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29 Mar 2010 : Column 740W—continued
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contribution his Department has made to reducing the level of female genital mutilation in Sierra Leone in the last five years. [324083]
Mr. Thomas: We are providing £16 million over three years specifically to improve the reproductive health of women in Sierra Leone.
In Sierra Leone the Department for International Development (DFID) has developed a Gender Action Plan to track its performance on a quarterly basis. The action plan has five key gender indicators, including the establishment of an informed public debate on female genital mutilation. We have been working closely with the World Bank, EU and African Development Bank to promote this discussion along with improving our joint work on gender issues more broadly. DFID has also collaborated with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to organise a forum with civil society counterparts on female genital mutilation in Sierra Leone.
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has provided to the Social Welfare Ministry in Sierra Leone in the last 12 months. [324084]
Mr. Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not provided direct financial support to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs (MSWGCA) in the last 12 months. DFID is supporting the International Rescue Committee UK (IRC UK) which is working closely with MSWGCA to implement the 2007 Gender Acts in Sierra Leone. Over the last 12 months IRC has spent £8,000 in UK aid on activities in direct support of the Ministry. As a condition of receiving assistance all NGOs including IRC have to submit annual audited statements as well as quarterly financial and reports.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what mechanisms exist for (a) parents and (b) staff to submit complaints about the operation of academies. [324350]
Mr. Coaker: Academies are required by the independent school standards regulations to have a complaints procedure which must be available on request to parents. The procedure must provide for complaints to be managed within clear time scales. If initial informal consideration does not resolve the complaint, then the procedure must also include steps to escalate a complaint through both a formal written stage and, if necessary, a hearing before a panel that includes at least one member who is independent of the academy.
If the complaint cannot be resolved at school level from the 1 April 2010, the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) will be the next route of redress. The YPLA will review the evidence provided by the complainant and the academy to determine if the academy has followed its own complaints procedure or is in breach of a contractual or statutory obligation. If the academy has not followed its procedures or obligations it will be asked to do so to rectify any failings.
Ultimately a complaint can be referred to the Secretary of State on the grounds that a governing body is acting or proposing to act unreasonably or on the grounds that either has failed to discharge its duties. The same procedure as stated above also applies to staff who want to complain about academies.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what budgetary provision he has made for the Young People's Learning Agency to offer (a) support and (b) challenge of academies in 2010-11. [324847]
Mr. Coaker: Provision has been made for £6.3 million to both support and challenge academies in financial year 2010-11, through School Improvement Partners, National Challenge Advisers, other education advisers and support delivered through the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. In addition some academies will receive National Challenge funding in the same way that maintained schools do. These budgets will be held with the Department for Children, Schools and Families until the function for educational support and challenge of open academies transfers to the Young People's Learning Agency in September 2010.
Building Schools for the Future Programme
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the total cost to each local education partnership of all completed Building Schools for the Future projects. [322854]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 18 March 2010]: Information about the total cost to each local education partnership of all completed major building projects within the Building Schools for the Future programme is set out in the following table. The information has been provided for those projects where actual costs are available. Estimated figures have not been provided for those projects where figures have not been validated.
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