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27 Apr 2009 : Column 1139W—continued
Children in Care
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what accredited pre-tenancy training is available for young people leaving care; and what steps are being taken to make such training available to all young people leaving care. [271313]
Beverley Hughes: Local authorities are legally required to prepare a pathway plan setting out the support that will be provided to care leavers so that they can make a positive transition from their care placement to more independent accommodation. This plan will include details of any services that the individual young person might need so that they are able to successfully manage a future tenancy.
Responsible local authorities for looked after children must not expect them to leave their final care placement unless they are properly prepared and ready. The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 includes provision that prevents local authorities moving a looked after child from a regulated placement to other arrangements, such as an independent tenancy, unless they have decided to do so following a statutory review of the child's case. It will be the purpose of this review, which must be chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), to ensure that there is detailed scrutiny of the preparation of the young person's readiness to make this significant step in their lives—so that moves only take place when young people have gained the skills needed to manage in more independent accommodation.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of children in care have parents that are (a) married or (b) living as a couple. [271322]
Beverley Hughes: This information is not collected centrally by the Department.
Children in Care: Personal Records
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what entitlement a young person who has left the care of a local authority has to access personal information held on them by that local authority; what guidance is issued by his Department to local authorities in responding to requests for such information; and what redress is available to a young person whose request does not receive a response within a reasonable time. [271314]
Beverley Hughes: Under the Data Protection Act 1998 adults who have been in local authority care as children are entitled to access the personal information held on them. Guidance on the Data Protection Act for social services was issued by the Department of Health in 2000. This highlights the need for local authorities to take a sensitive approach in sharing information with adults about their care history and for authorities to provide them with appropriate support during this process. The planned revision of the Children Act statutory guidance which we will be consulting on later this year provides us with the opportunity to update the existing guidance for local authorities, and to promote examples of good practice.
Children in Care: Warrington
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities have placed children or young people in their care in Warrington in each of the last five years; and how many of these children or young people were placed in the care of each local authority. [271312]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the local authorities who have placed children or young people in their care in Warrington in each of the last three years and how many children were so placed in the care of each local authority has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Information on the local authority in which a child has been placed has been collected only since 2006.
Children: Abuse
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children have been removed from their parents following a single incident of child harm in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [270215]
Beverley Hughes: This information is not collected centrally by the Department.
Children: Internet
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment his Department has made of levels of workforce knowledge and skills in relation to e-safety following its consultation with the Children's Workforce Network. [271296]
Beverley Hughes: The report "Safer Children in a Digital World" of the Byron review into Children and New Technology, published in 2008, identified a need for people who work with children and young people to have greater skills and knowledge in order to promote e-safety. To enhance the levels of workforce knowledge and skills, the Children's Workforce Network has since recommended that promoting e-safety should be part of core skills and knowledge for everyone working with children and young people. We have asked the Children's Workforce Development Council to consider this recommendation as part of the review they are undertaking of the common core of skills and knowledge for the children and young people's workforce.
Communications Champion
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he has appointed a Communications Champion as referred to in the Speech, Language and Communication Needs Action Plan. [270084]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We are working to fulfil the commitment made in “Better Communication”—the speech, language and communication needs action plan—to appoint an effective Communication Champion and form a Communication Council. This week we have openly invited tenders for an organisation to provide support to the Communication Champion and the Communication Council and host the Communication Champion. The deadline for tenders is midday on 15 June 2009 and we expect to complete this procurement exercise by mid-July. More information about this tender is available at:
While this tendering exercise is going on, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health are making arrangements for an agency to run an open recruitment exercise for the Communication Champion. The recruitment exercise is expected to begin before the end of July once it is clear which organisation will host the champion. The champion will be appointed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department of Health with the approval of Ministers at the end of this recruitment exercise.
Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many officials in his Department are suspended; how many are suspended on full pay; for how long each has been suspended; and what the reasons are for each such suspension. [270415]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In the Department, as at 31 March 2009, no employees were suspended from duty.
Departmental Freedom of Information
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many requests his Department received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in 2008; and how many of those were answered within 20 working days. [269881]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Quarterly and annual statistics on freedom of information requests received by a number of central Government monitored bodies (including all Departments of state) are published by the Ministry of Justice on their website:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomof informationquarterly.htm
Statistics for the first three quarters of 2008 are available on the above website and the fourth quarter will be published in due course.
Departmental ICT
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the (a) energy consumed by, (b) energy cost of and (c) carbon dioxide emissions from each category of IT device in each division of his Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [269553]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) does not maintain central records of the energy consumed by; energy cost of; or carbon emissions from its IT devices therefore the information as requested is not available.
However, DCSF is currently developing a system for monitoring the power usage of its IT devices.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average server capacity utilisation by each division of his Department and its predecessor was in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [269585]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No records on average server capacity utilisation are held centrally within the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) therefore the information as requested is not available.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) printers and (b) multi-function devices with printing functions were in use in each division of his Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years; how many such devices had a function enabling two-sided printing; and if he will make a statement. [269605]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) does not maintain historic records of the number of printers and other devices with printing functionality in use throughout its estate and therefore the information is not accessible. However, to be helpful, the following information is available.
Records show that the number of devices in use throughout the DCSF estate on 5 March 2009 was:
Printers—146
Multi-function devices—165
Specialist printing devices including plotters—6
All of DCSF’s multi-function devices have double sided printing capability. It is not known how many of the printers and specialist printing devices were capable of double sided printing.
To reduce the use of power and consumables, it is currently planned that by the end of June 2009, DCSF will have replaced almost all of its individual printers, scanners, photocopiers and fax machines with multi-function devices on all of its sites, all of which will be
capable of and defaulted to double sided printing. It is anticipated that a small number of individual printing devices will remain in use primarily for reasonable adjustments purposes.
The Department does not hold records for its Arms Length Bodies.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his latest estimate is of his Department’s capital expenditure in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [268114]
Jim Knight: The estimates of capital expenditure for the Department’s capital expenditure in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12 are as follows:
| £ million | |
| (1) As the Government works on three-year spending cycles (comprehensive spending reviews), the current cycle is due to finish on 31 March 2010, and as such, the Department at present does not have an estimate of anticipated capital expenditure for 2011-12. | |
Education Maintenance Allowance
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2009, Official Report, column 1951W, on the education maintenance allowance, how many students have (a) received a notice of entitlement for the education maintenance allowance, (b) successfully enrolled for the allowance and (c) received at least one payment since September 2008. [270374]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which operates the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Geoffrey Russell, the LSC’s acting chief executive, will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.
Islam and Citizenship Education Project
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many area-based consultants are involved in delivering the Islam and Citizenship Education project; what funding they receive; how this is monitored; and if he will make a statement. [270417]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry:
One area lead has been appointed to manage the piloting of the Islam and Citizenship Education (ICE) project in each of the six pilot areas (with two for the Bradford and Kirklees area). Each receives £5,500 for this work (divided into two for Bradford/Kirklees). They have each been contracted by the School Development Support Agency (SDSA), which manages the ICE project on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Communities and Local Government. Their role is
to recruit and support five madrassahs to pilot the programme of lessons. The SDSA monitors the area leads through regular contact and quarterly formal meetings.
GCSE
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of pupils (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals have been entered for (i) higher and (ii) foundation tier GCSEs in (A) mathematics, (B) English, (C) science, (D) additional science and (E) history in each of the last five years. [268493]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not held centrally.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many GCSE short courses are accounted for in his Department’s league tables. [268495]
Jim Knight: In 2008, results from 982,502 GCSE shorts courses were included in the Achievement and Attainment Tables, covering 31 separate accredited subjects. GCSE short courses count at half the size of a full GCSE course in aggregated point scores.
Source:
Achievement and Attainment Tables’ database.
Languages: GCSE
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of schools with a specialism in modern foreign languages offer more than one modern language GCSE. [259098]
Jim Knight: The Department does not hold information on the subjects offered by schools at key stage 4.
Of all schools with a specialism in languages, 349 (99.4 per cent.) entered pupils for assessment in at least two modern foreign languages at GCSE or equivalent in 2008. Schools with 10 or fewer pupils at the end of key stage 4 have not been included in this answer.
Source:
Achievement and Attainment Tables’ database.
Literature: GCSE
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many boys in (a) maintained and (b) independent schools were entered for an English literature GCSE examination in (i) 1997, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2008; and how many in each category achieved (A) grade A*, (B) at least grade C and (C) grade D or lower in each year. [257526]
Jim Knight: The answer is provided in the following table.
| 2008 | 2005 | 1997 | ||||
| GCSE English literature | Maintained | Independent | Maintained | Independent | Maintained | Independent |
| Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables. | ||||||
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