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8 Dec 2009 : Column 317W—continued
Schools: Electricity
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what third-party approvals are required when electrical cables and wires are installed in newly-built school premises. [304006]
Mr. Coaker: There is no legal requirement to obtain third-party approval of electrical wires and cables. However competent electrical consultants would specify the use of cables branded BASEC and approved by the British Approvals Service for Cables (BASEC).
Schools: Finance
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will bring forward proposals for the reform of the Dedicated School Grant to increase the amount disbursed to schools. [304045]
Mr. Coaker: We launched a review of the Dedicated Schools Grant in January 2008 and it is now nearing its conclusion. For the first 18 months, up to July 2009, the Formula Review Group was gathering evidence on the main issues. Since July we have been developing options and it remains our intention to consult on proposals in the new year.
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will increase his Department's expenditure on schools in Herefordshire. [304046]
Mr. Coaker: In November 2007, the Government announced the three year indicative education settlements for all local authorities in England from 2008-10 to 2010-11. The guaranteed funding per pupil for Herefordshire for 2009-10 is £3,830 and for 2010-11 it will be £4,002.
Levels of funding from 2011-12 onwards will be subject to future spending decisions.
Schools: Standards
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which schools inspected since September 2009 were rated as inadequate; and if he will make a statement. [303724]
Mr. Coaker: Ofsted publish these data on a termly basis and this information will be available in January 2010.
Secondary Education: Assessments
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students in (a) year nine, (b) year 10 and (c) year 11 were entered for each accredited qualification in each subject in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [300697]
Mr. Coaker: This answer can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Special Educational Needs: Young Offenders
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of the proportion of young offenders who have special educational needs; and what educational provision is available to such young offenders. [301633]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Research suggests that 15 per cent. of young offenders in custody have statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN). This is compared with 2.8 per cent. of the general school population.
The education providers in HM Prison Service Young Offenders Institutions (YOIs) are required to identify the special educational needs of young people and provide appropriate provision for them. The providers are contractually required to provide learning support in the classroom, as separate provision, or on a one-to-one basis as required. Providers are required to make available this additional support through both Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) and also Learning Support Assistants (LSAs).
Data provided to the Learning and Skills Council indicate that for the academic year August 2008 to July 2009, there were 2,932 referrals to SENCOs for 15 to 17-year-olds within Prison Service Young Offender Institutions.
The Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, which received Royal Assent on 12 November, contains new provisions to make local authorities responsible for education in youth custody. This includes new duties on local authorities to ensure that appropriate provision is made for young people with SEN. This will help ensure that young people in custody have access to comparable support to which they could expect in community settings.
Specialist Schools: Lincolnshire
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what specialist schools have been established in North-East Lincolnshire since 1997. [304423]
Mr. Coaker: There are eight schools in North East Lincolnshire that have gained specialist status since 1997: Cambridge Park Maths and Computing College (Maths and Computing 2007), Healing School (Science 2004), Hereford Technology School (Technology 2004), Humberston Comprehensive School (Maths and Computing 2006), Matthew Humberstone Church of England School (Business and Enterprise 2003), St. Mary's Catholic School (Humanities and Language 2005), The Lindsey School and Community Arts College (Arts 2000), Tollbar Business and Enterprise College (Business and Enterprise and Humanities 2000)
There are also three academies in North East Lincolnshire. The Havelock Academy specialises in Maths, Computing and Engineering (2007). The Oasis Academy, Immingham specialises in Engineering with Business and Enterprise (2007) and the Oasis Academy, Wintringham specialises in Sports and Health with Business and Enterprise (2007).
The Western Technology College, in partnership with Hereford Technology School had specialist status from 2000 until 2004 until the partnership between the schools finished. The Western Technology College closed in August 2008 due to falling pupil numbers.
Teachers: Lincolnshire
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants were employed in maintained schools in North East Lincolnshire (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which figures are available. [304427]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested is published in tables 19 and 26 of the Statistical First Release (SFR) 'School Workforce In England (including local authority level figures) January 2009 (revised)' published on 29 September 2009. The SFR is available at the following web link:
Energy and Climate Change
Biofuels
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding his Department has allocated for the purposes of developing biofuels since its establishment. [304057]
Joan Ruddock: The Department for Transport has the overall remit for biofuels. It recently published a research and development strategy for biofuels that identified the current gaps in knowledge and the areas where Government could support greater scientific progress. DECC is working closely with the other Departments concerned, industry and academia to decide how best to take this forward.
DECC also sponsors the National Non Food Crops Centre (NNFCC), the UK's national centre for renewable fuels, materials and technologies, which is facilitating the establishment of sustainable supply chains for biofuels.
Carbon Emissions
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his latest estimate is of the amount of UK carbon dioxide emissions (a) including and (b) excluding the impact of emissions trading in 2008. [303398]
Joan Ruddock: Provisional estimates of 2008 emissions were published on 26 March 2009. These figures estimate that:
UK emissions for carbon dioxide were 531.8 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (MtC02e)
including for the effect of the EU Emissions Trading System, UK carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 were estimated to be 511.4 MtC02e
The equivalent figures for all greenhouse gases are as follows:
excluding the EU Emissions Trading System = 623.8 MtC02e
including the EU Emissions Trading System - 603.4 MtC02e
The most recent final figures are for estimates of 2007 emissions. These were published on 3 February 2009. Estimates for only carbon dioxide emissions are:
excluding EU Emissions Trading System = 542.6 MtC02e
including EU Emissions Trading System = 516.9 MtC02e
It may be helpful to know emissions of all greenhouse gases. Again these are final 2007 figures:
excluding EU Emissions Trading System = 636.6 MtC02e
including EU Emissions Trading System = 611.0 MtC02e
Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his latest estimate is of the gross revenue which will arise from the sale of allowances through the Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme before the recycling of such monies to scheme participants in each of the next five years. [303391]
Joan Ruddock:
The Department currently estimates that during the introductory phase of the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme, allowance sales could generate in the
region of £650 million each year in 2011 and 2012. An integral aspect of the scheme is that this sum is returned to participants six months after the main allocation of allowances, making the scheme broadly revenue neutral to the Exchequer.
It is important to emphasise that these are preliminary estimates made using significant assumptions that will not be known with more certainty until after the start of the scheme. The main assumptions are an estimate of the quantity of emissions covered by the scheme and the uptake of energy efficiency measures within the sector. Until participants have registered for the scheme during April to September 2010 and reported their emissions in July 2011 we will not know the CRC emissions coverage accurately.
The sum likely to be raised from the auctioning of allowances during the capped phases of the scheme from 2013 onwards is yet more uncertain. Until the Government have taken a decision on the appropriate level of the cap, taking into account advice from the Committee on Climate Change it is not possible to estimate accurately the likely revenues from the five years of the first capped phase.
Climate Change: International Co-operation
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive on the Copenhagen climate change summit; and if he will make a statement. [304047]
Joan Ruddock: I attended the joint ministerial committee on the European Union on 19 October, which focused mostly on Copenhagen. All devolved Administrations have representation on the committee.
The British-Irish Council met in Jersey on the 17 April 2009, and the international climate negotiations were on the agenda. Lord Hunt, Minister for Sustainable Development and Energy Innovation met with the Minister for the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive, the hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), during the council.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (1) what account the Government's submission to the Copenhagen climate change summit will take of environmentally-friendly information and communications technology; [304142]
(2) whether the UK's submission to the Copenhagen climate change summit will include reference to the joint work on environmentally-friendly information and communications technology undertaken by the UN and the International Telecommunications Union. [304576]
Joan Ruddock
[holding answer 7 December 2009]: The UK Government will negotiate as part of the EU in Copenhagen and as such cannot make a direct submission to the UNFCCC. It is important that the deal in Copenhagen will support the development, transfer, deployment and diffusion of technologies for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries. The UK and the EU recognise the important role of public policies and finance in creating an enabling environment to redirect and scale up private investments in safe and sustainable low greenhouse-gas-emitting technologies;
believe that support for technologies in developing countries should be based on assessments of country needs as reflected in their low-carbon development strategies; and argue that we should establish national and regional centres of technological excellence to promote technology development and transfer, stimulate capacity-building and improve access to information.
We welcome the work of the International Telecommunications Union and believe it provides useful evidence of how the telecoms sector plans to respond to the need to shift to a low carbon economy to limit the effects of climate change. We have recommended that a member of the UK delegation attends the ITU joint Copenhagen summit side event on the 10 of December, if time and scheduling permits.
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what officials from his Department will be attending the Copenhagen climate change summit. [304329]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 7 December 2009]: On current plans, two Ministers and 36 officials from the Department of Energy and Climate Change will be attending the Copenhagen climate change summit.
Committee on Climate Change
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the Committee on Climate Change is classified as (a) an executive agency and (b) a non-departmental public body. [305064]
Joan Ruddock: The Committee on Climate Change is a non-departmental public body.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) page hits and (b) visitors his Department's website received in 2008-09. [301846]
Joan Ruddock: The Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008, and its official corporate website was launched on 23 February 2009:
This site received 288,094 page hits and 37,231 unique visitors from its inception up until 31 March 2009.
Departmental Pay
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has allocated for (a) year end and (b) in-year bonuses in 2009-10. [302779]
Joan Ruddock: Non-consolidated performance payments are an integral element of the reward package for staff. Non-consolidated performance pay has a number of key advantages:
it encourages continuous high attainment because the payments are dependent upon continuing strong performance;
it prevents a permanent rise in salary and an increase in pension on the basis of one off performances while still allowing good performance to be rewarded;
it has no long term costs, in particular it does not increase future pension payments.
it focuses the work of employees more directly on the priority goals of the organisation;
it motivates employees by linking an element of compensation to the achievement of departmental objectives rather than offering payment for time served; and
it targets money at those who make the biggest contribution.
The wages/salary budget for the Department of Energy and Climate Change for 2009-10 is expected to be in the region of £57 million. Non-consolidated annual performance payments may total an estimated 1.6 per cent. of the wages/salary budget while non consolidated special bonuses may total 0.4 per cent. of the wages/salary budget.
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