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12 Oct 2009 : Column 235W—continued
Schools: Crimes of Violence
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many staff sickness days were taken in schools as a result of an assault upon a staff member in each local education authority area in the most recent year for which figures are available; how many days were lost per staff member on average as a result of such assaults in that year; and what the estimated cost of such losses was to each local education authority in that period. [289288]
Mr. Coaker: The requested information is not held centrally by the Department.
Any violence against school staff is totally unacceptable. Our recently published behaviour strategy has at its centre strong discipline and good behaviour. It sets out how we will implement the parent and pupil guarantees announced in the "schools White Paper" that in their school there will be good behaviour, strong discipline, order and safety.
In addition, 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 introduce the new legislation in 2010. This new requirement will encourage more widespread and effective reporting, appropriate responses and prevention work. It will also send out a clear message to school staff that the issue will be taken seriously and acted upon.
Schools: Energy
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what energy-efficiency standards his Department stipulated for circulator pumps installed in (a) existing and ( b) new schools. [291787]
Mr. Coaker:
The Building Regulations Part L2A and L2B set energy performance standards for new and refurbished buildings and the energy efficiency of pumps is regulated in this way. The Department does not
directly stipulate energy efficiency standards for circulator pumps either for existing or new buildings. Within our main programme for new schools, the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, our approach is to set targets for carbon emissions by a combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.
In addition to these regulatory actions, we have developed guidance to help the designers of all newly built schools achieve their target level of carbon reduction. This guidance encourages the use of energy efficient equipment without being prescriptive about design solutions. Additional funding has been provided to three groups of new secondary schools to enable them to reduce their carbon emissions by 60 per cent: schools within BSF, academies and school projects procured directly by local authorities ahead of their scheduled BSF rebuild (One School Pathfinder schools).
Schools: Manpower
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many full-time equivalent (a) teachers, (b) teaching assistants and (c) support staff there were in local education authority schools in Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency on the latest date for which figures are available. [291441]
Mr. Coaker: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in service in local authority maintained schools in Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency in January 2009, the latest information available.
| Full-time equivalent teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in local authority maintained schools( 1) , January 2009, Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency | |
| Number | |
| (1) Excludes academies and city technology colleges.( )(2) Includes qualified and unqualified teachers. (3 )Includes teaching assistants. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census | |
Schools: Playing Fields
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many applications under section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to dispose of school playing fields have been made by Nottinghamshire County Council in the last three months. [292164]
Mr. Coaker: We have not received any applications to dispose of school playing fields from Nottinghamshire county council in the last three months.
Schools: Swine Flu
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects to announce his decision on whether schools will remain closed in September as a result of swine influenza; and if he will make a statement. [289817]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Secretary of State sent an email message to all schools on 26 August. That message stated:
"We have been closely monitoring the spread and severity of swine flu over the school holidays. The latest scientific advice to the Government is that individual school closures are now of limited benefit in stopping the spread of disease.
Given the mildness of the virus, the expert medical advice is that there is no good reason for schools to remain closed after the summer holiday. We therefore expect all schools and early-years and childcare settings in England to reopen as planned at the beginning of the new term."
Single Sex Education
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many single sex state (a) primary and (b) secondary schools there have been in each year since 1997. [291854]
Mr. Coaker: The requested information is shown in the table.
| Maintained primary( 1) and state-funded secondary( 1,2) : Single sex schools, as at January each year, England | ||
| Primary schools | Secondary schools | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) In 2000 the intake of four primary schools was not recorded. (4) In 2004 the intake of one primary school was not recorded. Source: School Census and Edubase | ||
Sure Start Programme: Internet
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of the Sure Start budget was spent on updating the Sure Start website in 2008-09. [290364]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department spent £57,054 of the total £1,311,233,386 Sure Start budget on updating the Sure Start website during the 2008-09 financial year. This constitutes 0.004 per cent. of the Sure Start budget.
Teachers: Training
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many entrants to teacher training courses had to resit the (a) literacy and (b) numeracy tests (i) once, (ii) twice and (iii) three or more times in the last year for which figures are available. [288243]
Mr. Coaker: The information is as follows:
In 2007/08, 3,760 entrants to teacher training courses had to resit the literacy test once. The number of entrants who resat the test two or more times was 2,490. A further breakdown to show those who resat the literacy test twice or three or more times could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
In 2007-08, 3,260 entrants to teacher training courses had to resit the numeracy test once. The number of entrant who resat the test two or more times was 3,480. A further breakdown to show those who resat the numeracy test twice or three or more times could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
Young People: Unemployment
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of people aged 16 and 17 years were not in education, employment or training in each local authority area in each year since 2000. [285862]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 13 July 2009]: The Department's estimate of the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) cannot be disaggregated to local level. However, we can estimate the number of young people NEET using figures drawn from the client management systems maintained by Connexions services. The following table shows the number and proportion of young people aged 16 and 17 who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in each local authority area at the end of 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 based on Connexions data. The first year for which local authority figures are available is 2005.
The figures relate to 16 and 17-year-olds known to Connexions in the December of each year. They are not directly comparable with the national estimates of 16 and 17-year-olds NEET published annually by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
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