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24 Jun 2009 : Column 987W—continued


In addition three primary schools were procured through the Newcastle BSF local education partnership.

Chemistry: GCE A-level

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009, Official Report, column 1073W, on GCE A-level, how many and what percentage of the 187 schools that did not enter any pupils for an A-level in chemistry in 2006-07 entered at least one pupil for an A-level in applied science in that year. [278960]

Mr. Coaker: Of the 187 maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for an A-level in chemistry in 2006/07, 22 (12 per cent.) entered at least one candidate for a single or double award A-level in applied science in the same year.


24 Jun 2009 : Column 988W

Children In Care: Missing Persons

Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2009, Official Report, column 1067W, how many of the children who have gone missing from care have not been found; [281167]

(2) what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of children who go missing from care homes. [281163]

Dawn Primarolo: Following a consultation, the Government plan to publish revised statutory guidance about children missing from home or care shortly. This will set out the steps that must be followed whenever any child in care goes missing. This includes the local authority working with partner agencies such as the police, so that there is a systematic response whenever a child in care goes missing from their care placement.

The National Minimum Standards for Children’s Homes and Fostering Services require that all homes and fostering services should have explicit procedures to follow when children in their care may be missing or absent. We will be strengthening these Standards later this year and will include more specific guidance on action which should be taken when a child goes missing from a residential or foster home.

The Government have also launched the Young Runaways Action Plan. This brings together cross- Government action on children who run away from home or care and places particular emphasis on vulnerable children such as those who have been trafficked. More generally, a national indicator on young runaways, introduced in April this year, now requires LAs to have in place protocols for the inter-agency response to run-aways and missing children, including preventative measures.

The requested information on the number of children who have gone missing from care who have not been found is not held centrally by the Department. It is not possible to derive the number of children missing from care who have never been found, because we can only account for the situation at the end of the last completed data collection year. Children missing at the end of the data year may subsequently return into care. Information on looked after children can be found in “Statistical First Release Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008”, which is available on the Department’s website via the following link:

Table A3 shows the number looked after at 31 March each year by their placement type at 31 March, which includes a category to show those looked after who were absent from their agreed placement at that time. At 31 March 2008, the number absent from their agreed placement was 150.

Children: Databases

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much had been spent on ContactPoint on the latest date for which figures are available. [267466]


24 Jun 2009 : Column 989W

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 27 March 2009]: Expenditure on the ContactPoint Project from 2005-06 to 31 March 2009 is forecast to be £167.2 million, including £2.2 million of pre-project costs.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he plans to recommence data feeding from national systems into ContactPoint. [271500]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 27 April 2009]: Data feed from national systems will re-commence once all local authority ContactPoint management teams have been given access to ContactPoint.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people have contacted Ofsted's safeguarding children whistleblower hotline since its inception. [278971]

Dawn Primarolo: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.

Letter from Christine Gilbert, 15 June 2009:

Class Sizes

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children were taught in classes of more than 30 pupils in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [278341]

Mr. Coaker: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

The table supplied shows the numbers of pupils in classes of 31 or more, where the class is taught by one teacher for primary and secondary schools combined. Latest figures for classes taught by more than one teacher can be found on the departmental website at:

(tables B12 and B14).

Family Courts: Personnel

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service employees over the age of 65 years have been refused contract extensions in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [281623]


24 Jun 2009 : Column 990W

Dawn Primarolo: The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) has not refused any contract extensions for employees over the age of 65 years in the last 12 months.

Further Education: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of children resident in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point were in further education (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which information is available. [280446]

Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is shown in the table for Essex local education authority(LEA). This information is not available below LEA level.

Proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds( 1) in Essex LEA in education and Work Based Learning
Percentage

End 1997 End 2007

Full-time further education

Age 16

71

75

Age 17

57

62

All aged 16 and 17

64

69

All education and Work Based Learning

Age 16

80

83

Age 17

69

72

All aged 16 and 17

74

78

(1) The age of a learner is measured at the beginning of the academic year, 31 August.
Source:
Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year Olds in England
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000849/index.shtml

GCE A-Level

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of maintained mainstream schools did not enter any pupils for an A level in English in each year since 2005. [277960]

Mr. Coaker: The information is given in the following table:

Number of maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for a GCE A level in English Percentage of maintained mainstream schools that did not enter any pupils for a GCE A level in English

2005

38

2.2

2006

31

1.8

2007

32

1.8

2008

22

1.3

Note:
Only schools published in the AATs have been included.
Source:
School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables (AAT) data.

24 Jun 2009 : Column 991W

GCSE

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what proportion of pupils achieved five GCSEs at grades A* to B in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement; [277514]

(2) what proportion of pupils achieved five GCSEs at grade A* to B in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [277899]

Mr. Coaker: The information is given in the following table:

Percentage of pupils achieving five or more A*-B grades at GCSE

Percentage

1996/97

25.6

1997/98

24.9

1998/99

26.1

1999/00

26.9

2000/01

27.0

2001/02

27.6

2002/03

27.5

2003/04

27.7

2004/05

29.1

2005/06

29.6

2006/07

30.0

2007/08

32.7

Note:
Figures include achievements in full GCSEs and vocational GCSEs.
Source:
Achievement and Attainment Tables data.

Figures prior to 2004/05 relate to 15-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in all schools. Figures for 2004/05 onwards relate to pupils at the end of Key Stage 4.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of maintained mainstream schools did not enter any pupils for a GCSE in (a) geography and (b) history in 2008. [278956]

Mr. Coaker: Of all the mainstream maintained schools, 133 (4.3 per cent.) did not enter any pupils for GCSE geography in 2008.

Of all the mainstream maintained schools, 96 (3.1 per cent.) did not enter any pupils for GCSE history in 2008.

Data relate to pupils at the end of KS4 and include GCSE only.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) in how many and what proportion of mainstream maintained schools no pupil has achieved a grade of G or above in GCSE history in each year since 1997; [280442]

(2) in how many and what proportion of mainstream maintained schools no pupil has achieved a grade of C or above in GCSE history in each year since 1997. [280443]

Mr. Coaker [holding answer 17 June 2009]: The information for 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2008 is given in the tables. Figures for other years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.


24 Jun 2009 : Column 992W

In order to protect confidentiality, it is usual and accepted practice to only give achievement and attainment performance information for schools with more than 10 pupils in the particular category (in this case, more than 10 pupils entered for GCSE history). However, as no schools are named, it is possible to simply give a count of the number of schools. It would not be possible to name schools with fewer that 10 pupils in the particular category.

Mainstream maintained schools in which no pupil achieved a grade C or above in GCSE history
All schools

Number of schools with more than 10 pupils attempting GCSE history Number of schools with 10 or fewer pupils attempting GCSE history Number Percentage

2008

3

139

142

4.9

2006

7

113

120

4.0

2003

10

102

112

3.8

2000

12

94

106

3.6

1997

23

114

137

4.6


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