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3 Nov 2009 : Column 951W—continued
Pupils: Immigrants
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research his Department has (a) undertaken, (b) commissioned and (c) evaluated on the educational achievement of children of (i) Bangladeshi and (ii) Pakistani origin in the last five years. [296939]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: In the last five years this Department has (a) undertaken two pieces of internal analysis entitled "2006-Ethnicity and Education: The Evidence on Minority Ethnic Pupils aged five-16" and "2007-Ethnicity and Degree Attainment"; and, (b) commissioned two pieces of research entitled "2004-Inclusion and Pupil Achievement" and "2009-Drivers and Challenges to raising the achievement of pupils from Bangladeshi, Somali and Turkish backgrounds", all of which have included the educational achievement of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children.
Reading: Nottingham
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proposals his Department has to encourage Nottingham city council to take up the Every Child a Reader scheme; and if he will make a statement. [296762]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Nottingham city council has been part of the Every Child a Reader programme since 2008-09. Key Stage 1 results for reading are still below the national average of 84 per cent., and now 78 per cent. of children achieve at least level 2. Nottingham city council employs seven Reading Recovery Teachers, with another four being trained this year, and they have a share of the Teacher Leader employed by their consortium of three local authorities.
Schools: Finance
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in what ways the additional funding allocated to schools for 2009-2012 will be used. [296395]
Mr. Coaker: The dedicated schools grant, which provides core funding for schools, increased by an average 3.7 per cent. in 2009-10 and will increase by an average 4.3 per cent. in 2010-11. All schools will get a minimum guaranteed increase of 2.1 per cent. per pupil per year to cover cost pressures such as increases in teachers' pay. In addition there is significant headroom in the settlement to pay for ministerial priorities such as more personalised learning to help raise standards and narrow the gaps in achievement, but it is up to schools to decide how best they can use this funding to support children's outcomes.
Schools: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on refurbishment of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Chorley and (ii) Lancashire in each year since 1997. [296751]
Mr. Coaker: School capital funding is allocated on a local authority basis and prioritised locally. Accordingly, central records are not maintained on a constituency basis, nor on the split of expenditure between primary and secondary schools. Refurbishment consists both of capital improvement and revenue repair. Because of this, the capital allocations listed in the table will have been supplemented by the use of revenue funding prioritised locally. In addition, Lancashire may have had other capital receipts which it put towards refurbishment.
The following table sets out Lancashire school capital allocations from 1996-97 to 2009-10.
| £ million | |
The large allocations from 2005-06 to 2009-10, excepting 2008-09, include a total allocation of £332 million in respect of the Building Schools for the Future programme.
Schools: Norwich
Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what capital funding was allocated to schools in Norwich, North constituency in (a) 1997, (b) 2007 and (c) 2008. [296344]
Mr. Coaker: School capital funding is allocated on a local authority basis and prioritised locally. Accordingly, central records are not maintained on a constituency basis. Allocations to Norfolk in the financial year 1997-98 are £4.9 million, in 2007-08 £55.9 million, and in 2008-09 £42.3 million.
The high figure of £55.9 million in 2007-08 includes an allocation of £5.3 million for successful and popular schools, and £9.9 million for basic need expansion.
Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average teacher-pupil ratio is for each school in Norwich, North constituency. [296345]
Mr. Coaker: The following table provides the within school pupil to teacher ratios (PTR) in state funded schools in Norwich, North constituency, January 2009.
Schools: Standards
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to his Department of the School Improvement and Targets Unit was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [296950]
Mr. Coaker: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 21 October 2009, Official Report, column 15601W.
Schools: Vetting
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he plans to issue guidance on Independent Safeguarding Authority vetting arrangements in relation to parental visits to schools. [297221]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 2 November 2009]: Parental visits to schools, to meet teachers or to watch a school play or sports match, are not covered by the new Vetting and Barring scheme. This is made clear in the interim guidance on the scheme that was published on 12 October 2009, copies of which are in the House Libraries and which can be found on the ISA website at this address:
This point will also be clearly highlighted in the guidance relating to registration with the scheme, which will be published in due course.
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