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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1862W—continued
Schools: Closures
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many maintained schools (a) closed, (b) merged with another school and (c) closed and reopened as an independent school on the same site in each of the last 10 years. [236525]
Jim Knight: The following table sets out the numbers of maintained mainstream schools which have (a) closed or (b) merged each year under local decision making arrangements, which were introduced in September 1999. Information about decisions made under the arrangements that operated prior to September 1999 is not reliable and has therefore been excluded:
| Reason for closure | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Total |
The table includes the reasons for closure. The numbers shown in the column headed ‘Cease to maintain’ indicate closures where the schools have not been replaced by new schools. In all other cases a replacement maintained mainstream school will have been established (sometimes on the site of a closing school), or an amalgamating school altered, to accommodate displaced pupils.
We do not hold records of the numbers of maintained mainstream schools that have closed and reopened as an independent school on the same site.
Schools: Diabetes
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance has been issued by his Department to (a) schools and (b) Ofsted on training of school staff to deal with emergencies relating to children with diabetes. [238413]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Schools: Finance
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funds the Government have made available for schools in deprived areas. [239447]
Jim Knight: The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) distributed to schools includes an amount for additional educational needs including deprivation and for pockets of deprivation in generally less deprived authorities.
In addition to the DSG there are additional sums that are provided to schools that have deprivation as part of the distribution methodology; these are the school standards grant (personalisation) (SSG(P)), post leadership incentive grant (Post-LIG), school lunch grant and extended schools grant.
Nationally for 2008-09 this amounts to:
| £ million | |
The additional grants have conditions placed upon them requiring targeting in specific ways to reach deprived pupils. Within the DSG it is for each local authority to target funding to deprived pupils in schools to support their additional needs and improve their life chances. The Department for Children Schools and Families is working with local authorities to increase the proportion of the deprivation funding they receive through the DSG that is targeted to those pupils most in need.
Funding should be targeted based on pup characteristics rather than schools, and it is therefore not possible to say how much is given to schools in deprived areas as this should change annually with each budget round to meet the needs of the pupils in schools at that time - in whichever school those pupils are educated.
Schools: Plants
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate his Department has made of the amount spent by maintained schools in England on ornamental plants and seeds in the most recent year for which figures are available. [222499]
Jim Knight: The Department has not made any estimates on the amount spent by maintained schools in England on ornamental plants and seeds. We do not collect this information.
Schools: Repairs and Maintenance
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much capital funding for rebuilding and refurbishing (a) primary and (b) secondary schools the City of York Council has received (i) in the last year for which figures are available and (ii) in each year since 1979. [237059]
Jim Knight: Most capital funding allocated to local authorities and schools is prioritised locally. Accordingly, no split is held centrally on what proportion is allocated on (a) primary and (b) secondary schools. The Department's database includes capital allocations since 1996-97, set out in the following table.
| £million | |
| (1) This includes £22.2 million of Targeted Capital Funding. (2 )This includes £28.0 for a one school pathfinder scheme. | |
Schools: Sports
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many Competition Managers have been appointed; and how many he expects to be appointed during 2008-09; [224769]
(2) when he expects his Department to publish its most recent annual survey of school sport partnerships; [224973]
(3) when he expects his Department to publish its annual survey of school sport partnerships. [225684]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The full national network of 225 Competition Managers has now been appointed. We have no plans to appoint any additional Competition Managers during the rest of 2008-09.
The results of the 2007-08 School Sport Survey were published on 16 October. Copies of the results of the survey will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Schools: Standards
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of educational attainment at schools in the principal seaside towns in England. [234935]
Jim Knight: Data on the attainment of pupils in English, mathematics and science at ages 11 and 14 and GCSE and equivalent qualifications are published by Government office region, local authority, district, parliamentary constituency and ward level and can be found at:
We do not publish school performance data by town.
There are a number of National Challenge schools (where the proportion of pupils achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics is below 30 per cent.) that are located in or near seaside towns. We are supporting the LAs concerned to develop plans to ensure these schools can improve and achieve above this level by 2011.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Fresh Start schools have opened in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [236538]
Jim Knight: It has not proved possible to respond in the time available before Prorogation.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Fresh Start schools are part of the National Challenge; and if he will make a statement. [236539]
Jim Knight: Eighteen local authority Fresh Start secondary schools will be supported in 2008-09 through the National Challenge or City Challenge programmes.
Although the Fresh Start initiative, which began in 1999, was generally successful in raising attainment, it has now been superseded by programmes such as Academies, the National Challenge, and City Challenge all of which aim to generate sustained secondary transformation. Primary Schools are still eligible for Fresh Start.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what action the Government have taken to improve standards in schools in deprived areas. [239448]
Jim Knight: The Government’s school standards and school improvement strategies aim to raise standards in all schools, and thanks to a range of measures including increased investment, excellent leadership and teaching; renewed primary and secondary teaching frameworks; better use of pupil data; and the targets schools and local authorities have set for their pupils, school standards have risen substantially since 1997. These have also helped to narrow attainment gaps for disadvantaged pupils, whether or not in deprived areas.
The school funding system allows for a significant additional premium per disadvantaged pupil. Local authorities and schools with high proportions of
disadvantaged children therefore receive additional funds to help them improve standards. In addition, the Government support the City Challenge programme which aims to break the link between deprivation and educational under-achievement in London, Greater Manchester and the Black Country.
Supported by £160 million up to 2011, City Challenge aims to bring about a sharp improvement in under performing schools—particularly focusing on English and maths; an increase in the number of outstanding schools; and a narrowing of the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. City Challenge is an expansion of the successful London Challenge programme, which Ofsted reported had a dramatic impact on London schools: reducing the number of secondary schools in special measures, maintaining GCSE results ahead of the national average and narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers more quickly than nationally.
The National Challenge programme shares the City Challenge objective to break the link between disadvantage and low attainment. The National Challenge seeks to ensure there are no schools where fewer than 30 per cent. of pupils achieve five good GCSEs including English and mathematics by 2011. Over the next three years, we are investing £400 million in the National Challenge, which builds on the successful London Challenge approach in providing bespoke support for schools facing some of the most significant challenges across the country. As in City Challenge areas, National Challenge schools serve areas where pupils are more likely than average to come from deprived backgrounds—as shown by eligibility for free school meals. None the less, since there are many schools in similarly adverse socio-economic conditions where more than 30 per cent. of students gain five good GCSEs including English and mathematics, deprivation should not be seen as an excuse for low achievement.
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