| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 Feb 2009 : Column 2234W—continued
Re-offenders
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the re-offending rates in the 12 months following release were of inmates from (a) Oakhill, (b) Medway, (c) Rainsbrook and (d) Hassockfield secure training centre in the latest period for which information is available. [256470]
Mr. Hanson: Data are not available for the re-offending rates of young offenders released from individual secure training centres. Individual establishment names are not included in the datasets used to produce the re-offending statistics.
However, information on the rate of re-offending for all young offenders released from custody (either from Young Offender Institutions, Secure Training Centres
or Secure Children’s Homes) is available, covering the period 2000 to 2006. These data are shown in the following table.
| Quarter 1 each year : | Number of offenders | Proportion of offenders re-offending (one year) | Number of offences per 100 offenders (one year) |
The latest re-offending statistics for juveniles, ‘Re-offending of juveniles: results from the 2006 cohort’, were published in September 2008 and can be obtained from:
Secure Training Centres: Young People
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persons under 16 years old were released from secure training centres in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and how many of those returned to full-time education upon release in each such year. [256503]
Mr. Hanson:
The following table shows the numbers of sentenced young people aged under 16 who have
been released from secure training centres in the last three years. These statistics have been provided by the YJB.
| Sentenced young people under 16 released from STCs | |
| Number | |
Data on the number of young people aged under 16 who return to full-time education on release from secure training centres are not available.
Youth Custody
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persons aged 16 to 21 were released from custody other than from secure training centres and secure children's homes in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and what percentage of those (a) entered employment and (b) returned to education or training upon release in each such year. [256505]
Mr. Hanson: Data of this nature are only available by entire establishment type and it is not possible to separate out specific age groups.
The National Offender Management Service did not start recording employment and education/training data separately until April 2007. The following table shows data for 2007-08 and for April 2008 to December 2008 (latest available figures(1)).
(1) Data is provisional and subject to ongoing validation.
Counting rules for discharge data changed in 2007-08 and are not comparable with previous years
Children, Schools and Families
Building Schools for the Future Programme
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much capital spending has been brought forward by his Department to (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10 for (i) Building Schools for the Future and (ii) all other capital spending; and if he will make a statement. [255266]
Jim Knight: The Department is bringing forward capital allocations from 2010-11 to 2009-10 as part of its contribution to the £3 billion government-wide stimulus programme described in the pre-Budget report.
BSF typically involves the design and build of entire new schools which are less suitable for bringing forward quickly for construction in a 12 month period. The pipeline of business for BSF, however, continues to increase as planned. The Department is already committed to ensure build takes place as rapidly as possible, and it has not been practicable to accelerate this further.
It is planned to bring forward other capital allocations amounting to approximately £800 million from 2010-11 to 2009-10. The mix of programmes making this up will be determined by replies received from local authorities.
Children: Databases
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 29 January, Official Report, columns 833-34W, on children: databases, how much of such spending was incurred in each local authority area in each year. [255625]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 9 February 2009]: I will make available a document which sets out grants provided to local authorities covering the period 2005/06 to 2009/10. Grants have yet to be decided for the financial years 2010/11 and 2011/12. This document will placed be in the Libraries.
Children: Day Care
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in child care settings have achieved GCSE English grade C or above. [249699]
Beverley Hughes: The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey collects information about the qualifications held by all paid staff working for child care and early years providers. The questionnaire is designed to pick up only qualifications that were relevant to working with young people and children. Qualifications are grouped together in the levels that they have been accredited with by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. Level 2 (intermediate level) refers to GCSE A*-C, Intermediate GNVQ, and Level 2 NVQ. Separate data for GCSE English A*-C is not available.
Tables 1 and 2 show the proportion of all paid staff qualified to at least Level 2, by type of provision, for 2007.
| Table 1: Staff qualified to at least Level 2 for all paid staff | |
| Percentage | |
| Base: All paid childcare staff 2007. All childminders 2007. | |
| Table 2: Staff qualified to at least Level 2 for all paid staff | |
| Percentage | |
| Base: All paid early years staff 2007. | |
Children: Protection
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of (a) child protection and (b) looked-after children reviews were held within the required timescales in the last 12 months. [247386]
Beverley Hughes: In the year ending 31 March 2008, 99 per cent. of child protection cases were reviewed within required timescales. This figure has been taken from the statistical first release “Referrals, Assessments and Children and Young People who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan, England—year ending 31 March 2008”, which can be found at the following link:
In the year ending 31 March 2007, 85.3 per cent. of looked-after children reviews were held within the required
time scales. This figure have been taken from the statistical first release “Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2007”, which can be found at the following link:
This figure for the year ending March 2008 is not yet available and will be published as soon as possible in the following location on the DCSF website:
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2009, Official Report, column 837W, on children: protection, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter. [255636]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 9 February 2009]: The letter has been placed in the Libraries.
Letter from Beverley Hughes, dated 29 January 2009:
I have seen the final Annual Performance Assessment (APA) letter for Birmingham, which was published by Ofsted on 17 December 2008.
I was very concerned to see that inspectors have identified a number of issues around safeguarding services for children and young people in Birmingham and judged the “Staying Safe” strand to be inadequate. I am also concerned that four out of five Serious Case Reviews have recently been judged to be inadequate by Ofsted.
I recognise that you have taken a series of actions since April 2008 to address weaknesses in your children's social care service. I welcome that you have decided to personally chair a Task Force to address the weaknesses identified and to drive forward improvements in children's social care. I would like your Children's Services Adviser in the Government Office for the West Midlands, Kay Whyte-Bell, to be a member of this Task Force. She will report to me monthly on progress. I am also pleased that you are receiving support from your Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership to appoint an Assistant Director to your new management structure.
However, given the critical importance of managing risks to children's safety and the need to ensure that progress is made swiftly and decisively, I have instructed my officials to work with Birmingham to provide a package of intervention support. This package will consist of:
Bringing in an additional two interim Assistant Directors for your safeguarding service, as per your new management structure, through my Department's Children's Services Improvement Framework. The Department will contribute 50% of the costs towards these interim posts. GOWM will quality-assure the procurement process. I have also requested that they quality-assure the potential candidates for your Service Director post and your third Assistant Director post, for which you have received funding from your Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership.
A small team of external consultants to conduct a root-and-branch review of the Local Safeguarding Children's Board (LSCB) and provide recommendations on its operation and structure. This review will look closely at the organisation of Serious Case Reviews and whether changes need to be made to the handling of such cases. This team will also work with middle managers in your Duty and Assessment team and other front-line social care teams to develop performance management systems to ensure current work is on track and meeting requirements that will lead to the improvements necessary.
Enhanced monitoring from GOWM. I understand the Children's Services Adviser and Social Care Specialist Support Manager are receiving fortnightly progress reports regarding your Serious Case Reviews and the Secretary of State's commission to review SCRs judged inadequate by Ofsted. I have asked for progress on SCRs
to be included in the monthly reports that will be provided to me by the Children's Services Adviser.
I am keen to see swift improvements in Birmingham and for children, young people and families to receive the service they deserve. 1 have decided therefore to underpin the improvement measures and progress I expect with an Improvement Notice. This will give Birmingham City Council twelve months to demonstrate robust and sustained progress, with a review after six months. Should improvement not be sufficient at either six or twelve months, I will need to consider the use of statutory powers to direct a solution. 1 am sure you will understand the necessity of this course of action, given we are dealing with safeguarding provision for vulnerable children and young people. My officials will be in touch shortly to discuss a draft Improvement Notice before I formally issue the Notice to the Council.
I know that we share a commitment to delivering improved outcomes for Birmingham's children and young people. It is vital now that we work together in order to achieve that goal.
I am copying this letter to Councillor Les Lawrence (Lead Member for Children, Young People and Families), Stephen Hughes (Chief executive) and the Director of Children's Services (Tony Howell). A copy will also be circulated to local MPs.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |