: Greater London
Mr. Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what discussions his Department has had with London boroughs on the demand for primary school places over the next four years; and if he will make a statement. [235665]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department has held direct discussions with officials from Kingston upon Thames, a number of other London authorities, and representatives of the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services. We have begun work to evaluate the accuracy of existing forecasts and to determine to what extent actual demand might differ from these. Local authority capital allocations are based upon forecasts covering the three-year spending review period 2008-09 to 2010-11. Forecasts for future years will inform allocations for the period 2011-12 onwards.
Primary Education: Literacy
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent steps the Government have taken to improve the reading skills of children in primary schools. [239445]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Ensuring children are able to read fluently and confidently by the time they leave primary school is a key element of our strategy to raise standards in primary schools.
In response to the recommendations of the Rose Early Reading Review, we changed the national curriculum to ensure that all children learn to read through the use of systematic phonics, and produced the Letters and Sounds programme free for schools.
The Communication, Language and Literacy Development programme was also developed to implement the Rose Review recommendations and is now funding specialist work in 100 local authorities to ensure that all children experience best practice in the teaching of early reading and phonics. This programme is being extended from April 2009 to provide every authority with a specialist consultant to improve the teaching of reading.
On top of this we have the Primary Framework available online for all schools. This puts phonics at the heart of teaching reading and offers a broad range of guidance and resources to support teachers in ensuring that their teaching is personalised to the needs of every child. Local authorities and schools receive training from the National Strategies in the effective use of the framework and its supporting materials.
For those children who experience difficulty in learning to read, we are rolling out the Every Child a Reader programme. This offers a suite of literacy interventions to help children get back on track, including the highly effective Reading Recovery one-to-one programme for children with the greatest need.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent steps the Government have taken to improve the writing skills of children in primary schools. [239446]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Improving standards of children's writing is a major priority for this Government, and will be vital in ensuring we reach our public service agreement targets in 2011 for 78 per cent. of children to be reaching the expected level in English and maths.
In September this year we launched new materials called “Support for Writing” for teaching children to write across Key Stages 1 and 2. This guidance and exemplification is available online through the Primary Framework, and is based on effective teaching strategies in the areas we know children find hardest about writing at the moment. The materials focus on ensuring children make good progress in their writing through outlining incremental small steps in learning within the year and specific classroom examples of how teachers might chose to approach each step. In January 2009 we will launch “Talk for Writing” materials which provide extra guidance to teachers on how they should develop children's speaking and listening skills to improve their writing. All materials are available free and cascaded to local authorities and schools with training and support.
In addition we are now piloting Every Child a Writer, a new commitment from our Children's Plan, with funding of £25 million over the next three years. This programme aims to improve children's writing through leading teacher support for class teachers and intensive one-to-one tuition in the areas of writing children find
hardest to master. Every Child a Writer is being piloted from September 2008 in nine local authorities and is due to scale up to reach all local authorities by 2010-11.
Primary Education: Pupil Exclusions
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many primary school pupils in Suffolk of each age have been given a fixed-period exclusion in the last 12 months, broken down by reason for exclusion. [240006]
Jim Knight: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Private Education: Education Maintenance Allowance
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students in independent schools have received the education maintenance allowance in each year since the allowance was introduced. [223837]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), who have operational responsibility for the education maintenance allowance (EMA) and hold the information about applications, payments and expenditure made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
Pupil Exclusions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of fixed period exclusions were given to pupils (a) with special educational needs and (b) entitled to free school meals in (i) secondary schools and (ii) primary schools in each year since 1997. [238349]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Data on the numbers of pupils with fixed period exclusions were collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04, therefore data cannot be provided for fixed period exclusions for prior to this. Information on free school meals eligibility of excluded pupils is only available from 2005/06 onwards.
It is not possible, given the amount of analysis required, to provide a response to these questions within the timeframe required by Parliament. The requested information will therefore be placed in the Library.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils were given a fixed period exclusion in schools with (a) fewer than 10 per cent., (b) more than 20 per cent., and (c) more than 50 per cent. of pupils in receipt of free school meals in 2007-08. [239867]
Jim Knight: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) male and (b) female pupils receiving free school meals received one or more fixed period exclusions in each of the last 10 years. [239870]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Ms Barlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils of each age have been given a fixed-period exclusion in the last 12 months, broken down by reason for exclusion. [240013]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Pupil Exclusions: Leicestershire
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many children under the age of (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years were (i) temporarily excluded and (ii) permanently excluded from state schools in Leicestershire in (A) 2007 and (B) 1997; [235825]
(2) how many children under the age of (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years were temporarily excluded from state schools in Leicestershire for (i) attacking another pupil or teacher, (ii) having drunk alcohol at or before school or having alcohol with them and (iii) carrying an offensive weapon in (A) 1997 and (B) 2007; [235826]
(3) how many children under the age of (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years were permanently excluded from state schools in Leicestershire for carrying an offensive weapon in (i) 2007 and (ii) 1997. [235827]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Data on the numbers of pupils with fixed period exclusions were collected for the first time for the school year 2003-04, therefore data cannot be provided for fixed period exclusions for 1997. Prior to 2002 information was collected on the number of permanent exclusions; therefore for 1997 the Department can only provide information on the number of permanent exclusions not the number of pupils involved.
The reasons for exclusion were collected for the first time for the school year 2003-04. There is no category specifically on “carrying an offensive weapon”, this is included under the category of verbal abuse/threatening behaviour so the Department cannot determine how many exclusions involved carrying an offensive weapon. Other categories include physical assault against a pupil, physical assault against an adult and drugs and alcohol.
It is not possible, given the amount of analysis required, to provide a response to these questions within the timeframe required by Parliament. Information on the numbers and reasons for exclusions for 2003/04 and 2006/07 will be placed in the Library.
Pupil Referral Units
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) male and (b) female teachers there are in pupil referral units. [239872]
Jim Knight: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Pupils: Bullying
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans he has to reduce levels of bullying in schools, with particular reference to bullying of children with disabilities. [238255]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We have an ongoing programme of work to prevent and tackle the bullying of children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. In May 2008 we published guidance on “Bullying involving Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities” as part of our “Safe to Learn” suite of guidance. The guidance provides schools with advice on their legal obligations in respect of children with special educational needs and disabilities. It also provides comprehensive advice on how to prevent the bullying of these children, and how to respond to bullying incidents. We are funding the Anti-Bullying Alliance and National Strategies to work with local authorities and schools to ensure the guidance is effectively implemented on the ground, and to provide challenge and support, where necessary. We will monitor the situation closely.
At the launch of the Anti-Bullying week on 13 November, the Department launched the “Make Them Go Away” DVD. This is a short film for schools which seeks to illustrate to young people the damaging impact of bullying other young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The DVD has been well received by our key stakeholders. We will encourage schools to show the DVD in assemblies and in class with a view to stimulating discussions around the issue with their pupils.
Pupils: Chronically Sick
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department has issued to schools on provision of support to children with long-term conditions, particularly children with type 1 diabetes; and if he will make a statement. [239237]
Jim Knight: The Department has issued guidance entitled ‘Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Year Settings’.
This guidance, published in 2005 jointly with the Department of Health, specifically addresses what schools can do to help children with diabetes and other medical conditions, we also produced sister guidance in the same year, entitled ‘Including me: managing complex health needs in schools and early years settings’.
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