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29 Jun 2009 : Column 49W—continued

Summary of full bids :

Bids to run universal FSMs


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Bids to run extension of FSM eligibility

Decided not to submit a bid

Pupil Exclusions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in each local authority area received three or more fixed-period exclusions in the most recent year for which figures are available. [282920]

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

School Choice

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research he has commissioned on the effect on educational outcomes of levels of parental choice of school. [282629]

Ms Diana R. Johnson: There is currently no research commissioned to specifically measure the impact of parental choice of school upon educational outcomes. We collect and publish data annually from local authorities on applications and offers of secondary school places. As these data are at local authority level and not at individual pupil level it is not possible to accurately use these data to measure impact.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of schools staff have been admitted to hospital as a result of violent behaviour by pupils in the last 12 months. [282441]


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Mr. Coaker: The requested information is not held centrally by the Department. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) collects data on physical injuries resulting from acts of violence suffered by people at work, reportable under Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. The data include injuries to staff resulting in more than three days absence from work, sustained from a physical assault.

We intend to introduce new requirements on schools to record incidents of bullying between pupils, and incidents of verbal and physical abuse against school staff. We will consult on these new requirements in the autumn. We will also consult on whether schools should also be required to report these records to their local authority, and whether they should be required to record and report these incidents by type where the incident is motivated by a particular form of prejudice i.e. as racist, homophobic bullying incidents. We will introduce the new legislation in 2010.

The table shows the provisional figures for injuries to school staff involving acts of violence reported to HSE in 2007/08.

Injuries to school staff( 1) involving acts of violence( 2) reported to HSE, 2007/08( 3)
Occupation (SOC 2000) Non-fatal major injuries Over-three-day injuries Total

Secondary education teaching professionals

5

49

54

Primary and nursery education teaching professionals

4

13

17

Special needs education teaching professionals

5

28

33

Teaching professionals n.e.c.(4)

12

60

72

(1) Identified by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2000).
(2) Acts of violence are a reportable injury defined under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995. Only physical injuries resulting from acts of violence suffered by people at work are reportable under RIDDOR, physical injuries resulting from acts of violence suffered by members of the public are not reportable under RIDDOR.
There is no category in HSE’s coding framework that specifically identifies the violent behaviour of school pupils. The data supplied use an agent classification from HSE’s coding framework that categorises those ‘persons receiving care’, and this will include school pupils, but may also include social/health care clients or people in custody.
(3) Provisional.
(4) The SOC2000 handbook provides the following definition: ‘Workers in this unit group perform a variety of other education and teaching functions not elsewhere classified in MINOR GROUP 231: Teaching Professionals.’

Schools: Finance

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent research he has evaluated on the relationship between levels of funding for schools and pupils’ academic performance. [282681]

Mr. Coaker: In recent years, the Department has sponsored a number of externally conducted research projects in this area. They are as follows:

1. Impact of School Resources on Attainment at Key Stage 2


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2. Estimating the Relationship between School Resources and Pupil Attainment at Key Stage 3

3. Resources and Attainment at Key Stage 4—Estimates from a Dynamic Methodology

4. Estimating the Relationship between School Resources and Pupil Attainment at GCSE

5. Investigating the Effective Use of Resources in Secondary Schools

6. Analysis of Secondary School Efficiency: Final Report

7. Tackling the Endogeneity Problem when Estimating the Relationship Between School Spending and Pupil Outcomes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding his Department has allocated for enhancements to the Integrated Children’s System in 2009-10; what criteria were used in determining such allocations; and how much of such funding has been passed to local authorities. [282921]

Dawn Primarolo: A capital grant of £6.4 million will be allocated to local authorities in 2009-10. This was announced by my Department on 22 June in a circular to all local authorities, which set out the practical steps the Government will take to help local authorities in improving their systems to support delivery of children’s social care services. The circular described the broad terms under which this funding would be allocated. All authorities will be eligible for capital grant, and the grant will be available for use at local authorities’ sole discretion for supporting any measures necessary to make improvements to current ICS implementations; making modifications to local systems consistent with the simplification of requirements; or progressing further with Phase 1C of the ICS Project in those local authorities that regard this as a priority.

Full details of individual local authorities’ allocations will be set out in a funding circular. Some £3 million of this will be allocated as a fixed amount to each authority, and the balance will be allocated according to a standard formula principally related to size of local child population.


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Schools: Tamworth

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding has been allocated for the development of environmental education initiatives in schools in Tamworth constituency in 2009-10. [282426]

Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department does not allocate funding directly to support environmental education initiatives in specific schools. Environmental education is one of the key concepts for the study of geography in the new secondary curriculum and the Action Plan for Geography supports this, by providing professional development opportunities for teachers in the regions to help them embed sustainable development and environmental education in their classroom practice. We are also working with stakeholders, including the Government Office West Midlands and local authorities, to engage and support schools work towards the DCSF's Sustainable Schools strategy which aims for all schools to be sustainable by 2020. The strategy is guided by a commitment to care for the environment both locally and nationally and a national framework has been established to help schools identify areas on which they can focus to develop their sustainability practices.

Special Educational Needs: Per Capita Costs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average cost of educating a pupil with special educational needs was in a (a) special school, (b) mainstream primary school and (c) mainstream secondary school in the latest period for which figures are available. [282649]

Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department’s records, based on financial data taken from local authorities’ Section 52 Budget returns and the January 2008 School Census, estimate the average gross cost of educating a pupil with special educational needs (SEN) during the 2008 -09 financial year is as follows:

School type Average cost per pupil with special educational needs (£)

Special school

25,810

Mainstream primary

5,500

Mainstream secondary

6,490


These estimated figures include planned expenditure on provision for pupils with statements and the provision for non-statemented pupils with SEN.

The special school figure differs from that given on 15 June 2009, Official Report, column 136W, to the hon. Member as the calculation of that figure was based only on the Individual School Budget for special schools.

The above special school figure includes other additional costs often incurred by local authorities, such as support for inclusion, inter authority recoupment, fees for pupils
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at independent special schools, educational psychology services, local authority functions in relation to child protection, therapies and other health-related services, parent partnership, guidance and information, the monitoring of SEN provision and inclusion administration, and assessment and co-ordination. Hence the higher figure. The above figure does however exclude any allowance for SEN related transport costs.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dairy Farming

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects on dairy farmers in (a) England and (b) West Derbyshire of the failure of Dairy Farmers UK; and if he will make a statement. [282450]

Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 26 June 2009]: Dairy Farmers of Britain had 1,800 farmer members when they went into receivership on 3 June. Over 96 per cent. of their milk has found new outlets. On 17 June, 190 farmer members, including several in Derbyshire, had yet to find a new buyer, and the receiver was continuing to collect their milk.

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