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9 Mar 2010 : Column 202W—continued
Parenting Orders
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many parenting orders were issued because of (a) poor behaviour in school and (b) truancy in (i) 1997, (ii) 2005 and (iii) the latest year for which figures are available. [317819]
Mr. Coaker: We have been collecting data on parenting orders since 2004.
The number of parenting orders made following truancy prosecution (ancillary orders) is 427 for 2004/05, 505 in 2005/06, 602 in 2007/08 and 396 for 2008/09.
All 150 local authorities have systems in place to use orders for behaviour in appropriate cases, but no orders have yet been issued. Parenting orders for behaviour are a last resort measure, intended only for parents that will not engage with voluntary measures, and were never expected to be used in great volume. The number of parenting contracts for behaviour accepted by parents is 410 for 2004/05, 1898 for 2005/06, 2535 for 2006/07, 2546 for 2007/08 and 3528 for 2008/09.
Personal Social and Health Education
Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what training will be given to teachers of the personal, social, health and economic education curriculum to respond appropriately to a child or young person, who, during such teaching, discloses abuse. [312701]
Mr. Coaker: All school staff who work with children should undertake training to equip them to carry out their responsibilities for child protection effectively, which is kept up to date by refresher training at three-yearly intervals. In addition to this, all staff in schools should follow the guidance contained in "What to do if you're worried a child is being abused". This practice guidance tells people about the procedures to follow when passing on concerns and what will then happen.
Schools: Fires
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent steps he has taken to improve fire safety in schools. [318627]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 26 February 2010]: DCSF has comprehensive guidance on fire safety in schools on its fire safety portal at:
In March 2007 the then Schools Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight), announced the Government's new policy on sprinklers and their value as a measure against arson. He said:
"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."
Teachers: Training
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) applications were received for and (b) places were awarded on (i) graduate teacher programmes, (ii) Bachelor of Education programmes, (iii) Postgraduate Certificate of Education programmes and (iv) Teach First programmes in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [314909]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 2 February 2010]: The table shows the number of applications and acceptances to mainstream postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England for entry in 2009-10.
| Postgraduate applications and acceptances to ITT courses; year of entry: 2009-10 ( p rovisional), Coverage: England | ||
| Number of applications | Number of acceptances | |
| Notes: Figures presented in this table have been published in the GTTR website at: http://www.gttr.ac.uk/providers/statistics/applicantstatistics/ Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown. Some applications to postgraduate ITT courses are made independently of the GTTR and are not included in the figures. Source: Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) | ||
The Annual Training and Development Agency for Schools Report states that there were 2,900 applications for Cohort 7 of the Teach First Programme (to start the scheme in 2009-10). Of these, 485 places were awarded.
Data on applications for mainstream undergraduate ITT (such as Bachelor of Education) and the Graduate Teacher Programme are not available centrally.
The number of recruits to ITT courses by the various routes and programmes has been published in Tables A1 and A2 of the Statistical First Release: School Workforce in England (23/2009) at:
These tables show that in 2009-10 there were 7,920 new entrants undergraduate ITT courses and 25,090 entrants to postgraduate ITT courses. The latest available full year data for employment based routes to ITT refer to 2008-09 and show there were 5,120 new entrants to the Graduate Teacher Programme and 370 entrants to the Teach First Programme.
Truancy
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and in what percentage of cases of parents charged with offences related to failing to ensure their child attended school have ended in a conviction since 1997. [318273]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 24 February 2010]: Information from the Ministry of Justice court proceedings database on the number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to failing to attend school in England, 2001 to 2008 can be viewed in the following table. Prior to 2001 these offences cannot be separately identified.
These data are a further breakdown of those published in the "Criminal Statistics, Supplementary Volumes for England and Wales" for the years 2001 to 2008.
| N umber of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts and average fine imposed for offences relating to 'failing to attend school'( 1, 2) | ||||||||
| Year | ||||||||
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| (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) Prior to 2001 these offences cannot be separately identified. Notes: 1. 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. 2. 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 85-10] | ||||||||
The increase in the number of cases over this period reflects a sustained drive, led by the Government, to improve levels of school attendance including by encouraging local authorities to make more use of their powers to proceed against parents who are failing in their legal responsibility to ensure their children receive a full time education. The outcome has been a significant improvement in school attendance, with on average 70,000 more pupils in school each day than would be the case if absence rates were still at the level of 1996/97.
Tim Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer
of 10 February 2010, Official Report, columns 1091-92W, on pupils: absenteeism, if he will provide the equivalent figures for secondary schools in (a) 2005-06 and (b) 2007-08; and if he will provide the equivalent figures for all schools in 2006-07. [318421]
Mr. Coaker
[holding answer 24 February 2010]: The requested information is shown in the tables for 2005-06,
2006-07 and 2007-08. For information on Persistent Absentees that are white British split by gender in 2006-07, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 February 2010, Official Report, column 548W.
| Secondary schools( 1) : Number and proportion of persistent absentees( 2) by free school meal eligibility , in England | ||||||
| All pupils( 3) | ||||||
| Pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4) | Pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4) | All pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees( 4) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed, city technology colleges and academies. (2) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate. (3) Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year. Includes pupils on the roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once. (4) The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census. | ||||||
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools( 1, 2, 3) : Number and proportion of persistent absentees( 4) by free school meal eligibility, 2006/07, in England | ||||||
| Pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 6) | Pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 6) | All pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees( 6) | |
| (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) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate. (5) Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year up until 25 May 2007. Includes pupils on the roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once. (6) The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics. Source: School Census. | ||||||
| Secondary schools( 1) : Number and proportion of persistent absentees( 2) by free school meal eligibility, in England | ||||||
| White British( 3) | ||||||
| Pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments who are eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4) | Pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments who are not eligible for free school meals classified as persistent absentees( 4) | All pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees | Proportion of pupil enrolments classified as persistent absentees( 4) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed, city technology colleges and academies. (2) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate. (3) Number of pupil enrolments in schools from start of the school year. Includes pupils on the roll for at least one session who are aged between five and 15, excluding boarders. Some pupils may be counted more than once. (4 )The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics. Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census. | ||||||
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