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2 Mar 2010 : Column 1168W—continued
Building Schools for the Future Programme: Birmingham
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what discussions he has had with Birmingham city council on its prioritisation and phasing of schools projects under the Building Schools for the Future programme; [320061]
(2) what recent discussions he has had with Birmingham city council on future Building Schools for the Future projects in Birmingham; [320062]
(3) how many schools in Birmingham are (a) being and (b) planned to be redeveloped as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme; [320063]
(4) how much funding he has allocated to Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in Birmingham for (a) active projects and (b) follow-on projects in each wave of that programme; and whether there has been any change to (i) agreed and (ii) projected funding arrangements for BSF projects in Birmingham. [320091]
Mr. Coaker: Partnerships for Schools (PfS), as the delivery agent for Building Schools for the Future (BSF), is responsible for discussions with local authorities about prioritising and phasing of schools in the programme. Birmingham is in Waves 2 and 5 of the BSF programme and discussions with the city council have reached the following stages:
The Wave 2 Strategic Business Case and Outline Business Case (OBC) identify the prioritisation and phasing of schools in the first phase that are now either in construction or being developed.
The Wave 5 Strategy for Change and OBC, which will establish the prioritisation and phasing of the second phase, is currently being completed by the local authority.
PfS is currently evaluating the authority's Readiness to Deliver (RtD) proposal for Phase 3.
The local authority's Academy programme is in development.
10 schools are being redeveloped and 20 are planned to be redeveloped as part of the BSF programme.
When an OBC for a wave of a local authority's BSF project is agreed, the funding is fixed for the first group of prioritised schools in the wave. However, as each subsequent group of schools in the wave is brought forward the funding is adjusted for changes in construction inflation and location factors. As such, all funding after the first group of schools in the wave is indicative until the respective stage submission is approved. The current funding forecasts for Birmingham's BSF projects are as follows:
| £ million | |||
| PFI credits | Capital grant | Funding status | |
Funding of circa £160 million of capital grant for eight academies is currently in the process of being approved. This funding is not included above.
Funding allocations for Wave 5 will be determined in its OBC. Allocations for the remaining schools within Birmingham will be agreed when the projects come into the programme. The authority has submitted RtD proposals for Phase 3 within the £100 million scope required by PfS.
Children: Deaths
John Hemming:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the change was in the number of notifications to Ofsted of deaths of (a) children and (b) children under the age of one year
following a serious incident between 2008 and 2009; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for that change. [314044]
Dawn Primarolo: Data on the number of notifications of deaths of children following a serious incident are a matter for Ofsted. Ofsted has disclosed the information requested in reply to a request under Freedom of Information Act from the hon. Gentleman.
Serious incidents are notified to Ofsted straight away where a child has died and where abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor in the death. But further investigation may indicate that the death was due to other causes.
Government Offices have been working closely with Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) to help ensure that procedures relating to child deaths are fully observed. A higher number of notifications could be due in part to an increased awareness of the procedures that need to be followed, including the notification to Ofsted of serious incidents.
Every single death of a child is an absolute tragedy, whether as a result of abuse or neglect or not. We must continue to do everything we can to protect children from those who seek to harm them. This is why we commissioned Lord Laming to carry out a report of safeguarding progress nationally. Lord Laming's report confirmed that robust legislative, structural and policy foundations are in place. We accepted and are implementing all 58 of his recommendations.
It is also the case that we are the first country in the world to implement a statutory multi-agency child death reviewing system to collect, analyse and act upon information about every child's death.
Citizenship: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many young people in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point have received lessons in citizenship since that subject was made part of the national curriculum. [318087]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: We do not collect local data and cannot say how many young people have received lessons on citizenship in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point since it became a compulsory subject in 2002.
Departmental Consultants
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) whether consultants have been contracted to carry out public participation activity on behalf of his Department in the last three years; [316835]
(2) whether his Department has contracted consultants to carry out public participation activity on behalf of his Department since 2007. [317069]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.
Departmental Correspondence
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to how many (a) emails and (b) letters from members of the public his Department has responded since May 2007. [317048]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department was established on 28 June 2007. From 1 July 2007 until 31 December 2009 we have responded to 108,901 items of correspondence from members of the public. The Department does not record the information by correspondence method and therefore cannot break the figure down into e-mails and letters.
Departmental Energy
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the estimated (a) amount and (b) cost was of energy used in his Department in each year since 1997; what proportion of the energy used was generated from renewable sources in each of those years; and if he will make a statement. [317227]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families was formed via a machinery of Government change in June 2007; therefore a complete response to the question above can be provided only for financial years 2007/08, 2008/09.
In 2007/08 the Department consumed 23,763,917 kilowatt hours of energy (gas, electricity and steam) at a cost of £1,489,366 at the four HQ sites in London, Darlington, Sheffield and Runcorn.
In 2008/09 the Department consumed 21,286,750 kilowatt hours of energy (gas, electricity and steam) at a cost of £1,683,021 at the four HQ sites in London, Darlington, Sheffield and Runcorn.
While a green energy tariff is in place for Darlington electricity it is not possible to determine the level of energy generated from renewables sources for each of these years.
Departmental Finance
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to his Department of funding (a) Post-graduate Certificate in Education and (b) undergraduate Bachelor of Education courses (i) was in each of the last three years and (ii) will be in 2010-11. [318136]
Mr. Coaker: The figures contained in the following table show the mainstream funding amounts the Training and Development Agency for Schools has paid to teacher training providers for postgraduate and undergraduate courses of initial teacher training (ITT) for academic years 2007/08 to 2009/10. The breakdown of funding between postgraduate and Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses and Bachelor of Education and other undergraduate courses is not available. Figures for 2010/11 are not yet available.
| £ | |||
| ITT funding | Postgraduate | Undergraduate | Total |
| Notes: 1. The above figures do not take account of funding adjustments (holdback) which have been made subsequently for under- and over recruitment to courses. 2. These figures do not include recruitment premiums, student bursaries and other incentives, capital support or development funding. | |||
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many communications or press officers his Department employs. [319146]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department's human resources system holds information on individuals by their generalist civil service grade and therefore it is not possible to identify everybody engaged in communications work in the department, and this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Public Consultation
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on (a) written consultations, (b) consultation events and (c) focus groups in each of the last three years. [317068]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on (a) written consultations, (b) consultation road shows and (c) focus groups in each of the last three years. [317839]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's document entitled Social Mobility: Narrowing Social Class Educational Attainment Gaps published on 26 April 2006. [316716]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: A copy of the document entitled "Social Mobility: Narrowing Social Class Educational Attainment Gaps," dated 26 April 2006, has been placed in the Library.
Disadvantaged
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schemes aimed at (a) improving parenting skills, (b) supporting dysfunctional families and (c) providing diversionary activities for young people at risk of offending his Department and its predecessors have introduced since 1997; how much has been spent on each; and whether any ring-fenced funding has been provided to local authorities to finance such schemes. [312229]
Dawn Primarolo: Between April 1997 and March 2009, we have identified 13 key policies that contribute to: (a) improving parenting skills, (b) supporting dysfunctional families and (c) providing diversionary activities for young people at risk of offending. This consists of £168 million on schemes that are aimed at improving parenting skills, £34 million supporting dysfunctional families and £439 million providing diversionary activities for young people at risk of offending. Of this, £164 million has been ring-fenced funding.
In addition to this, Sure Start has a total spend to date of £4,808 million and would contribute to both part (a) and (b) respectively. This funding is also ring- fenced.
Free School Meals: Leeds
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of students in Leeds, North-West constituency was eligible to receive free school meals in the latest period for which figures are available. [319507]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The requested information is shown in the table.
| Maintained nursery, primary( 1) and state funded secondary( 1, 2) schools: Number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals( 3) as at January 2009 | |||
| Leeds, North-West constituency | |||
| Number of pupils( 4) | Number of pupils eligible for FSM | Percentage of pupils eligible for FSM | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) Those eligible may choose not to take up their offer of a free school meal for various reasons e.g. through preference or through non-attendance on the day. Pupils are counted as eligible only if they meet the eligibility criteria and make a claim. (4) Includes sole and dual (main) registrations. Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10 Source: School Census | |||
GCSE
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students resident in (a) Knowsley, (b) Kensington and Chelsea and (c) Islington sat an A level in (i) mathematics, (ii) further mathematics, (iii) physics, (iv) English literature, (v) history, (vi) a modern language and (vii) chemistry in (A) 1997 and (B) the most recent year for which figures are available. [316852]
Mr. Coaker: The requested information is shown in the following table for 2003/04 and 2008/09. Subject information based on pupil residency is available only from 2003/04 onwards.
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