Written Answers to Questions
Friday 29 January 2010
Leader of the House
Departmental Written Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House what average time her Office took to answer questions for (a) ordinary written answer and (b) written answer on a named day in the last 12 months. [313672]
Barbara Keeley: The average time taken by the Office of the Leader of the House to answer ordinary written parliamentary questions between January 2009 and December 2009 was 3.2 days. 100 per cent. of the ordinary written questions during this period were answered within the working week target. All named day questions were answered on time.
With effect from the current Session of Parliament, each Department will provide the Procedure Committee with sessional statistics on the time taken to answer written questions. This implements recommendation 24 of the 3rd report from the Procedure Committee, Session 2008-09.
Scotland
Roads: Snow and Ice
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive on the cross-border provision of winter road salt supplies; and on what dates. [314401]
Ann McKechin: The Department for Transport, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government have been regularly monitoring salt supplies and stock levels across Great Britain with the help of their agencies, local authorities and the companies which supply salt. The Government and the devolved Administrations decided that due to the exceptional weather they should work in partnership to advise salt suppliers on priorities for deliveries across Great Britain.
Children, Schools and Families
Children: Poverty
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children were living in poverty in Salford in each year since 1993; and what the percentage change in this figure was from each year to the next. [313323]
Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of poverty for children are published in the households below average income (HBAI) series. These figures only allow a breakdown of the overall numbers in poverty at Government office region level. Therefore, information is not available for Salford.
The number of children living in poverty (in households with less than 60 per cent. of contemporary household income, before housing costs) in the north-west Government office region can be found in the following table. These data are based on three-year averages and changes are rounded to the nearest 100,000.
Please note that because regional figures are presented as three-year averages, a percentage change between each year is not available. Data are not available prior to 1994.
| Number of children in poverty (million) | |
| n/a = Not available | |
A local child poverty indicator has been developed to try and replicate this national measure as closely as possible. It captures the number and proportion of children in families in receipt of out-of-work benefits, or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent. of median income. Details can be found at:
Children: Protection
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what measures are in place to ensure that assessments of risk to children undertaken by local authorities assess all close family members. [304155]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government's statutory guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" (2006) sets out the processes to be followed when undertaking an assessment of a child who is suspected to be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. That assessment will include consideration of the capacity of the parents or caregivers to respond appropriately to the identified needs of the child. This may involve interviews with the child's parents or caregivers and with those known to the child, for example members of the wider family. It may also include interviews with professionals or other people who know the child's parents or caregivers.
Children's Centres: Eltham
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has allocated in respect of children's centres in Eltham constituency since their introduction. [314396]
Dawn Primarolo: Greenwich local authority is responsible for Sure Start Children's Centres across its area and will decide how much funding to allocate to centres in Eltham constituency.
The first Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) were set up in 1999-2000. The SSLPs received a single capital allocation for the period 1999-2000 to 2005-06. Greenwich local authority was allocated £3,913,042.
Data on the SSLP revenue allocations prior to the introduction of the Sure Start IT system in 2003-04 are not readily available at a local authority level. Greenwich's SSLP revenue allocations from 2003-04 are shown in table 1.
| Table 1. Sure Start Local Programme revenue allocations for Greenwich local authority | |
| £ | |
| SSLP revenue allocation | |
Funding for Sure Start Children's Centres was made available from 2003-04. The Children's Centres allocations for Greenwich are shown in table 2.
| Table 2. Sure Start Children's Centres allocations for Greenwich local authority | |||
| £ | |||
| Capital | Revenue | Total | |
| (1) Local authorities received a two year allocation for 2004-06. (2) The 2006-07 and 2007-08 allocations are for the wider Sure Start Early Years and Childcare Main Capital Block. | |||
From 2006-07 Children's Centres Capital formed part of the wider Main Capital Funding Block. Funding in this block is not ring fenced and the authority has the freedom to decide how much of their total capital allocation to spend on children's centres, in line with local priorities. This allocation was not broken down further in 2006-07 and 2007-08. The Main Capital allocation has been quoted for 2006-07 and 2007-08 in table 1.
The Main Capital Block included funding for child care sustainability and extended schools as well as for Children's Centres in 2006-07 and 2007-08. From 2008-09 the block comprised funding for Children's Centres, early years provision, child care and integrated projects (those which support more than one policy objective). Funding in the Main Capital Block is not ring fenced and local authorities have the freedom to decide how much to spend on children's centres in line with local priorities.
Education Maintenance Allowance: Cornwall
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the total cost was of bonuses paid through the education maintenance allowance for submitting course work on time in (a) North Cornwall constituency and (b) Cornwall in the latest period for which figures are available. [313918]
Mr. Iain Wright: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Geoff Russell, the LSC's Acting Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member for North Cornwall with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries. Since 2008, the conditions for all EMA payments have included behaviour and effort as well as attendance. We have never stipulated that bonuses are only payable where a student has submitted all coursework on time. The decision to award a bonus payment is made by the learning provider and the reasons behind individual decisions are not held centrally.
Extra-curricular Activities: South West
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding was allocated for the provision of extra-curricular activities in schools in (a) the South West and (b) Torbay constituency in each year since 1997. [313332]
Dawn Primarolo: The Government are committed to every school providing access to a core offer of extended services, including a varied menu of extra-curricular activities from 8 am to 6 pm, by 2010. My Department has provided significant funding to support the delivery of extended services, including over £1 billion in the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. The table sets out the extended services funding allocated from 2003-04, the start of the Full Service Extended School pilot, to 2010-11 for local authorities in the Government Office South West region, and Torbay.
This funding is passed to local authorities to support the development of the core extended services offer in every school. The exact amount of funding spent on extra-curricular activities, as part of supporting delivery of the broader extended services core offer, is a matter for local decision making by local authorities and schools.
| £ | ||
| Extended schools revenue | South West | Torbay |
| Note: Funding in 2003-04 to 2005-06 was for the Full Service Extended Schools Pilot. | ||
Families
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding he plans to allocate to the new support activities for families referred to in Chapter six of his Department's Green Paper, Support for All. [313543]
Dawn Primarolo: The funding for the new support activities for families as outlined in Chapter 6 in Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper has been allocated from current budgets. These include:
£122 million on Family Intervention Projects between 2006-07 - 2010-11;
£60 million on the Family Information Direct (formerly ParentKnowHow) programme which provides information and advice for families (including grandparents and family and friends carers) between 2008-09 - 2010-11; and
£1.135 billion in revenue funding and £101 million in capital funding for Sure Start Children's Centres and Local Programmes in 2010-11.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |