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5 Jan 2010 : Column 281W—continued
Herefordshire*
Isle of Wight
Isles of Scilly
Lincolnshire
Medway
Merton
Central Bedfordshire
Milton Keynes
North Somerset*
North Yorkshire*
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Oxfordshire
Reading
Redbridge*
Richmond upon Thames*
Rutland*
Shropshire*
Slough
South Gloucestershire*
Southend-on-Sea*
Stockport
Surrey
Sutton*
Swindon
Thurrock
Torbay*
Trafford
Warwickshire
West Berkshire*
West Sussex*
Wiltshire
Windsor and Maidenhead*
Wirral*
Wokingham*
York*
The DCSF remains committed to the aim of BSF to provide 21(st)-century teaching and learning facilities for all secondary pupils and staff in England. The following link includes information on the indicative reprioritisation of BSF based on the revised expressions of interest provided in November 2008 by all authorities with projects in waves 7 to 15 of BSF.
On current timescales it is expected that all local authorities will have completed, or be in the final stages of their BSF projects by 2020.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what measures are in place to ensure that schools being constructed under his Department's Building Schools for the Future programme have high-calibre facilities for education in science, engineering and technology. [309300]
Mr. Coaker: The aim of Building Schools for the Future (BSF), the largest capital investment programme for 50 years, is to provide world-class teaching and learning environments across the whole curriculum, including science, engineering and technology. We have a number of measures in place to support this, including:
PfS standard contract documents
The 'Facilities and Services Output Specification (Design Brief)' includes design standards and references for all curriculum subjects. For more information on BSF standard documents, see:
Design guidance: Building Bulletin 80
'Science Accommodation for Secondary Schools' and Building Bulletin 81: 'Design and Technology Accommodation for Secondary Schools' provide detailed design guidance on space standards, services, furniture and equipment. For more information on the Department's design guidance see:
Project Faraday has developed exemplar designs for school laboratories to meet the needs of 21st century practical science teaching. These exemplar projects, many of which are already built, will inform and inspire all those involved in BSF. For more information on Project Faraday see:
Children: Day Care
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many childcare settings based at college and universities have closed in each quarter of each of the last five years. [305334]
Mr. Coaker: These are matters for Ofsted. The Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 10 December 2009:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
I am able to provide you with the number of childcare providers based at colleges and universities which have closed in each quarter, since quarter four of 2008. Prior to this, we did not record whether childcare settings were on college or university sites.
| Quarter | Period | Number of childcare providers closed |
All data have been retrieved from Ofsted's database as of 4 December 2009.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Rt Hon Dawn Primarolo MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, and will be placed in the library of both houses.
Children: Protection
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families who was responsible for drawing up guidance notes for the barring decision making process published in February 2009 by the Board of the Independent Safeguarding Authority; which external bodies were consulted in the preparation of the guidance; how many civil servants from which Departments were involved; what legal advice was sought concerning the guidance; and from whom. [307245]
Meg Hillier [holding answer 14 December 2009]: I have been asked to reply.
The Board of the Independent Safeguarding Authority was responsible for the drawing up of the guidance notes for the barring decision making process with input from advisors and support from ISA staff. The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) engaged in discussions with over sixty stakeholders and held meetings in October 2008 and January 2009. Stakeholders included the Department for Health, Department for Children Schools and Families, General Social Care Council, General Medical Council, General Teaching Council and the Royal College of Nursing. Civil servants were not involved in the development of the Process or the Guidance as barring decisions are a matter for the ISA. They were included in the consultation process. The Process and Guidance was developed with the close involvement of the Board's legal adviser who is provided by the Treasury Solicitor.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people have contacted Ofsted's safeguarding children whistleblower hotline in each month since its inception. [307577]
Mr. Coaker: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 16 December 2009:
Your recent parliamentary questions have been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.
Since 1 April 2009, Ofsted has received 1,292 calls to its whistleblower hotline. Most of these calls were not actually "whistleblowing", defined as the disclosure of employer malpractice by an employee. Of the 1,292 calls, 26 calls qualified as whistleblowing disclosures under Ofsted's whistleblower procedures. The other calls were either general queries or were complaints about providers, which were not whistleblowing as such, for example a parent making a complaint about a childcare provider.
In addition to calls on the hotline, Ofsted has received 15 whistleblowing disclosures by email and 24 disclosures by letter.
The table at the end of this letter gives a break down of the number of calls by month since the hotline's inception.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Vernon Coaker MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
| Total number of calls received by Ofsted's whistleblower hotline | |
| Month | Number of calls |
Class Sizes: Preston
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average class size in schools in Preston was in (a) 1997 and (b) 2009. [308668]
Mr. Coaker: The average class size of maintained primary schools in Preston was 28.4 in 1997 and 25.3 in 2009; the figures for state funded secondary schools were 21.7 and 20.2 respectively.
Classroom Assistants: South East
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many full-time equivalent teaching assistants there were in (a) maintained nurseries, (b) primary schools, (c) secondary schools, (d) special schools and (e) pupil referral units in each education authority in the South East in each of the last five years. [305611]
Mr. Coaker: The following tables provide the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants employed in local authority maintained schools in each local authority in the South East Government office region, in each January from 2005 to 2009 broken down by phase of education.
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