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22 Oct 2009 : Column 1667W—continued
Education Maintenance Allowance: Pay
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on education maintenance allowance bonuses in 2008-09; and how much he expects his Department to spend in each of the next three years. [293406]
Mr. Iain Wright: In 2008-09 the total spent on all types of EMA bonus in England was £80,505,540.
The Learning and Skills Council's Annual Statement of Priorities, to be published later in the autumn, will set out total planned future expenditure for EMA and other learner support programmes.
Education: Young People
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on the 14-19 engagement programme in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [293404]
Mr. Iain Wright: In the 2009/10 academic year, funds totalling £19,334,000 have been allocated to 142 local authorities to pilot the Key Stage 4 Engagement programme. Overall, this pilot programme will make provision for almost 28,000 learners who are, or at risk of becoming, disengaged from learning and who are not achieving as well as they should be.
Office of the Schools Adjudicator
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what the operational cost of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator was in each financial year since its inception; and what it has been in 2009-10 to date; [295071]
(2) how many staff are employed in the Office of the Schools Adjudicator; [295072]
(3) how many objections to school closures have been referred to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator in each year since the Office was established; and how many of these were upheld; [295073]
(4) how many objections to school closures are before the Office of the Schools Adjudicator. [295074]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Office of the Schools Adjudicator's Annual report is expected from the Chief Schools Adjudicator on 2 November 2009. This will be a comprehensive report which will answer many of the questions asked which relate to this year.
The operational cost of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator is set out in the following table.
| Financial year | Operational cost (£) |
This financial year (2009/10), the operational costs of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator has so far amounted to £295,000.
There are currently nine Adjudicators (including the Chief Schools Adjudicator), and seven full-time equivalent administrative staff working within the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
Data on objections made to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator against a school closure is only available from 2008/09. In that year, four objections were referred to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, none were upheld. No referrals have been made in the current year.
There are no objections to school closures currently before the Office of the Schools Adjudicator.
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator is currently dealing with three statutory proposal cases involving the closing of schools.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he last met the Schools Adjudicator to discuss the operation of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator; and if he will make a statement. [295075]
Ms Diana R. Johnson:
The Chief Schools Adjudicator met the Secretary of State on his appointment to the post at the start of this year. Since then, the Chief
Adjudicator has met with the Minister responsible for School Admissions on a bi-monthly basis.
The Chief Schools Adjudicator provides an Annual Report to the Secretary of State.
Parents: Advisory Services
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many calls there have been to the Parent Know How helpline in each month since it was established; what the cost of the helpline has been; and if he will make a statement. [293401]
Dawn Primarolo: Under our Parent Know How programme we are funding seven third sector organisations to provide helpline support for parents in England. There is not a separate single Parent Know How helpline. The funding for these helplines, for a three-year period, commenced on 1 April 2008. Management data, including the number of recorded calls made to the helplines, were collected on a quarterly basis in the first year (1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009). In the current year, we are now collecting this data on a monthly basis. The following table shows a breakdown of the number of recorded calls made to each helpline between 1 April 2008 and 30 September 2009.
| 2008-09: Recorded calls made | |||||||
| Helpline | |||||||
| Advisory Centre for Education | Contact a Family | Children's Legal Centre | Family Rights Group | Gingerbread | Parentline Plus | Young Minds | |
| 2009-10 : Recorded calls made to 30 September | |||||||
| Helpline | |||||||
| Advisory Centre for Education | Contact a Family | Children's Legal Centre | Family Rights Group | Gingerbread | Parentline Plus | Young Minds | |
The third sector organisations each receive grant funding. The total grant funding claimed between 1 April 2008 and 30 September 2009 was £5,821,814.
Schools: Fire Extinguishers
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which schools built in each local education authority area in each of the last five years do not have a sprinkler system. [293689]
Mr. Coaker: We have the information requested for secondary schools procured within the Building Schools for the Future and Academies Programmes. We have placed a list of these new secondary schools in the House Libraries. The list will include the date the schools were completed and the local authority where they are situated. However, we do not hold such information for primary schools.
Cabinet Office
Public Services Forum Task Group
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2009, Official Report, column 943W, on the Public Services Forum Task Group, whether minutes are kept of the meetings of the Public Services Forum Task Group. [290170]
Tessa Jowell: The Public Services Forum Task Group came to an end in July 2008 when the Joint Statement on Access to Skills, Trade Unions and Advice was published. Minutes were kept of the Task Group's meetings.
Treasury
Christmas
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Christmas functions arranged by his Department and its agencies (a) he, (b) officials of his Department and (c) officials of its agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2008; what the cost to the public purse was; and if he will make a statement. [295422]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not available.
Corporation Tax
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the headline rate of corporation tax. [294585]
Mr. Timms: The Government are committed to ensuring that the UK continues to have one of the most competitive corporate tax regimes in the world. The UK continues to have the lowest main rate of corporation tax in the G7.
Treasury Ministers and officials regularly receive representations on tax issues, including on the rate of corporation tax, from a variety of sources as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
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