| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
24 Feb 2009 : Column 741W—continued
Children
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department has issued on which “Every Child Matters” outcomes should be directly linked to the curriculum. [257820]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has published “Every Child Matters” at the heart of the curriculum booklet. This explores the place of “Every Child Matters” as a fundamental part of the curriculum, why each outcome is important and the implications for curriculum design. It also looks at the type of learning experiences—both in the curriculum and out of lessons—that schools can design to achieve each of the “Every Child Matters” outcomes.
There is further QCA guidance on the importance of the “Every Child Matters” outcomes in designing an effective new secondary curriculum, available at:
Children In Care
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils who were children in care (a) lived and (b) attended school in the most deprived decile of lower layer super output areas as determined by the income deprivation affecting children indices in 2008. [256431]
Beverley Hughes: The information requested is as follows:
4,847 pupils(1,)( )(2 )who were children in care live in the most deprived decile of lower layer super output areas as determined by IDACI3 2008. This represents 14.2 per cent. of all pupils who were children in care of known residence in England.
4,245 pupils(1,)( )(2 )who were children in care attend school in the most deprived decile of lower layer super output areas as determined by IDACI(3) in 2008. This represents 12.3 per cent. of all pupils who were children in care attending schools in England.
(1)( )Includes solely registered and main registration of dually registered pupils.
(2)( )Includes pupils aged five to 19 years attending maintained nursery, primary, secondary, CTC's, Academies, special and non-maintained special schools.
(3 )Income Deprivation Affecting Children Indices.
Source:
Spring 2008 School Census
Departmental Cleaning Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what contractors his Department uses to undertake cleaning duties; and what the hourly rates of pay are for cleaners working in his Department. [256980]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families engages MITIE Cleaning and Support Services Ltd (MCSS) to undertake cleaning duties across its headquarter buildings located in London, Sheffield, Runcorn and Darlington. The cleaning staff are paid national minimum wage, however, it is our intention to pay London based cleaning staff £7.45 per hour with effect from 1 April 2009.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people were employed by his Department as consultants in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [256904]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In keeping with good procurement practice most consultancy engagements placed by DCSF are based on a requirement for the delivery of outcomes or outputs, and not for the number of people employed. Our management information system reflects this and records the numbers and values of contracts or engagements, rather than individual consultants. We are, therefore, unable to answer the question in the way it has been asked. However, the total number of live consultancy engagements in DCSF at the end of November 2008 was 329 and at the end of November 2007 was 202. The equivalent figure for the Department for Education and Skills at the end of November 2006 was 146. Figures were not kept centrally for previous years. The increase partly reflects the need for additional input from external experts on our delivery programmes (such as academies and contact point) and partly better recording as new systems we introduced in 2006-07 bedded in.
Departmental Impact Assessments
Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many equalities
impact assessments his Department has undertaken in the last 12 month period for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such assessments. [255079]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: 27 equality impact assessments (EQUIAs) have been undertaken within DCSF in the last 12 month period. There are no significant additional costs in carrying out these assessments as the requirement to undertake EQUIAs is an integral part of the policy making process.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has allocated for staff bonuses in 2008-09. [252250]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department’s annual non-consolidated performance payments for 2008-09 totalled £1.9 million and was met within existing pay controls.
Payments are used to drive high performance and those for the senior civil service are based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.
Education: Standards
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to encourage and improve (a) individual, (b) parental and (c) community responsibility in improving education standards. [253804]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It is important that individuals, parents and schools should all take responsibility for improvements in educational standards. In fact this is essential if the nation is to get a proper return on the large and growing investment in education in the early years and in schools, colleges and universities. Education standards have risen greatly over the past decade, thanks in part to the partnership between the education system and the young people whom it exists to support, but there is more to do. The Children’s Plan set out the Government’s commitment to put children and young people, their families and their communities at the heart of everything we do. Partnership with parents is a unifying theme of the Children’s Plan, and the chapter entitled “Excellence and Equity” sets out further steps the Government are taking to extend and deepen this partnership, and to respond to the views of pupils themselves. It is also vital to raise educational aspirations at both family and community level, and the recently announced cross-Government project “Inspiring Communities” is one example of how this vision is being carried forward.
GCE A-level
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in each decile of income deprivation affecting children indices achieved three A grades at A level in 2008. [251116]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Candidates( 1) aged 16-18( 2) achieving 3 A grades at A-level in maintained schools by IDACI decile( 3) , 2008( 4) | ||
| IDACI Decile( 3) | Number of candidates achieving 3 or mo re A grades at GCEA/CE/Applied A-l evel and double awards | Percentage of candidates achieving 3 or more A grades( 5) at GCEA/CE/Applied A -l evel and double awards |
| (1)( )16-18 year old candidates entered for GCEA/CE applied A-levels and double awards in 2008. (2)( )Age at the start of the 2007/08 academic year i.e. 31 August 2007. (3)( )2007 income deprivation affecting children index at super output area level based on the location of the school. (4)( )Figures are based on revised data. (5)( )A VCE/GCE Applied double award at grade AA counts as two grade As, an award at grade AB counts as one. | ||
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of students who gained an A-level in (a) sociology, (b) media studies and (c) communication and culture at each grade were educated in (i) the independent sector and (ii) the state sector in each year since 2005. [248481]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is presented in the following tables.
| Proportion of candidates gaining each grade in A-level sociology who were educated in the state and independent sectors, 2005-08 | |||||||
| Grade | |||||||
| Sociology | A | B | C | D | E | Other | Total |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |