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10 Dec 2008 : Column 178W—continued
Children, Schools and Families
Academies: Standards
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effects of academy schools on educational attainment in areas of relative (a) wealth and (b) deprivation. [242004]
Jim Knight: Most academy pupils—almost 70 per cent. (based on the income deprivation affecting children index)—come from deprived areas, but we have made no separate assessment of their performance compared to pupils from other areas. Overall, however, the evidence shows that academies are improving educational attainment compared with their predecessor schools and at a much faster rate than the national average. The fifth annual independent evaluation of academies by PricewaterhouseCoopers concludes that
“Academies are meeting the needs of a wide range of pupils”.
Building Schools for the Future Programme
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities are scheduled to be included in waves 7 to 15 of the Building Schools for the Future programme; and if he will make a statement. [242143]
Jim Knight: We have not yet identified which local authorities and projects will be in waves 7 to 15 of the Building Schools for the Future programme. The deadline for authorities to submit revised expressions of interest was the end of November 2008.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 28 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1001-2W, what the (a) expected completion date and (b) estimated cost of each project was at its outset. [242317]
Jim Knight: As stated in my previous answer of 28 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1001-02W, the Department does not currently hold a comprehensive list of IT expenditure at every level of detail sponsored by the Department or its delivery partners. To research this information further could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Pay
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on bonuses by each of his Department’s non-departmental public bodies in the last year for which data are available. [240618]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1841W.
Departmental Pensions
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the net present value is of current (a) departmental employees and (b) teachers’ pensions. [240634]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) is a multi-employer occupational pension scheme for civil servants employed by Government Departments, including the Department for Children, Schools and Families, as well as some other public bodies. The liabilities for the PCSPS are contained in the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation Resource Accounts, which are laid before Parliament each year. Figures for the liabilities relating to individual employers are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The value of the teachers’ pension scheme is available in the latest published Resource Accounts (2006-07).
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on (a) entertainment, (b) advertising and promotion and (c) public relations consultancy in 2007-08. [240787]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Expenditure on entertainment by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in 2007-08 has been provided previously, please refer to the answer given on 17 October 2008, Official Report, column 1583W.
Promotional campaigns, including those using advertising, are funded from the Department’s central Advertising and Publicity Budget and from individual programme budgets held by policy directorates. It is therefore not possible to establish a definitive figure for all advertising and promotion, except at disproportionate cost.
Advertising is part of a full integrated promotional campaign. We are able to separate the Department’s spend on campaign advertising, as this is centrally placed through the Central Office of Information, in 2007/08 expenditure by the Department on such advertising was £4,588,000.
Public relations agencies are employed for specific communications tasks, most commonly working alongside our press office to provide campaign support in local, regional and specialist media. The Department’s expenditure on public relations in 2007-08 was £2,333,000.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils studying for (a) further mathematics, (b) physics, (c) chemistry and (d) mathematics A-level have been in receipt of education maintenance allowance in each year since its introduction; and what the equivalent number was in the year before its introduction. [240606]
Jim Knight: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for the operation of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) scheme. The LSC does not collect information about the A-level subjects studied by EMA recipients.
EMA was rolled out nationally in England from September 2004. The A-level entry time series from the 2002/03 academic year onwards can be found at
GCSE
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of (a) pupils entitled to free school meals, (b) pupils not entitled to free school meals and (c) all pupils gained (i) no GCSEs and (ii) fewer than five A* to G grades including English and mathematics at GCSE in each year since 1999. [241853]
Jim Knight: The requested information is given in the following tables, for years going back to 2003. Data prior to 2002 are not available, due to information on free school meal eligibility not being collected. The 2008 data are expected to be published in December.
| Pupils achieving fewer than five or more A*-G including English and maths | ||||||
| Number | Percentage | |||||
| FSM | Non-FSM | All pupils | FSM | Non-FSM | All pupils | |
| Pupils achieving no GCSEs | ||||||
| Number | Percentage | |||||
| FSM | Non-FSM | All pupils | FSM | Non-FSM | All pupils | |
Please note that the data for 2005-07 are based on pupils at the end of KS4 and years 2003 and 2004 are based on 15-year-old pupils at the start of the academic year.
Figures relate to pupils in maintained schools only.
Data for 2002 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
History: Education
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 16 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1502-3W, on schools: assessments, which mainstream schools did not enter any pupils for A-level history. [241518]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information required is given as follows.
Only schools that were published in the 2007 School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables have been given.
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