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2 Feb 2010 : Column 303W—continued
Regulation does not require a specific degree classification prior to acceptance for graduate initial teacher training (ITT). Individual training providers have the discretion to make a judgment about whether an individual's qualification demonstrates the breadth and type of academic engagement that would be expected from first degree study. Training providers will make a judgement of whether an applicant has the intellectual and academic capabilities needed to meet the required qualified teacher status (QTS) standards, including whether the applicant
will be able to demonstrate evidence of meeting the QTS standards relating to subject and curriculum knowledge. It is possible for an oversubscribed training provider to impose additional requirements on applicants, including requiring a specific minimum degree classification.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether universities which offer courses in the Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (numeracy) programme were expected as a condition of their funding to ensure that students they enrolled would have the opportunity of a teaching placement; and if he will make a statement. [314087]
Kevin Brennan: Any university wishing to offer the Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) qualification must seek endorsement of their course by Standards Verification UK (SVUK)-the body responsible for the verification of Further Education (FE) Initial Teacher Training qualifications.
One of the core requirements for the DTLLS course is that there must be a minimum of 150 hours of teaching practice. No one can complete their DTLLS qualification without undergoing appropriate and satisfactory teaching practice.
Placements for those undertaking DTLLS are negotiated on an ongoing basis by the university delivering the course with the FE and other education providers in their surrounding areas.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of universities in providing Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) teaching placements for students on their DTLLS courses; and if he will make a statement. [314088]
Kevin Brennan: A core requirement for a Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS) course, without which endorsement by Standards Verification UK (SVUK), the body responsible for the verification of Further Education (FE) Initial Teacher Training (ITT) qualifications, would not be granted, is that there must be provision for a minimum of 150 hours of teaching practice.
The quality of FE ITT provision is inspected regularly by Ofsted. In their most recent report on FE ITT, published in February 2009, Ofsted say they
"received positive comments from inspectors about course design and the way they support links between the taught elements and the workplace experience of trainers".
Training and Development Agency for Schools: Finance
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the reason for the cost of the finance function of the Training and Development Agency for Schools referred to in the publication Benchmarking the Back Office: Central Government; and if he will make a statement. [312683]
Mr. Coaker: The benchmarking results were based on budgets which contain fundamentally different components. The TDA finance function has a much wider remit than the traditional finance function in many other comparable organisations.
Nevertheless, the TDA is taking the opportunity of its relocation to Manchester to review the way it provides back office services, including its finance function, and efficiencies will result.
Truancy
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of trends in truancy rates in (a) Lewes constituency, (b) East Sussex, (c) the South East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [305616]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 10 December 2009]: The available information is shown in the table.
To provide further constituency level data and information prior to 2003 would incur disproportionate cost.
| Primary, secondary and special schools( 1,2,3) -percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence 2003/04 to 2007/08( 4,5) | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Lewes constituency | East Sussex | South East | England | |
| n/a = Not readily available. To provide further information would incur disproportionate cost. (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Figures in italics have been sourced from the Absence in Schools Survey. Other figures are derived from the School Census. (5) The number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. Source: Absence in Schools Survey and School Census(3) | ||||
Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.
Truancy: Leeds
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the unauthorised absence rate was for pupils in Leeds North West constituency in each year since 1997. [309385]
Mr. Coaker: Information for selected years is shown in the table.
To provide information for further years would incur disproportionate cost.
| Primary, secondary and special schools( 1,2,3) : Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence 1996-97-2007-08( 4 -) Leeds North West constituency | |
| Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence( 5) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (3) Includes maintained and non maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Figures prior to 2007-08 have been sourced from the Absence in Schools Survey. Other figures are derived from the School Census. (5) The number of sessions missed due to unauthorised absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. Source: Absence in Schools Survey and School Census(4) | |
Truancy: Prosecutions
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many parents appeared in court in relation to their children's unauthorised absence from school in (a) England and (b) East Sussex in each of the last 10 years. [308463]
Mr. Coaker: Information from the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database on the number of parents proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to failing to secure their child's regular school attendance in the Sussex police force area and England, for the years 2001 to 2007 can be viewed in the following table. Prior to 2001 these offences cannot be separately identified.
| N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for offences relating to 'failing to attend school( 1 ) in Sussex police force area (pfa), and England, 2001 - 07( 2,3) | |||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
| (1) Includes the following: (i) Failure to secure regular attendance at school. (Education Act 1996 S.444 (1)(8)). (ii) Parent knows that their child is failing to attend school regularly and fails without reasonable justification to cause him or her to attend school. (Education Act 1996 S.444(8)(1a)(8a) added by Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 S.72). (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence, for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. [Ref: IOS 593-09] | |||||||
Court proceedings data for 2008 are planned for publication on 28 January 2010.
These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
These data are a further breakdown of that published in the Criminal Statistics, Supplementary Volumes for England and Wales for the years 2001 to 2007.
Our commitment as set out in the Children's Plan is to reduce the level of persistent absence so that by 2011 no local authority will have more than five per cent of its secondary pupils as persistent absentees. Although the number of prosecutions in Sussex was the same in 2007 as in 2001, there has been an increase of 5,784 prosecutions in England over the same period, which is nearly four times as many than in 2001. This could be attributed to local authorities making more use of their powers to improve attendance in school. Recent years have seen increased use of parental responsibility measures such as parenting orders and parenting contracts as well as prosecutions.
Youth Justice
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many first-time (a) male and (b) female entrants into the youth justice system aged (i) 10, (ii) 11, (iii) 12, (iv) 13, (v) 14, (vi) 15, (vii) 16 and (viii) 17 years old there were in each of the last three years. [313121]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 25 January 2010]: The number of young people, broken down by gender and single year of age, receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction processed by English or Welsh police forces can be found in the following tables:
| Number of young people aged 10 to 17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, processed by English or Welsh police forces, (and percentage of all year total) , by gender and financial year | ||||||
| Male | ||||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | ||||
| Age (at time of offence) | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage |
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