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16 Dec 2008 : Column 740W—continued
The latest figures on the numbers and percentage of children subject to Child Protection Plans or placed on the Child Protection Register were published in a Statistical First Release (SFR) 24/2008 “Referrals, Assessments and Children and Young People who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan, England—Year ending 31 March 2008" on 16 September 2008. A copy of this release is available on my Department’s website:
Christmas
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on Christmas (a) cards, (b) parties and (c) decorations in the last 12 months. [242454]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the last 12 months, the Department spent (a) £2,653 on Christmas cards and (c) £460 on a Christmas tree at its headquarters building. The Department does not fund (b) Christmas parties.
Dartmouth Community College
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will bring forward the timetable for the rebuilding of Dartmouth Community College from 2011; and if he will make a statement. [243823]
Jim Knight: Following a public consultation on the management of Waves 7 to 15 of BSF in the summer, I announced in September our aim to start all local authorities into BSF as soon as is practicable, with an initial priority project covering four to five schools. All local authorities were invited to submit an expression of interest (EoI) on this basis and Devon was active in consulting Partnerships for Schools prior to submitting its EoI. We are now working with Partnerships for Schools to prioritise expressions of interest in line with our published guidance, and I aim to announce the revised national programme early next year.
Departmental Aviation
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 477W, on departmental air travel, if he will place in the Library figures for 2007-08. [241678]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The spend for the Department for Children, Schools and Families for departmental air travel for the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 was £235,186.
Departmental Higher Education
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff in his Department undertook courses funded by the Department for (a) undergraduate degrees, (b) postgraduate degrees or diplomas, (c) Masters degrees, (d) MBA degrees and (e) PhD degrees in the last 12 months, broken down by pay band. [242127]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department does not collect this information centrally in the form requested. Information on the number of staff taking degree or diploma courses funded by the Department is held locally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The criteria for funding degree or diploma courses will be driven by Professional Skills for Government.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much has been spent on (a) departmental Christmas parties and (b) staff entertainment in each year since his Department's formation. [243737]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: This Department does not fund (a) departmental Christmas parties or (b) staff entertainment.
Departmental Public Consultation
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on which occasions his Department has convened a citizens' jury or randomly drawn panel of people to aid the Department's policy making since 2000; whether the participants were paid in each case; and if he will make a statement. [243040]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families conducted its only citizens’ jury in 2007 and followed this with 11 related deliberative debates to ensure that the views of parents and young people were reflected in the development and implementation of the Children's Plan.
The Department organised a citizen's jury at Bristol Brunel Academy on 6 September 2007. 38 people participated, including children, young people and teachers from the academy; and parents and local practitioners working with children.
The Department followed this citizens’ jury with three sets of deliberative debates with members of the public and education professionals.
The first set of deliberative debates was held on Saturday 29 September 2007, with four events running simultaneously in London, Leeds, Portsmouth and Birmingham. These events formed part of the consultative process for the Children's Plan. Around 400 young people, parents, teachers and those working with children and young people were involved.
The second set was held on 8 March 2008, with four events again running in London, Leeds, Portsmouth and Birmingham. The events focused on policy areas in the Children's Plan. Around 240 people attended, including parents, young people and educational professionals.
The last set took place on 13 September 2008. The events were held in London, Leeds and Birmingham and were attended by around 300 people including parents, local practitioners and representatives of stakeholder organisations. The themes discussed were Parents as Partners in Learning; the Childcare Strategy and Parental Complaints.
Participants were not paid to attend the citizens’ jury but were paid a small sum to attend the deliberative events to cover out of pocket expenses.
It is not possible to establish a definitive figure for juries or panels from predecessor Departments.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on the expenses of (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in each of the last three years. [240635]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Details of expenses incurred by Ministers and civil servants in the Department for Children, Schools and Families in the last three financial years are set out as follows:
| Ministers and civil servants | |
| £ | |
| (1) Figures for 2006-07 and 2005-06 refer to the former Department for Education and Skills. | |
Travel and subsistence (reimbursable expenses) is claimed via the Department’s integrated financial information system and is recorded under the general heading of ‘Subsistence’. Ministers’ expenses are not brigaded separately on the Department’s accounting system and are included in the aforementioned totals.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007 as a result of a machinery of government change and the aforementioned expenditure recorded includes that of its predecessor Department, the Department for Education and Skills.
All expenditure is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in “Government Accounting”. All travel undertaken by DCSF civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the “Civil Service Management Code”.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 27 October 2008, Official Report, column 705W, on departmental temporary employment, how many staff were recruited through each company in each year; and for how long on average staff recruited through these companies worked for the Department in each year. [242159]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the Department, the number of people who have been employed through the agencies in each year are as follows:
| Adecco | Reed | Hays | Total | |
Information on the average duration of appointments could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what plans his Department has to alter the education maintenance allowance system following the introduction of requirements for 16 to 18-year-olds to remain in education or training. [244546]
Jim Knight: As published in the Delivering 14-19 Reform: Next Steps document
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/1419/documents/7928DCSF Delivering%201419%20Reform%20Summary.pdf
some young people will always require support to help them overcome any barriers—financial or otherwise—to participation. We must ensure that financial constraints are not a barrier for young people. This will entail providing support to those who need it and we are looking at a variety of methods to ensure that this is done in the most effective way. This will include building on the education maintenance allowance, which from September this year links financial support more closely to attainment and behaviour. We will continue to look at ways of supporting all young people to enable them to participate.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of the introduction of education maintenance allowance; and if he will make a statement. [244549]
Jim Knight: Assessing the economic impact of EMA is not simple but our analysis of the education maintenance allowance shows that the expected economic benefits far outweigh the costs. For the first cohort of recipients in the national rollout in 2004-05, evaluation evidence suggests that an extra 18,000 16-year-olds participated in full-time education than would have done so without EMA and an extra 16,000 participated at age 17. This is estimated to have generated an additional 10,100 Level 2 and 11,900 Level 3 qualifications being gained by the age of 18. Based on these benefits, our best estimate of the net benefit to the economy from supporting this cohort is around £880 million over the lifetime of these individuals. Given the range of assumptions that are necessary in carrying out such as assessment, our estimate should be seen as indicative.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will consider assessing eligibility for education maintenance allowance on the basis of net rather than gross family income. [244550]
Jim Knight:
The education maintenance allowance (EMA) has had the biggest impact on participation of any policy initiative in over a decade. From 2003-04 to 2004-05 the national participation rate for 16-year-olds in full-time education increased by 3.7 percentage points, exceeding expectations. EMA was one of the key policies aimed at increasing participation and has been a major contributor to this increase. One of the factors that has contributed to the success of EMA has been its simplicity. There are a range of alternatives to using gross income to assess eligibility for EMA, including using net income. All of these have various advantages and disadvantages.
We currently believe that out of the available options for assessing eligibility for EMA, the simplicity of using gross income is preferable.
Education: Finance
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to which organisation it is proposed that (a) sixth form colleges, (b) further education colleges and (c) schools should be able to appeal against a funding decision in regard to education provision for 16 to 18-year-olds taken by (i) a local authority and (ii) a sub-regional group under the proposals set out in the Raising Expectations White Paper. [243364]
Jim Knight: The new arrangements are designed to more closely follow learner choice and ensure that the outcomes for young people are delivered in a more integrated manner with local authorities acting as the strategic commissioners for children’s services for children aged 0 to 19. They will need to work collaboratively with other local authorities, schools and colleges to shape the offer to young people across the country and to deliver these commissioning decisions.
As now, there will be a dialogue between commissioners and those to be commissioned about what can be delivered for young people, informed by the previous year’s performance. These discussions will then inform local and regional commissioning plans that will be scrutinised, at a regional level, by the proposed Young People’s Learning Agency to ensure overall coherence and budgetary control.
DCSF officials are working with local authority, school and college representatives to establish whether any appeals processes are required and, if so, how they would operate. In principle we would expect any appeal to be directed in the first instance to the local authority making the funding decision, though this would have to be balanced with the bureaucracy that any process of appeals might generate.
We have set out in the “Delivering 14-19 Reform: Next Steps” document, that local authorities will make the funding decisions in relation to education provision for 16 to 18-year-olds. Sub-regional groups will not, therefore, make specific funding decisions in relation to individual providers.
Education: ICT
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what representations he has received from teaching organisations on the potential risks arising from the use of wireless technology; and if he will make a statement. [243952]
Jim Knight: In the last two years, one representation has been received from a teaching organisation. The General Secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) wrote expressing concern about the use of wireless technology. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has stated that there is no reason why wi-fi should not be used in schools.
Educational Institutions: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what estimate he has made of the number of teachers working in (a) West Chelmsford constituency, (b) Essex and (c) England who were subject to physical attack in the workplace in 2008; [243968]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of physical attacks against people working in education in West Chelmsford constituency in 2008. [243969]
Beverley Hughes: The requested information is not collected centrally.
Information about the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions as a result of a physical assault against an adult was published in Statistical First Release (SFR) 14/2008 “Permanent and Fixed Period Exclusions from Schools in England 2006/07”, available on my Department's website:
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