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25 Mar 2009 : Column 535W—continued
Education: Assessments
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in (a) comprehensive and (b) independent schools began studying for pre-U examinations in September 2008. [264254]
Jim Knight [holding answer 17 March 2009]: The Department does not hold this information.
Educational Psychologists
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what arrangements his Department has in place for the long-term training and funding of educational psychologists. [266072]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Educational psychologists (EPs) are local authority employees. It is for individual local authorities to determine, in the light of their assessment of needs and their own circumstances, the number of EPs required and their input in terms of training costs, placements, and eventual deployment.
The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is working with interested parties in order to develop a long-term and sustainable, employer-led funding and training scheme, while administering the current training arrangements. In doing so, the CWDC will continue actively to seek the views and engagement of all key stakeholders, through its Educational Psychology National Forum, and carefully examine options for future funding while working with local authorities to secure their agreement to pay into the current subscription scheme.
To assist this process, the CWDC has commissioned a workforce development model to support future planning. This will be used to help decide the number of training places needed nationally and regionally for the 2010/11 intake of students.
Further research into the role of EPs in the children’s workforce of the future is also being commissioned to inform planning.
Fast Track Teaching Programme
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) teachers responded to advertisements for the Fast Track Teaching programme and (b) retention allowances were paid to teachers in each year since the programme’s inception. [266359]
Jim Knight: The information is not available in the format requested. The programme received approximately eight times as many inquiries as the number of people accepted onto the programme.
Recruitment/retention allowances were paid to the schools of all Fast Track Teachers (FTTs) recruited from 2000-05.
| Non teachers recruited | Teachers recruited | |
From 2006/07 payments continued to the qualifying schools.
| FTTs entitled to payments | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are approximate, as some teachers left the programme early. 2. Recruitment/retention allowance was not paid in the NQT year for FTTs who joined as non-teachers and completed their PGCE as part of the programme between 2000 and 2005. | |
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for what reasons the Fast Track Teaching programme has been terminated; and whether he plans to compensate financially those already participating in the programme. [266360]
Jim Knight: The Fast Track Teaching programme was designed in 2000 and since that time the educational context and the role of school leaders has changed significantly. There is now a greater need for provision which offers those with high potential for headship a personalised, accelerated route direct to the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH). The Fast Track Teaching programme will be replaced with a new programme intended to meet better the needs of the system. The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) will continue to fund schools for the cost of the additional pay point awarded to eligible teachers who joined the Fast Track Teaching before September 2005. Fast Track teachers’ basic salaries will not be affected by the programme coming to an end. From 1 September 2009, NCSL will no longer fund schools for the recruitment/retention allowance linked to participation in the programme.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will take steps to ensure that Mr. Thomas Graham of Kingsbridge Community College receives his Fast Track Teaching programme retention allowance until 2010; and if he will make a statement. [266361]
Jim Knight: The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) will cease funding Mr. Graham’s school for the retention allowance, once the programme closes, on 31 August 2009. It is for the school to decide whether it continues to pay Mr. Graham the allowance.
In 2008, the Secretary of State accepted advice from the NCSL that the funding of schools for the cost of the allowances should cease when the programme closed.
Foundation Schools
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families under what circumstances the Secretary of State can intervene to order the closure of a foundation school; and if he will make a statement. [265691]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Secretary of State may intervene to direct the closure of a foundation school only where Ofsted has placed the school in special measures. This direction must be following consultation with the local authority, the governing body of the school and the appropriate appointing body, the appropriate diocesan authority for a Church of England or Roman Catholic school or the person who appoints the foundation governors for other foundation schools. Where a school is not in special measures proposals for the closure of a foundation school would be brought forward and decided under local decision-making arrangements.
GCSEs: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of pupils resident in West Chelmsford constituency achieved more than five A* to C grades at GCSE in each year since 1997. [261774]
Jim Knight: Information by pupil residence is only possible from 2002/03 onwards. The information shown in the table is for the last three years as a full time series going back to 2002/03 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Percentage of pupils( 1,2 ) resident in West Chelmsford constituency achieving more than five A*-C grades at GCSE and equivalents, 2005/06 to 2007/08( 3) | |
| Percentage | |
| (1) Pupils at the end of Key Stage 4. (2) Includes pupils attending maintained schools only. (3) Figures are based on final data in 2005/06 and 2006/07, and provisional data in 2007/08. Source: National Pupil Database | |
Integrated Children's System
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what criteria were used to determine the specifications for the Integrated Children’s System; and who prepared the specifications. [266461]
Beverley Hughes:
The Waterhouse report, published in February 2000, identified a number of shortcomings in children’s social services, including the failure to record, retrieve and understand the significance of information about children. The Department of Health (DH) published the conceptual framework for the Integrated Children’s System (ICS) as a consultation document in December 2002. It consisted of an integration of the “Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need
and their Families” (issued under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970) and the “Looking After Children” guidance, to provide an assessment, planning, intervention and reviewing model for all children in need. The conceptual framework was used to develop a set of requirements for local authorities to procure systems from IT suppliers to support the delivery of the model.
These requirements were subsequently specified in further detail by the Department, in response to a progress review of implementation by all local authorities in 2006. Each requirement was reviewed with reference to industry standard attributes intended to make it unambiguous, traceable, testable and measurable for compliance.
The published requirements documents detail in full the statutory and regulatory sources of each requirement. An additional source of requirements includes new criteria requested in consultation by local authorities in 2008. These documents are obtainable from the following public sources.
Integrated Children’s Sys tem Minimum Compliance Criteria
Integrated Children’s System—Phase 1B Business Requirements Specification
Integrated Children’s System Phase—1C Business Requirements Specification
Pregnant Women: Suicide
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many cases have been reported to his Department of pregnant women committing suicide as a consequence of stress caused by public family law interventions in the last 12 months. [258924]
Beverley Hughes: This information is not collected centrally.
Primary Education: Greater London
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent per pupil in primary education in (a) the London Borough of Bexley, (b) the London Borough of Greenwich and (c) the London Borough of Bromley in 2008-09. [264974]
Jim Knight: The available information on how much was spent per pupil in primary education in the London boroughs of Bexley, Greenwich and Bromley is for 2007-08 and this is shown in the following table. The information for 2008-09 is due to be submitted to the Department by 25 August 2009.
Primary Education: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent per pupil in primary education in Staffordshire in 2008-09. [264525]
Jim Knight: The available information on how much was spent per pupil in primary education in Staffordshire is for 2007-08 and this is shown in the following table. The information for 2008-09 is due to be submitted to the Department by 25 August 2009.
| School based expenditure per pupil by local authority maintained primary schools (£ per pupil) | |
| Notes: 1. School based expenditure includes only revenue expenditure incurred directly by the schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates. This excludes the central cost of support services such as home to school transport, local authority administration and the financing of capital expenditure. 2. Pupil numbers include only those pupils attending local authority maintained primary schools and are drawn from the DCSF Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10. 4. Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 18 March 2008. | |
Pupils: Health
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance is made available for schools to support children who have been diagnosed with a health condition. [265537]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Schools are encouraged to develop policies on managing medicines and supporting pupils with medical needs.
The Department has issued guidance to schools to help them support their pupils. Our guidance to schools, ‘Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings’, issued jointly with the Department of Health in 2005, gives advice to schools on how they can support pupils with medical needs. It encourages schools to draw up, in
consultation with parents and medical professionals, individual Health Care Plans for children with medical needs. Sister guidance was published in the same year, entitled ‘Including me: managing complex health needs in schools and early years settings’.
Since September 2007, schools have a duty to promote the well-being of all pupils, including those with long term medical conditions. This duty defines well-being as the five outcomes of the Every Child Matters, including being healthy and staying safe.
The Child Health Strategy, Better Health: Brighter Futures, published on 12 February, announced that the Department will be revising the guidance to schools on managing medicines which will include clear statements of expectations of those involved in supporting pupils with medical conditions, such as schools and primary care trusts. It is our intention that this work will be done in consultation with expert organisations and will be supported with an awareness raising campaign.
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