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2 Mar 2010 : Column 1183W—continued
Schools: Fires
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of the number of new schools not required to fit sprinklers. [318628]
Mr. Coaker: It is good practice and our expectation that the majority of new schools will include sprinkler systems. Currently over 70 per cent. of new secondary schools and academies procured under Partnerships for Schools arrangements include sprinklers. It is not however a legal requirement for schools to be fitted with sprinkler systems and we do not hold information on the number of new schools not fitted with sprinklers.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent representations his Department has received on mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in new schools. [318630]
Mr. Coaker: On 19 May 2009, my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) led an Adjournment debate on fire safety in schools at which this issue was discussed. I subsequently met my hon. Friend and colleagues on 22 October. We have also received representations from the Chief Fire Officers Association and the National Fire Sprinkler Network; and parliamentary questions have been asked in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Our policy remains that introduced by my right hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight), when he was Schools Minister. In March 2007 he announced the Government's policy on sprinklers and their value as a measure against arson by saying:
"It is now our expectation that all new schools will have fire sprinklers installed. However, we do not intend to make this a compulsory measure. There may be a few cases where local authorities or other promoters of schools consider that sprinklers are not needed. If so, they will need to be able to demonstrate that such schools are low risk and that sprinklers would not represent good value for money."
Schools: Offensive Weapons
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many incidents of pupils carrying a dangerous weapon into school were reported in (a) 1997, (b) 2005 and (c) the latest year for which figures are available. [317820]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Data on the number of incidents of pupils carrying a dangerous weapon into school are not collected at a national level.
Schools: Snow and Ice
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make an assessment of the extent to which anxiety about liability for slipping injuries influenced decisions on school closures during the recent severe weather episode. [317508]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Government do not collect data on the reasons for which schools close during severe weather, and there is no duty on schools to advise the Government why they closed.
The Department's guidance to schools about planning for, and responding to severe weather urges them to take a proportionate approach, balancing any risks arising from less supervision and minor slips and bumps against disruption to pupils' learning.
Schools: Standards
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools were rated good with outstanding features at the most recent point for which inspection data are available. [318481]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 24 February 2010]: 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 Library.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 22 February 2010:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for response.
Ofsted's rating system is based on only four judgements for overall effectiveness where 1 is outstanding; 2 is good; 3 is satisfactory; and 4 is inadequate, Schools are not rated good with outstanding features. Some inspectors might use this phrase in the text of their reports; we do not hold figures for this.
Consequently, this response considers maintained schools which were judged as good for overall effectiveness at their last inspection and where at least one of the other judgements made was outstanding.
The latest period for which published figures about maintained school section 5 inspection outcomes are available is the academic year 2008/09. This answer, therefore, takes into account inspections carried out prior to 1 September 2009.
At 1 December 2009 there were 22,260 schools open and eligible for a section 5 Ofsted inspection. Of these, 21,920 had received at least one section 5 inspection. These schools, together with their latest inspection judgements, form the basis for the response.
Of the 21,920 schools, 11,033 (50%) were judged as good for overall effectiveness at the last inspection. Of these, 8,704 (79%) received at least one judgement of outstanding.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Vernon Coaker MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and placed in the library of both Houses.
Schools: Vocational Guidance
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his assessment is of the effectiveness of careers services offered in schools; what recent steps he has taken to improve them; and how much has been spent on them in each year since 1997. [318197]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 24 February 2010]: The best schools, working in partnership with local authority services, provide excellent support for their pupils to help them to make decisions about learning and careers but the quality across all schools is variable. We published our strategy to improve information, advice and guidance (Quality, Choice and Aspiration) in October 2009. Alongside the strategy we published statutory guidance for schools, setting out clear expectations for the provision of high quality impartial information about learning options, which promotes the best interests of pupils.
The way that provision of careers services has been funded has changed in the period since 1997, with the establishment of the Connexions service and, more recently, local authorities assuming responsibility for the provision of information, advice and guidance. Funding has been provided to Connexions/Careers Services as set out in the following table:
| Funding (£ million) | To : | |
| (1) Prior to 2001, Careers Services provided advice and guidance on careers and related issues (2) From April 2001 Connexions was introduced in a staged way and the Department provided funding to Connexions Partnerships for the delivery of Connexions services for young people. (3) From April 2008 local authorities have received funding for Connexions services, which advise young people on a range of issues including careers, as part of their Area Based Grant. | ||
Secondary Education
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 29 October 2009, Official Report, column 610W, on secondary education, how many schools in each (a) region and (b) local authority area there were in each category in each year. [318588]
Ms Diana R. Johnson [holding answer 25 February 2010]: The answer to this question has been placed in the Library.
Secondary Education: Pupil Numbers
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 29 October 2009, Official Report, column 610W, on secondary education, how many such schools there were in each local authority area in each year. [318486]
Ms Diana R. Johnson [holding answer 24 February 2010]: The answer to this question has been placed in the Library.
Teachers: Pay
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average salary of a teacher in (a) Blackpool, (b) Lancashire and (c) England was in the latest year for which information is available. [319535]
Mr. Coaker: The following table shows the average salary of regular qualified teachers in service in local authority maintained schools in Blackpool and Lancashire local authorities and England, March 2008 the latest information available.
| Average salary of full-time regular qualified teachers in local authority maintained nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units, January 2008( 1) Coverage: Blackpool and Lancashire local authorities and England | |
| Average salary (£) | |
| (1) Provisional. Source: Database of Teacher Records Figures are rounded to the nearest £100. | |
Truancy: Salford
Hazel Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the unauthorised absence rate was for pupils in Salford in (a) 1997 and (b) 2009. [317385]
Mr. Coaker: The available information is shown in the table for 1996/97 and 2007/08. Information for 2008/09 is expected to be published in spring 2010.
| Primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2, 3) , p ercentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence 1996/97 and 2007/08( 4) -Salford parliamentary 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 for 1996/97 have been sourced from the Absence in Schools Survey. Figures for 2007/08 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 (see note 4). | |
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 24 February 2010, Official Report, column 650W, on Education Maintenance Allowance and the answer from the Minister for Further Education, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs of 3 December 2009, Official Report, column 987W, on the Learning and Skills Council for England's correspondence, if he will review his Department's processes to ensure that all letters from the Learning and Skills Council in response to Parliamentary Questions are sent to the Editor of the Official Report for publication. [319985]
Mr. Iain Wright:
I have reviewed the process for responses to parliamentary questions with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Service standards have been
agreed between my Department and the LSC, setting out that responses should be sent to the Editor of the Official Report within 10 working days of receipt.
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