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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1826W—continued
Schools: Absence
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many cases of unauthorised absence from school were recorded in (a) Hemel Hempstead constituency, (b) Dacorum, (c) Hertfordshire and (d) the South East in each year since 1997. [285893]
Dawn Primarolo: The available information is shown in the table. Further information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2) number and percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence 2003-04 - 2007-08( 3) | ||||||||
| Hemel Hempstead constituency | Dacorum | Hertfordshire | South East | |||||
| Total half days missed due to unauthorised absence | Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence( 4) | Total half days missed due to unauthorised absence | Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence( 4) | Total half days missed due to unauthorised absence | Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence( 4) | Total half days missed due to unauthorised absence | Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence( 4) | |
| (1) Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (2) Includes maintained and non maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (3) Figures in italics have been sourced from the Absence in Schools Survey. Other figures are derived from the School Census. (4) The number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. (5) Not readily available. To provide further information would incur disproportionate cost. Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Absence in Schools Survey and School Census(3) | ||||||||
Schools: Wakefield
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average class size was in Wakefield local authority area for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools (i) in 1997 and (ii) at the latest date for which figures are available. [289119]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Average class size in Wakefield local authority area | ||
| School type | 1997 | 2008 |
| Notes: 1. Classes as taught by one teacher on the day of the Census in January. 2. The 1997 figures exclude the three middle schools that existed in Wakefield local authority at that time. 3. In 2008 there were no middle schools in Wakefield local authority. Source: School Census. | ||
More detailed information can be found in the 'Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England (tables B12 and B14)' Statistical First Release:
Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average spend per head in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Wakefield local authority area was in (i) 1997 and (ii) in the last 12 month period for which figures are available. [289120]
Mr. Coaker: The available information on the average spend per head in primary and secondary schools in Wakefield local authority in 1997 and the last 12 months is shown in the following table:
| School based expenditure per pupil in local authority maintained schools in Wakefield in 1997-98 and 2007-08 | ||||
| 1997-98 | 2007-08 | |||
| Pre-primary and primary education | Secondary education | Primary education | Secondary education | |
| Notes: 1. School based expenditure includes only 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. 1999-2000 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the RO1 form collected by the ODPM to the Section 52 form from the DCSF (then DfES). 2002-03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) and the associated restructuring of the outturn tables. From 2002-03 school based expenditure is taken from Section 52 Outturn Table A line 51 net current expenditure (NCE). For 2001-02 and earlier years the expenditure is calculated as lines 1 to 12 less lines 29, 30, 35 and 37. This differs from the old Net Institutional Expenditure (NIE) calculation only in the treatment of meals and milk which is no longer excluded and no adjustments for balances are now made. This is taken from Section 52 Outturn Table 3 for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 and from the RO1 form previously. 3. The calculation for 2002-03 onwards is broadly similar to the calculation in previous years. 4. Pupil numbers include only those pupils attending maintained establishments within each sector and are drawn from the DCSF Annual Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis. 5. Expenditure was not distinguished between the pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of Section 52 for financial year 1999-2000. 6. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10 and in cash terms. | ||||
Business, Innovation and Skills
Post Office Card Account
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress has been made in the discussions between Xafinity Paymaster and the Post Office on the payment of armed forces pensions into the Post Office Card Account. [284813]
Mr. Kevan Jones: I have been asked to reply.
I will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested shortly.
Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to Frank Field:
I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 13 July (Official Report, column 506W), asking for a progress update about discussions between Xafinity Paymaster and the Post Office concerning the payment of armed forces pensions into the Post Office Card Account.
In order for the MOD or Xafinity Paymaster to introduce a POCA facility for Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) payments a new contractual agreement between MOD and the Post Office for this provision would be required. This would incur significant set up costs, as well as higher ongoing costs, especially as the MOD volumes would be significantly lower than those which enabled DWP to negotiate the current rate. The Service Personnel Veterans Agency (SPVA) will continue, as always, to work closely with Xafinity Paymaster to ensure that we provide our customers with services that are both convenient and represent value for money.
Church Commissioners
Departmental Land
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 40W, on departmental land, to what purposes the £59.7 million of capital receipts obtained by the Church Commissioners following the sale of agricultural land in 2007 has been allocated. [288902]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Commissioners do not ring-fence capital receipts for specific purposes. Receipts are reinvested with the aim of maximising the fund's long-term total return in support of the Commissioners' various responsibilities. These include meeting clergy pension commitments and providing maximum sustainable funding for bishops and cathedrals as well as parish mission and ministry support.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 40W, on departmental land, what the rate of return was on (a) the £59.7 million of capital receipts obtained by the Church Commissioners following the sale of agricultural land in 2007 and (b) agricultural assets retained by the Church Commissioners in the same period. [288941]
Sir Stuart Bell: The information requested is as follows.
(a) As the Commissioners do not ring-fence capital receipts, it is not possible to state the return on the capital receipts obtained by them from a specific transaction.
(b) I can, however, tell the hon. Gentleman that the total return on the Commissioners' assets in 2007 was 9.4 per cent. The total return on the rural holdings was 36.6 per cent. which included sales significantly above valuation.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 40W, on departmental land, what the monetary value is of the assets in which the £59.7 million of capital receipts obtained by the Church Commissioners following the sale of agricultural land in 2007 was invested. [288942]
Sir Stuart Bell: Because the Commissioners pursue a total return investment strategy rather than ring-fencing receipts for specific reinvestment or expenditure, it is not possible to give a monetary value for the capital receipt obtained by the specific transaction to which the hon. Gentleman refers.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners (1) how many tenanted agricultural holdings with rights of succession under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 were sold in whole or in part following the death or retirement of the previous tenant in each of the last five years; [289110]
(2) how many tenanted agricultural holdings with rights of succession under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 were re-let in whole or in part as farm business tenancies to (a) individuals unconnected to previous tenant family and (b) members of the previous tenant's families following the death or retirement of the previous tenant in each of the last five years. [289122]
Mr. Gibb: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many tenanted agricultural holdings with rights of succession under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 had successful successions following the death or retirement of the previous tenant of those holdings in each of the last five years. [289121]
Sir Stuart Bell: The Commissioners do not record succession data.
Communities and Local Government
Allotments
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that district authorities in Lancashire publish their waiting lists for local authority-provided allotments; what recent assessment he has made of local authorities' performance in the provision of allotments; and what formula his Department provides for local authorities to determine the number of allotments each should provide; [287690]
(2) if he will estimate the number of allotments which each district authority in Lancashire should provide under the formula prepared by his Department; and if he will estimate the number of allotments each such local authority provides. [287810]
Mr. Malik: Local authorities are responsible for keeping and managing waiting lists for allotments they provide. We have no plans to direct local authorities to publish their waiting lists.
Information on the number of allotments provided by local authorities is not held centrally. The provision of allotments is the responsibility of local authorities; Section 23 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 places a duty on local authorities (except for inner London boroughs) to provide allotments where they perceive a demand for them in their area.
Government do not provide a formula for local authorities to determine the number of allotments they should provide. However, the Planning Policy Guidance Note 17: Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation 2002 (PPG17) requires local authorities to make provision for all types of open space and requires them to undertake robust assessments of local needs and audits of existing open space, to establish standards for new provision. Setting national standards for provision cannot cater for local circumstances, such as differing demographic profiles and the extent of building development in an area. The accompanying guidance to PPG17 advises local authorities on setting local standards.
A revised good practice guide, "Growing in the Community", was published by the Local Government Association in March 2008, and includes a section on allotment provision and how to assess the need for allotments as outlined in PPG17.
Building Regulations
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many contraventions of Part L of the Building Regulations have been identified in each year since 2000; how many of these were resolved before project completion; and how many of those unresolved at project completion resulted in prosecution. [288042]
Mr. Malik: Enforcement of compliance with the Building Regulations is undertaken by local authorities. There is no central register of enforcement notices served or prosecutions brought. In the main, local authorities aim to resolve issues that arise through inspection of and advice to those undertaking work. Enforcement notices and prosecution are only used as a last resort.
The consultation on revising Part L in 2010 published on 18 June included proposals for specifically improving compliance. The consultation paper can be accessed via the link:
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