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14 Oct 2009 : Column 981W—continued
Business: Secondary Education
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's scheme to provide funding to schools at Key Stage 4 for Enterprise Education. [293153]
Mr. Iain Wright: A survey by the then Qualification and Curriculum Authority in 2007 showed that over 90 per cent. of secondary schools provide enterprise education for all their pupils at Key Stage 4. In 2004, fewer than half did. I am aware that many schools also offer enterprise learning activities to their Key Stage 3 students. Increasing numbers of primary schools are running activities to develop the enterprise capabilities of their pupils. To assist pupils, secondary schools receive £55 million each year for enterprise education at Key Stage 4, as part of their School Development Grant.
To gain a more detailed and up to date assessment, my Department has commissioned a review of enterprise education which will report in early 2010.
Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what criteria are used for allocating funding to schools at key stage 4 for Enterprise Education; and how much was allocated on average per (a) school and (b) pupil in the latest period for which figures are available. [293154]
Mr. Iain Wright: The £55 million grant for enterprise learning was allocated to schools in 2005-06, 90 per cent. on the basis of the numbers of pupils aged 14-16, and 10 per cent. by the number of those pupils eligible for Free School Meals. This was an average of £17,000 per secondary school.
Since 2006-2007 the funding has been part of School Development Grant (SDG). If a school received an allocation for Enterprise Learning in 2005-2006, that allocation will have formed part of its guaranteed SDG per pupil funding since 2006. Local authorities remind schools of this when allocating the grant, so that schools are aware the funding for these activities continues to be available. Schools are free to spend their SDG on any purpose to support the raising of standards of teaching and learning, including enterprise learning.
Children in Care: Education
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the stated aim of the Virtual School Head Pilot is; how much funding for the pilot has been (a) distributed to each local authority and (b) subsequently spent by each authority in each year since the pilot's inception; and how much will be distributed in the next two years. [292078]
Dawn Primarolo: The virtual school head pilots ran for two academic years from September 2007 to August 2009 in 11 local authorities in England. They were designed to test the impact of having a senior local authority officer to champion the needs of all looked after children being educated in the area as if they attended a single school and to emphasise the importance of social workers and schools promoting the educational achievement of this vulnerable group.
The funding provided for each of the pilot authorities was provided over three financial years and was based on numbers of looked after children in each authority. The allocations are set out in the table.
| £ | |||
| Local authority | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 |
The Government have provided over £140 million through the Area Based Grant across all local authorities for the current spending review period to implement the proposals set out in Care Matters, including in relation
to the development of the virtual school head model. Local authorities in the pilot may also have used some of their additional resources or other local resources to support the development of their Virtual School Head pilot.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effects of introduction of the Virtual School Head Pilot on the percentage of children in care who achieve five GCSEs at grades A*-C in each year since the grant began; and what estimate he has made of the effect of the grant in this respect in the next two years. [292079]
Dawn Primarolo: An independent evaluation of the virtual school head pilot, which ran from September 2007 to August 2009, undertaken by the university of Bristol was published in August 2009. A copy of the report can be downloaded at:
"analysis of official educational outcome statistics showed that, over the period of the pilots, the 11 authorities performed well compared to the national average and most showed improvement in GCSE results".
An analysis of education outcomes(1) for looked-after children in the 11 virtual school head pilot local authorities(2) as if they were one region shows that between 2007 and 2008 there was a 3 percentage point increase in the number of children looked after for 12 months who achieved 5 A*-C at GCSE compared to a 1.3 percentage increase nationally. Outcomes for 2009 have not yet been published.
The Department has disseminated the findings of the virtual school head evaluation to embed the most effective elements of the role into practice across every local authority. Together with the new statutory requirement for the governing body of every maintained school to appoint a designated teacher for looked-after children, this provides a strong framework for delivering our national public service agreement targets to narrow the gap in education outcomes for looked-after children achieve in 2011.
(1) Outcomes Indicators for Children Looked After, 12 months to 30 September 2008, England.
(2) Bournemouth, Cambridgeshire, Dudley, Gateshead, Greenwich, Merton, Norfolk, Salford, Stockport, Walsall, Warwickshire.
Children: Mental Health
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he has taken to increase awareness in schools of mental health problems among children. [292907]
Dawn Primarolo: As the key universal service for children, schools play an important role in the promotion of better emotional health and resilience and early intervention where mental health problems may arise. There are a number of programmes in schools that increase awareness of mental health issues for children and young people. These include the Healthy Schools Programme and Targeted Mental Health in Schools.
The Healthy Schools Programme requires schools to have policies and practices in place to support emotional health and wellbeing, including identifying children at risk of experiencing behavioural, emotional or social difficulties. Currently 99 per cent. of schools in England are working towards or have achieved Healthy School status.
The Targeted Mental Health in Schools (TaMHS) programme is developing models of mental health support in schools for those children, young people and their families who need it most.
The project includes training for school staff to equip them with the knowledge and ability to identify problems early, to work with and support children and young people at risk of experiencing mental health problems and to refer them to appropriate mental health professionals, as necessary. It also provides mental health awareness and promotion for children, young people and families. Funded by £60 million between 2008 and 2011, the programme is currently operating in 80 local authorities. From September 2010 TaMHS will be operating in clusters of schools in all areas.
There are other school based programmes that also promote better emotional wellbeing. Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) is a comprehensive voluntary programme to develop the social and emotional skills of all pupils, while the new personal wellbeing programme of study within Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education includes a specific focus on issues relating to emotional wellbeing and mental health.
Horse Riding: Education
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what representations he has received from riding schools on the operation of (a) the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and (b) the Children (Protection at Work) Regulations 1988. [292406]
Dawn Primarolo: According to our records the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has received no such representations.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when the Minister of State will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 6 June 2009 on child protection. [289865]
Dawn Primarolo: A reply to the hon. Member's letter regarding the proposals put forward by the Baby P Legacy Group was sent on 12 August 2009.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the per pupil funding for (a) primary and (b) secondary school children in each London borough was in each of the last five years. [293046]
Mr. Coaker: The per pupil revenue funding figures for primary and secondary school pupils for each London local authority in 2004-05 and 2005-06 are as follows. These figures are in real terms:
| Real terms revenue funding per pupil-EFS plus grants | |||||
| £ | |||||
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | ||||
| Primary(aged 3-10) | Secondary (aged 11-15) | Primary (aged 3-10) | Secondary (aged 11-15) | ||
| Notes 1. Price Base: Real terms at 2008-09 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 30 June 2009. 2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of Education Formula Spending (EFS) settlements and include the pensions transfer to EFS. 3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DFES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to pupils aged 3-15 and exclude Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level. 4. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to £ per pupil are those underlying the EFS settlement calculations. 5. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest £10. | |||||
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