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27 Oct 2009 : Column 311W—continued
Information on nursery school places per head of population has not been included. This is because data on places available are not collected; only data on places filled are available and as children can access their free entitlement across different areas; part time equivalent places are not on a comparable basis with the population figures. Population figures at this level of disaggregation are also not as reliable as at the national level.
Party Conferences
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether any of his Department's non-departmental public bodies sent representatives to attend one or more political party conferences in 2009. [293483]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information for these arms length organisations is not captured by the Department. However, we are not aware of attendance of representatives from these organisations to any of the political party conferences this year.
Schools: Fire Prevention
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many maintained schools have been fitted with sprinkler systems in the last 12 months. [296195]
Mr. Coaker: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 20 October, Official Report, column 1436, in answer to which the Department placed a list of recently completed secondary schools with and without sprinkler systems in the Libraries. The list includes the date the schools were completed and the local authority where they are situated. However, we do not hold such information for primary schools.
Schools: Inspections
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his estimate is of the average sum spent by schools on consultations with private companies to prepare for an Ofsted inspection in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [295173]
Mr. Coaker: This information is not available centrally. Neither the Department nor Ofsted encourage schools to prepare specifically for inspections.
Schools: Transport
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many children used each means of transport to and from school in (a) 2007 and (b) 2009 according to school census returns, broken down by local authority; [293373]
(2) how many children used each means of transport to and from school in 2009, according to school census returns. [293374]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information has been placed in the Libraries.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on walking to school initiatives in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [293403]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Since 2003 the Department, in conjunction with the Department for Transport, has jointly funded the 'Travelling to School Initiative' which sets out a series of measures to support local authorities and schools encourage more children to walk, cycle or take the bus to school. In 2009-10, £14.11 million in small capital grants has been allocated to schools with approved school travel plans, supported by £6.8 million joint revenue funding of local authority based school travel advisers.
Schools: Travel
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has contributed to the Travelling to School Initiative in each year since the project's creation; how much it plans to spend on the scheme in each of the next five years; and under which budgetary headings the spending falls. [293546]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The following table details the funding the Department for Children, Schools and Families has contributed to the Travelling to School Initiative during the years 2004-05 to 2008-09 and the respective budgetary headings.
| £ | ||
| Amount paid | ||
| Capital funding | Programme TTSI funding | |
Final totals for 2009-10 are not yet known, however allocations of £14 million (capital) and £3.4 million (programme) have been made. We will continue to make capital funding of up to £20 million along with programme funding of £3.4 million for the financial year 2010-11 to ensure that as many schools as possible are able to participate in and benefit from the programme.
Resources beyond the current spending period (2011-12 and beyond) have not yet been determined, therefore future funding of this initiative will be dependent on and have to be managed from within the next spending review settlement.
Social Services: Children
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of children's services in Leeds West constituency; and if he will make a statement. [293949]
Dawn Primarolo: As with all local authorities, a Joint Improvement Support Plan is in place, and shared with partners locally. This outlines the support provided to the local authority by Government-funded partners, which provide challenge and support to LAs across a range of priority areas to increase the provision of children's services. The priority areas for Leeds currently include: safeguarding; bullying; qualifications and skills at age 19; teenage conceptions; 16 to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training; children's health; pupil attainment; developing services for disabled children; delivery of Sure Start Children's Centres; and emotional well-being.
Special Educational Needs: Disadvantaged Pupils
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils who were eligible for free school meals had a statement of special educational needs in each local authority area in 1997. [293375]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The information requested is not available.
Data on pupils with special educational needs and free school meal eligibility have been collected at pupil level since 2002. Prior to this we are unable to determine which pupils with statements of special educational needs were eligible for free school meals.
Young People: Care Homes
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Health the matter of the security of young people in local authority care homes. [295521]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: DCSF are responsible for all policies relating to children's homes. All children's homes must comply with regulations and National Minimum Standards. These require that premises must be fit and suitable for achieving the homes statement of purpose. Every home must be secure from unauthorised access. This could include for example using electronic surveillance to monitor those who enter and leave the premises or having ground floor windows that can only be opened part way.
Where a local authority looks after a child, including those that may have been trafficked, then they are responsible for identifying a placement that will be appropriate to meeting their needs, including their need to be kept safe from any likely harm.
On 1 July 2009, we published new 'Statutory Guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care'. This sets out the measures local authorities must take whenever a child that they look after goes missing from their care placement and includes specific information about managing support for especially vulnerable groups of looked after children-such as those asylum seeking children who may have been trafficked into the UK.
Culture, Media and Sport
Betting: Internet
Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the Horserace Betting Levy Board's advice on use of overseas-based betting operators who do not make levy payments in respect of online business. [295109]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I meet regularly with representatives of the Horserace Betting Levy Board to discuss matters which affect the levy, including securing contributions from a wider range of operators. However, it is for the Horserace Betting Levy Board to decide what advice to give to racing and how to disseminate that advice.
Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect on the integrity of sporting events of overseas-based online betting operators operating in the UK outside Gambling Commission regulations. [295110]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have asked Rick Parry to report to me on the issue of sports betting integrity and to make recommendations. If any of those relate to overseas-based online betting operators, I will wish to take that into account when considering options resulting from the separate review of remote gambling regulation.
Casinos
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to announce the results of his review of the slot machine to table ratios of small and large casinos. [295633]
Mr. Sutcliffe [holding answer 26 October 2009]: Regulations to define what will constitute a gaming table for the purposes of sections 172(4) and 172(5) of the Gambling Act 2005, which set out the gaming machine entitlements that apply to large and small casino premise licences, were laid before Parliament on 20 July 2009 and came into force on 11 August 2009.
The Department also wrote to industry stakeholders and the relevant local authorities on 21 July 2009 to notify them of the new regulations. A summary of the responses to the public consultation that ran between 23 February and 15 May 2009 was published on the Department's website on 27 July 2009.
Christmas
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Christmas functions arranged by his Department and its agency (a) he, (b) officials of his Department and (c) officials of its agency (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2008; and if he will make a statement. [295446]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The then Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), hosted a Christmas reception for the Department's non-departmental public bodies in December 2008 and a reception for journalists.
The annual staff party at DCMS is self-funded by staff, and any profits made are donated to the DCMS Civil Service Sports and Social Club account. Information on functions that the Minister and officials attended could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department has only one executive agency, The Royal Parks (TRP). TRP hosted an event for its stakeholders in December 2008.
TRP also held its annual staff Christmas party which was paid for by TRP Directors and not the public purse. TRP staff were invited to the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park by the organiser of the event.
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment: Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was paid in staff costs by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment in each of the last five years. [295102]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is as follows:
| £ | |
The staff costs of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) are published each year in its annual report. Copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses and they are also available on CABE's website at:
Community Amateur Sports Clubs Scheme
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what proportion of eligible sports clubs have joined the community amateur sports club scheme in each year since it was introduced. [294753]
Mr. Sutcliffe: To the end of August 2009, 5,424 clubs had registered as community amateur sports clubs (CASCs). The yearly breakdown since the scheme was introduced is in the table. We do not hold figures on the number of sport clubs that are eligible to become CASCs:
| New clubs registering | Total registrations | |
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