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8 July 2009 : Column 887W—continued
Children's Play: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has allocated for children's play schemes in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point in 2009-10. [282065]
Mr. Coaker: Essex began receiving play funding from April 2009, as part of the second wave of the children's plan play capital investment programme. The authority has been allocated £545,655 capital funding and £27,681 revenue funding for 2009-10.
This capital investment programme will provide capital and revenue funding to every one of the 152 top-tier local authorities in England in order to develop/improve play spaces. Decisions on where the capital funding is spent within local authority boundaries are taken locally, based on providing improved play spaces where they are most needed and involving a robust consultation process with local children and young people, families and wider communities.
Day Care
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assistance his Department provides for parents returning to work in respect of day care. [283501]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government provide a wide range of child care support for parents returning to work:
The child care element of working tax credits provides help with child care for low and middle income working families. Parents working 16 or more hours per week can claim up to £140 per week for one child or £240 per week for two or more children.
From 2006 all parents have also been able to take tax and NIC exempt child care vouchers worth up to £55 week from their salary, if their employer is signed up to offer the scheme.
The Free Entitlement for three and four-year-olds is available to every family, whether or not they are in work. Every child is eligible for a free place for 12.5 hours per week, for 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their third birthday until they go to school. Almost 95 per cent. of three-year-olds and virtually all four-year-olds accessed at least some of their free place in 2009.
We are currently rolling out an extension to 15 hours, which will be available across the country from September 2010. And, we are building on the universal entitlement for three and four-year-olds by making early years provision for four-year-olds more generous. From autumn 2011, to make sure children have the best start to their primary education, all children will be entitled to start school in the September after their fourth birthday, or be offered 25 hours of free early learning a week.
Extended services in and around schools offer opportunities for families with school-aged children to access regular and reliable child care and enriching activities. There are currently over 17,000 extended schools (around 81 per cent. of the total) and we are working to ensure that all schools are offering services which are tailored to their community’s needs by 2010.
For those parents training in order to return to work, “Free Childcare for Training and Learning for Work”, started nationally in April 2009. It offers free child care for 50,000 low-income parents across the country and is aimed at helping families where one parent or partner is working and the other wants to learn or train. Child care support is available to single parents training for work through Jobcentre Plus and “Care to Learn” offers child care support to parents under the age of 20 who are in training.
We are also working with HMRC and the London Development Agency to test different ways to deliver support for childcare through tax credits or through supply side funding, so parents in parts of London and the South East may have extra help available to them.
It is also important that parents have access to enough information to be able to make choices about their children’s care and what will work best for them and their children as they return to work. That is why we operate a free national telephone helpline for child care, have established over 3,000 Sure Start Children’s Centres across the country, offering integrated services and information for families with children under five years old, and ensure that every local authority offers advice and information to parents of children of all ages, most commonly through Families Information Services.
Departmental Advisory Bodies, Tribunals and Corporations
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the (a) most recent annual budget, (b) purpose and (c) staff complement is of each of his Department's (i) advisory bodies, (ii) tribunals and (iii) corporations. [283291]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The following answer outlines the (a) most recent annual budget, (b) purpose and (c) staff complement of the each of the Department's (i) advisory bodies, (ii) tribunals and (iii) corporations.
Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group
(a) Net annual budget is £0.04 million.
(b) The Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group is an advisory NDPB which monitors and advises Ministers on the Government's 10-year teenage pregnancy strategy to reduce teenage conceptions and improve support for teenage parents. It is funded through Teenage Pregnancy Programme.
(c) The body does not employ any staff.
Teachers' TV board of Governors
(a) Net annual budget is £0.14 million.
(b) The board acts as a high-powered advisory body that informs decisions taken by the Department. The board provides open accountability about the plans and performance of Teachers TV to the channel's audience, stakeholders and to the public. The board upholds the editorial independence of Teachers TV; ensures that the channel supplier adopts the best practices of a UK public service broadcaster; advises the Department on ways that Teachers TV could develop so that it best meets the need of its audience; approves the supplier's Statement of Content Policy; helps ensure the Teachers TV supplier is held accountable for the public funds it receives via an annual performance review; and acts as an ambassador for the service.
(c) The board is supported by one FTE employed by the Department.
(a) The group does not have a dedicated budget.
(b) There are three expert groups (ages 0-7, 8-13, and 14-19) whose remit will be to look at services and policies affecting children, young people and families and to make recommendations to the Secretary of State on how best to deliver his long-term objectives to:
Improve the health and well-being of children and young people.
Safeguard the young and vulnerable.
Close the gap in educational achievement between those from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers.
‘Raise our game’ on raising standards.
Increase post-16 participation and attainment.
Increase the number of children and young people on the path to success.
(c) The group does not employ any staff.
(a) Net annual budget of £0.74 million.
(b) The Information Standards Board (ISB) for education, skills and children's services in England is the system-wide authority for all information and data standards. Its mission is to facilitate information sharing across the system; agree information standards to aid frontline delivery; improve efficiency, reduce costs and minimise bureaucracy. The ISB is designated as an Internal Advisory Committee, but has ministerial authority to make recommendations and approve decisions on behalf of the system.
(c) The board does not employ staff directly. A part-time independent Chairman is appointed by the Ministers. A Secretariat of 0.75 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff is provided is provided by the Department. A Technical Support Service of 2.5 FTE is provided under contract.
Talent and Enterprise Taskforce
(a) The net annual budget is £4 million.
(b) The purpose of the Talent and Enterprise Taskforce is to promote the imperative of enabling everyone to discover, develop and apply their talents to fulfil their own aspirations and contribute to Britain's success in the new global economy. The Talent and
Enterprise Taskforce is based in the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) but reports through to the cross-government Talent and Enterprise Committee.
(c) The taskforce currently employs 4.6 FTE.
National Council for Educational Excellence
(a) The net annual budget is £0.01 million.
(b) The National Council for Educational Excellence (NCEE) was set up to provide advice to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families about strategy and measures to achieve world-class education performance for all children and young people from birth to age 19. It published its recommendation in October 2008. Since then council members have been working on implementation. Council members act as advocates and champions to transform expectations and aspirations for the education system, and to rally the teaching professions, businesses, the third sector, universities and colleges, schools and parents to raise standards year on year.
(c) The council does not employ any staff however currently one FTE co-ordinates its activities.
National Young People's Advisory Group
(a) The net annual budget is £0.02 million.
(b) The purpose of the advisory group is to draw on the expertise of young people's panels across thee country to help consider issues relating to delivery of the Youth Opportunity and Youth Capital Funds.
(c) The advisory group employs one FTE for 10 days and one contractor for 10 days.
(a) The annual budget is £0.2 million.
(b) The Children and Youth Board (CYB) was established in 2004 as part of the ‘Every Child Matters’ programme, where a commitment was made to enduring the participation of children and young people in shaping services that affect their lives. They provide advice to the Department on policies that affect them.
(c) The Children and Youth Board is managed by the National Children's Bureau (NCB) on the Department's behalf. The number of NCB staff involved in managing the CYB is three.
(a) The annual budget is £0.25 million.
(b) The Young Muslims Advisory Group is a jointly funded project with CLG. The group was established in October 2008 to provide young Muslims in England a platform to directly engage with the Government on the issues affecting them, particularly the causes of violent extremism.
(c) OPM is the lead contractor of a consortium supporting CLG and DCSF managing the Young Muslims Advisory Group, with a dedicated project manager providing support throughout the two-year project. There is a seconded youth worker based in CLG who supports the 23 members of YMAG in meeting the aims and objectives of the group. Total number of staff therefore is two (however the group is made up of 23 young people between the ages of 17-25).
(a) The group does not have a dedicated budget.
(b) The group was set up to provide advise and challenge the delivery of the improvements outlined in the PSA 13 Delivery Agreement; to provide a view on delivery based on experience at the frontline of service delivery; and to drive delivery through their organisations.
(c) The group consists of approximately 30 members.
Currently, the Department is not responsible for any tribunals.
General Teachers Council of England
(a) Net annual budget of £18.97 million.
(b) The General Teaching Council for England is the independent professional body for teaching in England. It works for children, through teachers, in the interests of the public. It is committed to making sure young people have the best possible standards of learning and achievement. It keeps a register of qualified teachers in England and sets out and enforces standards for the teaching profession in the interests of the public. It provides advice to Government and other agencies on important issues that affect the quality of teaching and learning. It works with teachers to make sure its advice is based on practical experience and reliable research. It brings together teachers and other partners with an interest in the education service, including parents, governors and employers.
(c) The staff complement is 206.
Departmental Information Officers
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to his Department of employing (a) press officers and (b) other press office staff has been in each year since 1997. [283072]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The cost of employing staff in the Department’s Press Office in 2008/09 was £1,350,713.10. The other requested information was provided in the answer of 27 January 2009, Official Report, columns 480-81W.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) paid and (b) unpaid graduate internships his Department has awarded in each of the last six months. [281511]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department has not appointed any graduate interns in the last six months. The Department, however, has recruited 32 graduate and undergraduate interns whose internships will be starting from 29 June 2009 for six to eight weeks as part of a Cabinet Office internship programme. The Department has also increased its recruitment of graduates this year to support its resourcing needs and provide opportunities for those entering the labour market at this time. The Department is currently recruiting around 80 executive officers and we are targeting graduates as part of this process. In addition to this, around 20 graduates will join the Department in October 2009 as part of the Civil Service Fast Stream.
The Department also intends to be part of the ‘Graduate Talent Pool’ programme that has been developed by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
Free School Meals: GCSE
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils eligible to receive free school meals have been entered for GCSE Latin in each year since 1997. [284578]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Gifted Children: Finance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of spending by his Department on the gifted and talented programme in each year from 2009-10 to 2011-12; and if he will make a statement. [283223]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department has historically spent between £10 to £20 million annually on delivering gifted and talented education. Information on the cost of the contracts to deliver the gifted and talented programme is commercial in confidence. Projected figures after 2011 are not available.
Health Education: Sex
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what factors his Department took into account when determining the age at which sex education becomes compulsory for children. [283510]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Only certain aspects of sex and relationships education, mainly the biological ones, are compulsory for all children in certain age groups. These are taught as part of the National Science Curriculum. Primary school children in Key Stages 1 and 2 are taught about reproduction, puberty and how a baby is born. In addition we expect schools to have a programme on sex and relationship education (SRE) that is delivered through well planned and non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE). We make it clear in our Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (July 2000) to schools that any programme of study must be tailored to the age and the physical and emotional maturity of the children. In early primary schools, SRE should focus on relationships such as friendship, bullying and the building of self-esteem.
We have announced our intention to make SRE compulsory as part of statutory PSHE, subject to the results of a consultation which the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is currently conducting. If this were to become statutory, schools will be required to provide a comprehensive programme covering both the biological and relationship aspects of SRE.
This will ensure that as well as receiving factual information, children and young people will have the opportunities to develop the skills they need to deal with the real life situations they face.
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