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24 Mar 2010 : Column 357W—continued
Departmental Food
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will take steps to ensure that the meat and dairy products procured by his Department and its non-departmental bodies are free range or produced to standards equivalent to those of the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme. [323066]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department's catering contract was developed to incorporate the principles of the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative and the Department's contractor, Autograph, have a policy of supporting Fairtrade, Marine Stewardship, RSPCA Freedom Food and Red Tractor in addition to sourcing food locally wherever possible and where traceability allows.
As a company, Autograph procure meat, fruit and vegetables nationally at just over 50 per cent. of the total available domestically allocated spend and all dairy produce is of domestic provenance.
Autograph are committed to supporting and promoting the use of British agriculture, when in season and quality/value permit. They have recently been awarded Red Tractor Assured Food Standards accreditation for the four DCSF head office sites.
I am unable to provide detail for each of the non-departmental public bodies.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his Department's budget for publicity and advertising was in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [316570]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department's spend on advertising in 2008/09 was £13,891,106, as outlined in the following table. The figures include media spend but do not include production and fees.
| Campaign title | Spend (£) |
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department and its agencies spent on external recruitment consultants in the last 12 months. [315287]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Over the 12-month period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009, DCSF spent £115,000 (including VAT) on external recruitment consultants for appointments into the Department.
DCSF only uses recruitment consultants when it provides value for money and for senior appointments operating under the rules of the Civil Service Commissioners.
The recruitment consultants employed for these purposes were all drawn from the Cabinet Office and Buying Solutions Framework agreements.
The Department has no agencies.
Faith Schools: Islam
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of the number of children who are being educated at Muslim schools. [321279]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: There are currently 11 maintained Muslim schools (six primary schools and five secondary schools), all of which have opened since 1997, out of a total of 20,099 maintained schools. We are not currently aware of any proposals for new maintained Muslim schools which have been approved to open.
According to the January 2009 school census, there are 4,230 pupils being educated at the 11 maintained Muslim schools (1,933 at primary and 2,297 at secondary) and 16,543 pupils being educated at the 117 independent Muslim schools.
Free School Meals: Leeds
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 2 March 2010, Official Report, column 1173W, on free school meals: Leeds, how many of the 1,180 students eligible for free school meals as at January 2009 in Leeds North West constituency regularly received school meals during that period. [322813]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Information on how regularly pupils take school meals is not available. The available information on the numbers of children taking free school meals on the day of the census is shown in the table, together with the numbers of children known to be eligible for free school meals.
| Maintained nursery, primary( 1) and state-funded secondary( 1, 2 ) schools: School meal arrangements, as at January 2009, Leeds, North-West constituency | |||||
| Number of pupils( 3) | Number of pupils eligible for free school meals( 3, 4) | Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals | Number of pupils taking free school meals( 5) | Percentage taking free school meals | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) Includes sole and dual (main) registrations. Also includes post-16 pupils. (4) 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. (5) Number of pupils taking school meals on the day of the census. Note: Pupil numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census. | |||||
GCSE
Mr. Graham Stuart:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of pupils from National Challenge schools who achieved
at least five grades A* to C at GCSE achieved one or more such grade in business studies, music technology, child development, hairdressing, construction, health and social care, sociology, media, travel and tourism, performing arts and hospitality and catering in each of the last five years. [319685]
Mr. Coaker: To answer this would go over the disproportionate cost threshold.
Government Car and Despatch Agency
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department paid to the Government Car and Despatch Agency in each of the last five years; how much it has spent on such payments in 2009-10; and what proportion of such payments was made in respect of the Government Car Service. [316424]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was created as a result of the machinery of government changes in June 2007. Prior to June 2007, it was Department for Education and Skills (DfES). A service level agreement between DSCF and Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) started in May 2006 and the spend figures from that date are shown in the following table:
| Financial year | Spend (£) |
The spend figure for 2007-08 shows a larger spend because this included payments made by DCSF on behalf of DCSF, Jobcentre Plus and DWP. The spend figure for the current financial year includes an additional service made for a mail service. Payments from 2006 to May 2009 relate solely to the Government Car Service (GCS). From June 2009, 48 per cent. of the spend relates to GCS.
Costs to Departments of ministerial cars are reported annually to Parliament by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport through written ministerial statement and are available in the Libraries of the House.
Learning Disability
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment has been made of the level of support and resources specialist institutions will require for administering the provision of learning for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement. [323271]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 22 March 2010]: The budget for placements including support and resources secured for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities at independent specialist providers was £237 million in 2009-10 and this has increased by 12.7 per cent. in 2010 -11 to £267 million.
Local authorities will work closely with the specialist institutions and the Young People's Learning Agency to ensure that learners receive the provision and support needed to meet individual need and that this represents value for money.
Primary Education: Standards
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many primary schools were found not to have been registered with Ofsted in each of the last three years. [323343]
Ms Diana R. Johnson [holding answer 22 March 2010]: Ofsted does not register schools other than Early Years settings. Independent schools must register with this Department. While the Department is sometimes notified of independent schools operating without registration and also holds information about registration applications currently being processed, our records do not contain age ranges. The Department does not hold historic information about unregistered schools in a single place, and extracting this information from paper files could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Pupils: Clothing
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) whether he has made a recent estimate of the number of schoolchildren who regularly wear the kirpan on school premises; [317004]
(2) what recent representations he has received on the wearing of the kirpan by schoolchildren. [317005]
Ms Diana R. Johnson [holding answer 22 February 2010]: The Department has made no estimate of the number of children who regularly wear the kirpan on school premises; this information is not collected by schools. We have received representations concerning a case involving a Barnet school last year; it is for individual governing bodies to make their own policies on the carrying of the kirpan, taking account of pupil safety and religious practice. Because of concerns arising from this case, we are currently discussing issues around the wearing of the kirpan with other interested Government Departments, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Sikh community, with a view to issuing guidance in due course.
School Catchment Areas
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent guidance (a) his Department and (b) the Schools Adjudicator has issued to local education authorities on the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to make checks that parents live in their declared school catchment areas; and if he will make a statement. [323974]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: Neither the Department nor the Schools Adjudicator has issued any guidance on the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The use of these powers is the responsibility of local authorities and we expect them to be used proportionately.
Schools: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools there were in the London Borough of Bexley in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2009. [321057]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Number of maintained primary( 1) and state funded secondary schools( 1,2) , 1997 and 2009-Coverage: Bexley | ||
| 1997 | 2009 | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. Source: School Census | ||
Teachers TV: Finance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the budget of Teachers TV was in the latest year for which figures are available. [321203]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: In the 10-month period from 1 June 2008 to 31 March 2009 the Department allocated a budget to the Teachers TV contract of £10,194,616.
In the coming financial year Teachers TV will stop broadcasting as a TV channel and become an on-demand only service. This will release savings to the Department of £1,000,000 a year.
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