Housing Benefit: Income
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the likely change in weekly income for a family with (a) three, (b) four, (c) five, (d) six, (e) seven and (f) eight children affected by the proposed cap on the level of household benefits. [36423]
Chris Grayling: If the benefit cap were applied in full, based on modelling using the Department for Work and Pension’s Policy Simulation Model, it is estimated that households whose benefit is reduced as a result of the cap on total benefit income will lose on average around £93 per week.
We are looking at ways of easing the transition for families and providing assistance in hard cases.
Analysis of those affected by the benefit cap has been modelled using survey data—as such there is a degree of uncertainty around the results. Consequently, owing to small sample sizes, it is not possible to present the distribution of losses for sub groups of the overall population of households affected by the cap.
Analysis of the impact of the household cap on total benefit income was published in the Impact Assessment which accompanied the introduction of Welfare Reform Bill. The equality impact assessment has also been published on the Department for Work and Pension’s website.
Income: Universal Credit
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the protection to be given to households whose incomes will be uprated by the consumer prices index as a result of the introduction of universal credit. [44003]
Chris Grayling: I have interpreted the question as asking whether it is the intention to uprate any cash protection offered to claimants whose incomes fall as a result of the transition of universal credit.
We have given a commitment that no-one will experience a reduction in the amount of benefit they receive as a direct result of the introduction of universal credit.
In most cases, we expect that universal credit will provide a level of support that is the same as, or higher than, the current system. Transitional protection will be awarded if the entitlement is lower and the circumstances have not changed.
The current expectation is that any additional benefit awarded in this way will not be uprated.
Jobcentre Plus: Incapacity Benefits
Dr Whiteford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what private sector organisations he plans to engage to assist Jobcentre Plus with the incapacity
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benefit reassessment programme; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of such engagement. [45020]
Chris Grayling: No new commercial partners have been engaged to assist Jobcentre Plus with the reassessment of incapacity benefits. The following private sector organisations, engaged through existing commercial arrangements, have or will be providing services to support IB reassessment: HPES, Accenture, BT, ATOS, Gartner, DLA Piper, Cap Gemini and Capita. These organisations provide a wide range of services to the Department, such as the development and support of IT and the provision of medical services for the delivery of work capability assessments.
As no new commercial partners are being engaged, there are no direct procurement costs. The overall investment cost across the full range of services (planned and incurred) for these private sector partners is £159 million from April 2008 to March 2014.
Motability: Bedford
Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Bedford constituency claimed the mobility component of disability living allowance at (a) the higher rate, (b) the lower rate and (c) in total in the latest period for which figures are available. [45589]
Maria Miller: The information is included in the following table.
| Disability living allowance recipients with mobility component in Bedford parliamentary constituency—May 2010 | |||
|
|
Total | Higher rate | Lower rate |
| Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. Figures exclude those with a nil mobility component rate. 3. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster) These constituencies are used for the Westminster parliament 2010. 4. These figures are published at: http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate, 100% WPLS | |||
Pensions
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) women and (b) men are in receipt of (i) the basic state pension, (ii) pension credit and (iii) the additional state pension. [47177]
Steve Webb: The information is in the following table.
| Men and women in receipt of basic state pension, additional state pension and pension credit (Great Britain, latest data) | |||
|
|
Men | Women | Total |
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| Notes: 1. Figures are for recipients in Great Britain only. 2. Figures for basic state pension and additional state pension are for March 2010; figures for pension credit are for May 2010. 3. Figures for basic state pension and additional state pension are rounded to the nearest 100 individuals; figures for pension credit are rounded to the nearest 10 individuals. Differences in rounding reflect different data sources. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 4. Additional state pension includes entitlement built up under the Graduated Retirement Benefit scheme, the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme, and the State Second Pension scheme. 5. Pension credit figures refer to household recipients. Pension credit household recipients are those people who receive pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. 6. All of the figures in the table are available on the DWP website at: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool and http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2011/average_grb_serps_s2p.pdf Source: DWP, Information Directorate, 5% sample administrative data and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study | |||
Personal Independence Payments
Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has in respect of the level of understanding of (a) severe learning disabilities and (b) autism spectrum disorder to be required of staff engaged in the training and assessment procedures for personal independence payments. [45635]
Maria Miller: We are considering the most appropriate delivery model for the personal independence payment assessment. Appropriate training and guidance for both decision makers and assessors will be an integral element. This is relevant for severe learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders as well as other health conditions and impairments, to ensure that the new assessment accurately and consistently enables support to be targeted to those with the greatest need. Both I and departmental officials have met with a number of disability organisations representing learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders, to discuss our reform proposals and to seek their views on how the new benefit can best support those with autism and severe learning disabilities. We are keen to continue to work with disabled people and their organisations to ensure that the training and guidance is right.
Social Security Benefits
Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of monetary value of unclaimed benefits in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much was unclaimed for each benefit and allowance type. [45049]
Chris Grayling: For the six income-related benefits for which estimates are available there was between £6,930 million and £12,700 million left unclaimed in 2008-09; this compared to £38,110 million that was claimed and represents take-up by expenditure of between about 75% and 85%. The information by benefit is in the following table.
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| Unclaimed benefit (£ million) | ||
| Benefit | Lower | Upper |
| Source: Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2008-09 | ||
Social Security Benefits: Overpayments
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the expected level of benefit overpayments in each year of the comprehensive spending review period. [44993]
Chris Grayling: The Department publishes estimates of fraud and error in the benefit system twice yearly as National Statistics. The latest estimates relate to the period from October 2008 to September 2009 and can be found at:
http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/index.php?page=fraud_error_arc
The Department does not produce formal projections for the amount it expects to lose in future years as a result of fraud and error. However, the Department, together with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, has estimated that through the implementation of their joint fraud and error strategy the level of fraud and error in the benefit and tax credit systems will reduce by 25% (£1.4 billion) by the end of the comprehensive spending review period.
State Retirement Pensions: Age
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has any plans to provide support for those affected by the proposed increase in the state pension age for women born between 1953 and 1959. [45262]
Steve Webb: Our changes to the State Pension age will ensure the system is sustainable in the long term.
We are taking steps to ensure those who want to continue to work can do so and are able to save for retirement. For those not be able to continue we will provide support with working age benefits.
We have also announced plans for radical reform of the welfare system which will provide better tailored employment help to customers, including our older customers, and which will ensure that work always pays and is seen to pay.
Universal Credit
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent estimate he has made of the effects of the introduction of universal credit on the income of couple households of one full-time worker and two children and household earnings between £8,000 and £32,000 per year in the first four years of its introduction. [43690]
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Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. It is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
The introduction of universal credit will enable the Government to increase and better target the support that is provided through the benefit system in order to ensure that work always pays and the most vulnerable are protected. Increased support will come from greater generosity for in-work households with low earnings and more consistent support as households increase their earnings.
Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers at the point of transition as a result changes in the way benefit is calculated.
More details on levels of support in Great Britain under universal credit are contained in the impact assessment published on 16 February.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assumptions his Department made on the (a) employment rate, (b) number of vacancies and (c) claimant count in carrying out the impact assessment for universal credit in each year to 2015. [44991]
Chris Grayling: There are no explicit assumptions made about the employment rate, number of vacancies and claimant count in carrying out the impact assessment for universal credit. Estimates carried out in the impact assessment for universal credit have been derived using the Department’s Policy Simulation Model (PSM).
The PSM is a static micro simulation model of the GB tax and benefit system based on data from the Family Resources Survey (latest available year 2008-09). The PSM takes the FRS survey data and uprates it to the year of analysis (in this case 2014-15)—taking account of projected changes in benefit rates, earnings, other incomes and demographic change.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to table 2 of his Department’s impact assessment on universal credit, how many households in receipt of the lower entitlement will be affected in each £10,000 income band. [44992]
Chris Grayling: The information is as follows:
1. Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers from Universal Credit at the point of introduction. The following table shows the estimated number of households whose entitlement to universal credit would be higher or lower than current benefits/ tax credits in £10,000 income bands.
| Estimated number and proportion of households whose entitlement to universal credit would be higher or lower than current benefits/tax credits in £10,000 income bands | ||
| Million | ||
| Annual income bands (1) | Lower entitlements | Higher entitlements |
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| (1) Based on net benefit unit income. (2) Rounds to less then 50,000. | ||
2. The changes in entitlement have been modelled using the Department’s Policy Simulation Model (PSM) based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS); the latest FRS data available are for 2008-09.
3. Analysis is presented based on a projection of the FRS 2008-09 to 2014-15—incorporating forecast demographic change, announced policy changes and uprating.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people who will receive lower household entitlement under universal credit than under their benefit entitlements in 2010 in the first year of operation of universal credit. [45061]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. The precise migration process has still to be determined, and it is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
We estimate that in the steady state—once all existing claimants have been migrated to universal credit—some 2.7 million households will have higher entitlements than they would have done under the current system, while 1.7 million will notionally have a lower entitlement than under the current system.
Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers from universal credit. At the point of transition, households who experience a notional reduction in their entitlement will receive full cash protection against this change.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of people who will enter work solely as a result of the introduction of universal credit. [45136]
Chris Grayling: This information is not available. The universal credit reforms outlined the White Paper “Universal Credit: Welfare that works” set out changes in the benefit structure but also set out a strengthened conditionality and sanctions regime. Taken together we estimate that the reforms could reduce the number of workless households by around 300,000.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to paragraph 51 of his Department’s impact assessment on universal credit, which benefits will be subject to automatic passporting. [45181]
Chris Grayling:
Universal credit will streamline a number of existing benefits (income support, jobseeker’s allowance (income-based), employment support allowance (income-related) housing benefit) and tax credits into one unified payment. Therefore, when an individual
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claims one aspect of universal credit (ie income replacement aspect), they will automatically receive amounts associated with their children and their housing costs. As a result, there will be an ‘automatic passporting’ effect for people who currently claim some, but not all, of the benefits or tax credits to which they are entitled.
Universal Credit: Children
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assumptions underlie his estimate that (a) 950,000 individuals and (b) 350,000 children will be lifted out of poverty through the introduction of universal credit. [45134]
Chris Grayling: Estimates of the reduction in poverty have been derived using the Department’s Policy Simulation Model (PSM). The PSM is a static micro simulation model of the GB tax and benefit system based on data from the Family Resources Survey (latest available year 2008-09).
The PSM takes the FRS survey data and uprates them to the year of analysis (in this case 2014-15)—taking account of projected changes in benefit rates, earnings, other incomes and demographic change. It models the rules of the tax and benefit system and applies these to the data allowing us to calculate net incomes for each member of the sample. We are able to model a change in the tax and benefit rules and estimate the subsequent impact on household incomes and numbers in poverty.
The universal credit reform has been modelled in the PSM and takes account of the increase in take up which we expect to occur as a result of moving to a simpler, consolidated benefit. Numbers in poverty are compared under the tax and benefit system both with and without the universal credit. Poverty was estimated for children and working age adults on a before housing costs basis consistent with the definitions used in the Households Below Average Income Publication.
Universal Credit: Glasgow
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of persons who will be subject to the higher withdrawal rates of universal credit in (a) Glasgow North East constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each of the four years following its introduction. [43681]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system and it is not possible to produce estimates during this transition period.
The financial reward for low earners seeking to increase their earnings would be improved through the introduction of a single taper rate of about 65%. We expect the highest marginal deduction rate, including tax and national insurance contributions, for low-earning workers will be reduced from around 96% to around 76%.
More details on marginal deduction rates for Great Britain under universal credit are contained in the Impact Assessment published on 16 February 2011.
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Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the net change in the incomes of couple households of one full-time worker and two children in (a) Glasgow North East constituency, (b) Glasgow, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK attributable to the introduction of universal credit in each of the next four financial years. [43683]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. It is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
The introduction of universal credit will enable the Government to increase and better target the support that is provided through the benefit system in order to ensure that work always pays and the most vulnerable are protected. Increased support will come from greater generosity for in-work households with low earnings and more consistent support as households increase their earnings. Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers at the point of transition as a result of changes in the way benefit is calculated.
More details on levels of support in Great Britain under universal credit are contained in the Impact Assessment published on 16 February 2011.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of (a) households and (b) individuals in (i) Glasgow North East constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK who will be ineligible for universal credit because they have savings of over £16,000 in each of the four years following its introduction. [43684]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. It is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers at the point of transition as a result changes in the way benefit is calculated.
Under universal credit an assumed income will be taken into account where a single claimant or couple has capital of between £6,000 and £16,000. In addition there will be no entitlement to universal credit where a single claimant or couple has capital of over £16,000. This is exactly the same as now for income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance and housing benefit but is different from the current position in tax credits.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the number of (a) households and (b) individuals in (i) Glasgow North East constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK with savings of between £6,000 and £16,000 who will have reduced eligibility for universal credit in each of the four years following its introduction. [43685]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. It is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
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Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers at the point of transition as a result of changes in the way benefit is calculated.
Under universal credit an assumed income will be taken into account where a single claimant or couple has capital of between £6,000 and £16,000. This is exactly the same as now for income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance and housing benefit but is different from the current position in tax credits.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the average change in income of (a) households and (b) individuals in (i) Glasgow North East constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK with savings of between £6,000 and £16,000 as a result of reduced eligibility for universal credit in each of the four years following its introduction. [43686]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. It is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers at the point of transition as a result of changes in the way benefit is calculated.
Under universal credit an assumed income will be taken into account where a single claimant or couple has capital of between £6,000 and £16,000. This is exactly the same as now for income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance and housing benefit but is different from the current position in tax credits.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the effects of the introduction of universal credit on the amount retained from each additional pound earned in couple households of one full-time worker and two children with household earnings between £8,000 and £32,000 per year in the first four years of its introduction. [43687]
Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system and it is not possible to produce estimates during this transition period.
The financial reward for low earners seeking to increase their earnings would be improved through the introduction of a single taper rate of about 65%. We expect the highest marginal deduction rate, including tax and national insurance contributions, for low-earning workers will be reduced from around 96% to around 76%.
More details on marginal deduction rates for Great Britain under universal credit are contained in the impact assessment published on 16 February.
Mr Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the effect on average income of (a) households and (b) individuals in (i) Glasgow North East constituency, (ii) Glasgow, (iii) Scotland and (iv) the UK with savings of over £16,000 of ineligibility for universal credit in each of the four years following its introduction. [43688]
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Chris Grayling: After the introduction of the universal credit there will be a number of years of transition as existing cases migrate to the new system. It is not possible to produce estimates on a year-by-year basis during this transition period.
Transitional protection will ensure that there are no cash losers at the point of transition as a result changes in the way benefit is calculated.
Under universal credit an assumed income will be taken into account where a single claimant or couple has capital of between £6,000 and £16,000. In addition there will be no entitlement to universal credit where a single claimant or couple has capital of over £16,000. This is exactly the same as now for income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance and housing benefit but is different from the current position in tax credits.
Universal Credit: Public Expenditure
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of protection for benefit recipients in each year of the transition to universal credit. [45153]
Chris Grayling: The Government have made a commitment that there will be no cash losers purely as a result of the move to universal credit. At the point of change a comparison will be made between current amount received in tax credits and/or benefits and the household entitlement under universal credit. If the universal credit entitlement is less, and no other circumstances have changed, a cash amount will be paid in order to make up the difference.
This money is included within the universal credit spending envelope. Estimates on a year-by-year basis during the transition period are not available.
Energy and Climate Change
Boilers
Mr Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment he has made of the outcome of the boiler scrappage scheme. [47260]
Gregory Barker: The formal evaluation of the Boiler scrappage scheme has recently been completed and a draft of the findings has been sent to the Department. We will publish the final evaluation report shortly.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has spent on (a) salaries and (b) pension entitlements for special advisers in the financial year 2010-11 to date. [46580]
Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has spent (a) £173,862.30 on salaries (including severance payments), and (b) £27,411.96 on pension entitlements for special advisers in this financial year to February 2011.
16 Mar 2011 : Column 408W
Departmental Public Appointments
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which public bodies sponsored by his Department (a) have been and (b) are to be closed, merged or reorganised following his appointment; and how many (i) women and (ii) men who are public appointees at each body will no longer hold such an appointment in consequence. [47106]
Gregory Barker: The following public bodies have been closed since May 2010: the UK Chemical Weapons Convention National Authority Advisory Committee (NAAC), the Renewables Advisory Board (RAB), and the Advisory Committee on Carbon Abatement Technologies (ACCAT). No further changes have been proposed at this time. There were seven public appointees at NAAC of whom one was female; 18 at RAB of whom two were female; and 15 at ACCAT of whom two were female.
Regulation
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how many occasions his Department has consulted representatives of small businesses on the effects of proposed new regulations since 6 May 2010. [46145]
Gregory Barker: Since 6 May 2010 we have formally consulted on 39 regulatory proposals. As part of our consultation process we invite small businesses and their representatives to participate whenever they may have an interest.
However, ongoing dialogue has become an important part of the policymaking process in DECC and engagement with small businesses is not limited to these formal consultations. Since 6 May 2010 the Department has run a number of events in which small businesses have been involved, including workshops, meetings and discussion forums.
Electricity Supply
Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will amend the draft National Policy Statement on Electricity Networks Infrastructure in the light of the recent research on bird strikes on overhead electricity lines. [45504]
Charles Hendry: A section on bird strike on overhead lines was added to the National Policy Statement for Electricity Networks Infrastructure (EN-5) before the consultation on the revised NPSs last year as a result of work done on the Appraisal of Sustainability for the Energy NPSs. We are not aware of any recent research on bird strikes that would warrant a further change to EN-5 and we did not receive any requests to consider any research during the consultation, which closed on 24 January 2011.
Energy: EU Action
Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of implementing the measures on the Energy 2020 Strategy adopted by the Energy Council on 28 February 2011. [47010]
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Gregory Barker: The Energy Strategy 2020 sets out the broad direction of EU energy policy over the next decade. Now that the strategy has been adopted, the Commission will develop specific legislative initiatives and proposals over the next 18 months. As these proposals are formulated we will undertake rigorous cost/benefit analyses to ensure that the proposals represent value for money in meeting our energy and climate objectives.
EU Emissions Trading Scheme
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the efforts of the interaction between the EU Emissions Trading scheme and the proposed Emissions Performance Standard. [47134]
Gregory Barker: The Electricity Market Reform consultation contained proposals to introduce an EPS as a preventative measure, targeted at preventing the construction and operation of new, unabated coal-fired power stations. The Government assessment of the current evidence is that this form of EPS would have minimal interactions with the EU Emissions Trading scheme system.
Solar Power
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effects of his announcement on 7 February 2011 on the number of companies participating in the solar photovoltaics market; and if he will make a statement. [45789]
Gregory Barker: We continue to have constant dialogue with representatives within the industry and are aware of their views. Assessment of the impact of any proposed changes to Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) will be published as part of the review.
The consultation on the fast-track review will be launched soon.
Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2011, Official Report, column 241W, on solar power: feed-in tariffs, how many megawatts of solar photovoltaic generating capacity currently registered for feed-in tariff payments (a) were installed between July 2009 and April 2010 and (b) are historic transfers from the renewables obligation. [46443]
Gregory Barker: Data received from Ofgem on FITs uptake for the period 1 April—30 December 2010 were used by the Department for the publication of Energy Statistics table ET 5.6, on 27 January 2011:
http://decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/source/electricity/electricity.aspx
Data consistent with this table showed that of the 45MW installed solar PV capacity (17,200 installations), 5.3MW (2,262 installations) were installed between 15 July 2010 and the 31 March 2010, and 6.8MW (2,556 installations) transferred from the renewables obligation (RO).
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Education
Academies and Free Schools
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much and what proportion of formula grant provided for each local authority is to be top-sliced to cover expenditure on Academies and Free Schools in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13. [39893]
Mr Gibb: The adjustments to the formula grant for each local authority, in respect of expenditure on academies and free schools, are available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website at:
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/1011adjustedss.xls
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/1112adjustedss.xls
These adjustments were based on national averages and estimates, applied equally to all local authorities. The deductions do not affect the schools budget in each authority, which is funded through the Dedicated Schools Grant direct from the Department, rather than through formula grant.
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what methodology is used to calculate the amount of formula grant to be top-sliced from local authorities to cover expenditure on Academies and Free Schools. [39894]
Mr Gibb: Calculations were based on the amounts of local authority central services equivalent grant (LACSEG), which are currently paid to academies that have converted from a maintained school. There are two elements to the grant: the proportion which the Department funds from the Dedicated Schools Grant that would otherwise go to local authority schools budgets, and the proportion that the Department funds from other sources, because it is in respect of services normally paid from other local authority funds. For the latter, on the basis of local authorities' financial statements provided to the Department under section 251 of the Apprenticeships Schools Children and Learning Act 2009, we estimated an average amount per pupil across all local authorities, and applied that to estimates of the number of pupils in new academies and free schools opening over the next two years. The resultant amounts were then reduced by the Department for Communities and Local Government to reflect overall reductions in local authorities' formula grant. The top slice totals are £148 million in 2011-12 and £265 million in 2012-13, and these are the amounts to be transferred to the Department to contribute to LACSEG costs.
Apprentices
Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the potential effects in the quality of apprenticeship places of reductions in his Department's contribution to funding rate for apprenticeships. [39076]
Mr Hayes
[holding answer 10 February 2011]: In December 2010 the Young People's Learning Agency announced that the national funding rate for apprenticeships funded by the Department for Education would be
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reduced by 2% per year from 2011/12. This reflects the Government's commitment to ending the disparity in funding schools, colleges and work-based learning providers to deliver provision for 16-19 year olds and to reflect the better efficiency of the sector in delivering apprenticeships.
Quality in apprenticeships is assured through the “Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for England” which we published in January and will come into force in April this year. This sets out the minimum core content that can be expected in an apprenticeship. The Government are committed to not merely maintaining, but to improving the quality of apprenticeships and to this end the National Apprenticeship Service has endorsed the publication and dissemination by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service of a diagnostic toolkit to help employers and training providers supply high quality training places.
The 2% reduction in the apprenticeship funding rate represents an equitable contribution to the savings required across the 16-19 education system. I am confident that the Government's priority for expanding and improving the quality of the Apprenticeship programme can be delivered whilst making these savings. As we grow the number of apprenticeships, the cost of delivery for providers will be reduced through economies of scale and where learners complete their training more quickly with no loss of quality, appropriate reductions in payment will be made.
Booktrust: Finance
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which bodies he consulted before deciding to end funding for Booktrust. [33169]
Sarah Teather: The future funding for the programme which contributes to Booktrust was considered as part of the overall spending review. This looked at where the Government could secure best value for public funds in a tight fiscal climate. During the process and as part of routine grant management arrangements, officials met Booktrust several times to discuss options for the future shape of the scheme. There has been no separate consultation with others. On 25 February 2011 we announced that a new book gifting scheme would be delivered in 2011-13. Booktrust will receive £7.5 million for its delivery in 2011-12 and £6 million for its delivery in 2012-13.
Boxing
Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of schools in each local authority area offer boxing as part of the sports curriculum. [39474]
Tim Loughton: The Department's PE and Sport Survey 2009/10, published in September 2010, reports that 10% of schools in England provided boxing in 2009/10. This information is not available at local authority level.
Bullying: Personal Income
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the effects of income inequality on levels of childhood bullying. [44209]
16 Mar 2011 : Column 412W
Mr Gibb: The Department has not carried out any assessment of the inequalities of income for those who were bullied in their childhood, but we do know from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, which was published in 2008, that bullying impacts on the lives of victims both in terms of future levels of attainment and other outcomes.
Analysis of this study showed that pupils aged 16 who reported having been bullied in the previous three years were twice as likely not to be in employment, education or training compared to those who had not been bullied. The study demonstrated that those pupils who reported being bullied in the last three years did substantially worse in their GCSEs than those who reported no bullying. Some 52% of those who said they had been bullied in the last three years achieved 5 A*-C grades in their GCSEs in 2006, compared with 67% of respondents who said that they had not been bullied in the last three years.
It also showed that pupils who receive free school meals are slightly more likely to report being victims of bullying than those who do not.
CAFCASS
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service employees can participate in the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service professional Google group forum; [45822]
(2) how much was spent by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service on agency social work staff in 2009-10; [45823]
(3) how much was spent by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service on engaging self-employed children's guardians in 2009-10; [45824]
(4) what the retention rate was of (a) employees and (b) self-employed children's guardians by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in (i) 2004-05 and (ii) 2009-10; [45825]
(5) how much the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service spent on (a) self-employed children's guardians and (b) hiring agency staff in each of the last two financial years. [45826]
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what the cost to the public purse was of the regional structure of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in 2009-10; [46029]
(2) what the percentage change was in costs to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service of hiring agency staff (a) between 2007-08 and 2008-09 and (b) between 2008-09 and 2009-10; [46030]
(3) what account Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service managers take of (a) children's needs and (b) practitioners' skills when allocating cases to practitioners; [46032]
(4) whether the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service has negotiated a workload agreement with relevant trade unions; [46033]
(5) what assessment he has made of the suitability of the use of e-mail by Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service managers to allocate cases to practitioners. [46034]
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Tim Loughton: These questions relate to operational matters for which CAFCASS is responsible. I have asked CAFCASS's chief executive, Anthony Douglas, to write to the hon. Gentlemen to address the issues raised. A copy of his letters will be placed in the House Library.
Children: Obesity
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the relationship between childhood obesity levels and participation in sport; and if he will make a statement. [27625]
Tim Loughton [holding answer 30 November 201 0 ]: Childhood obesity levels have fallen from 16.9% in 2003, to 16% in 2008. This small, although very welcome, fall in childhood obesity levels will be the result of many complex factors, one of which may be participation in school sport over the period.
Children: Protection
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate the scoping review to draw together data on child injury and safeguarding and to compare the position in England with that in other countries undertaken by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre with funding from his Department made of the number of children in the UK who died as a result of abuse or neglect between 2005 and 2007. [45184]
Tim Loughton: The child death rate due to negligence, maltreatment or physical assault is provided in table 5.4 of the report (page 50). The UK rate was 0.24 per 100,000 children. This was the lowest within the sample of countries but caution is needed in interpreting the data because in the UK there are a number of deaths registered each year where the cause of death is undetermined or yet to be determined; these may at a later date be reclassified as having been caused by negligence, maltreatment or physical assault. The USA had the highest rate at 3.67.
The full report is available at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR083.pdf
Children's Centres
Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Sure Start children's centres he expects to be open in 2014-15; what proportion of these he expects to offer a full service; and if he will take steps to ensure the network of Sure Start children's centres is maintained. [38416]
Sarah Teather: Sure Start children's centres are a clear priority for the Government—they play a really important role in supporting families with young children and intervening early to prevent problems from becoming crises. The Government have ensured there is enough money in the system to maintain a network of Sure Start children's centres accessible to all but targeting the families in greatest need.
It is for local authorities, in consultation with local communities, to determine the most effective way of
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delivering future services to meet local need. They have a duty to consult before opening, closing or significantly changing children's centres and to secure sufficient centre provision to meet local need so far as is reasonably practical.
Children's Centres: Finance
Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how much funding he plans to provide to Sure Start centres in (a) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) England in each of the next five years; [43116]
(2) whether his Department has withdrawn any previously allocated Sure Start funding in (a) Birmingham, Ladywood constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) England for (i) 2010-11 and (ii) the next four financial years. [43117]
Sarah Teather: The Early Intervention Grant is a new un-ring-fenced and un-hypothecated funding stream which from 1 April 2011 will give local authorities greater flexibility to target resources strategically and intervene early to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. The Government have ensured there is enough money within the Early Intervention Grant to maintain a network of Sure Start children’s centres, accessible to all but identifying and supporting families in greatest need. To date only the EIG funding for the financial years 2011-12 and 2012-13 has been announced and is only available by local authority—the figures for Birmingham city council and all other local authorities in England are available at:
http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/xls/e/early%20intervention%20grant%20-%20final%20allocations%20methodology.xls
Up to the end of the 2010-11 financial year funding for Sure Start children’s centres has been made through the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant (SSEYCG). The base allocations for Sure Start children’s centres for the financial year 2010-11 remain as announced at the start of the 2008-11 comprehensive spending review period. For Birmingham and England those figures are as follows:
|
|
Birmingham | England |
The Department does not allocate funding at constituency level. It is for local authorities to determine how best to allocate available funding within their areas. The allocations for all local authorities can be found on the Department’s website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/a0071955/sure-start-earlv-years-and-childcare-grant-and~aiming-high-for-disabled-children-ahdc-grant-la-funding-allocations-for-2010-11
Published allocations for Sure Start children’s centres are not individually ring-fenced within the main revenue block of the SSEYCG and therefore are notional. Local authorities have the freedom to spend the available funding flexibly within that block to best meet local objectives and priorities, subject to the terms and conditions set out in the Memorandum of Grant letter.
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In addition to the capital base allocation the Department had been able to offer some carry-forward of unspent SSEYCG capital funding from prior years. Given the unprecedented fiscal deficit the Department restricted carry-forward of SSEYCG capital (which includes Sure Start children’s centres) to cases where funding was required for the completion of the children’s centres programme, or where there was evidence of a contractual commitment either with a building contractor or for goods.
The Department’s calculations of carry-forward are predicated on levels of expenditure from prior years. We are awaiting audited financial returns from a number of local authorities, at which point carry-forward for all local authorities will be finalised.
In 2010 the coalition Government announced the cessation of the Buddying and 0-7 Partnership Pilot programmes. The two programmes were paid under the umbrella of the SSEYCG. Details of the original and revised 2010-10 allocations for Birmingham and England are as follows:
|
|
Birmingham | England |
Children: Deaths
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children’s deaths were recorded in an Ofsted significant incident report as resulting from suspected (a) abuse and (b) neglect in (i) 2008, (ii) 2009 and (iii) 2010. [44778]
Tim Loughton: 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 House Libraries.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 7 March 2011:
Ofsted does not hold ‘significant incident reports’. However, Ofsted receives serious incident notifications from local authorities.
Data on the number of children’s deaths owing to ‘abuse’ or ‘neglect’ in serious incident notifications for the period requested are not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. It is rarely clear at the point of notification of a serious incident whether that incident is attributable to either neglect or abuse.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Tim Loughton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
Class Sizes
Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has assessed any relationship between levels of student educational attainment and class sizes (a) below 30 and (b) of 30 and above in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools. [44622]
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Tim Loughton: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has not assessed any relationship between levels of student educational attainment and class sizes (a) below 30 and (b) of 30 and above in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.
Day Care: Disabled
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether disabled children will be classified as disadvantaged for the purposes of allocating free childcare for two-year-olds. [23310]
Sarah Teather: On 4 March, the Minister with responsibility for schools wrote to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee on the Education Bill 2010-11 and set out in a policy statement the Government’s latest thinking on the eligibility criteria for free early education places for two-year-olds. This confirmed our intention to use an economic indicator, such as eligibility for free school meals. We are committed to consulting fully on the eligibility criteria for two-year-old places and will do so in due course. The consultation will also consider whether and how local authorities could be provided discretion to fund places beyond nationally defined eligibility criteria.
Departmental Communication
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures he has undertaken to reduce jargon and promote plain English in departmental communications. [35792]
Tim Loughton: We know that communicating clearly is essential to good government. We have always worked hard to try to remove jargon and we continue to make sure that staff at all levels treat this as an important issue. Consequently we provide regular training.
For example, to promote plain English in departmental communications, we have produced a “Style Guide”—an internal tool containing advice on using plain English, writing for the web and A-Z of house style. We also regularly run writing workshops for our staff that focus on writing in plain English, making sure communications are tailored to the audience and are written in an appropriate tone of voice. This is an ongoing programme of work.
Our internal communications to staff are jargon-free, to help promote good practice. We have also featured a series of articles in our staff magazine on the importance of good writing skills and some tips on how to keep communications free from jargon and written in plain English. Each item of correspondence from young people 18 or under receives a reply from a Minister and we ensure that each reply is suitably tailored to suit the recipient’s understanding.
To support the Department’s work on reducing bureaucracy, we are also developing a programme to improve the quality, format, and clarity of our communications to schools and other frontline groups. This includes improvements to statutory guidance, consultations, and online content. We also regularly test the content and tone of communications with groups of frontline staff before they are issued, so that we know that they make sense to heads, teachers and others.
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Departmental Public Expenditure
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on furniture since May 2010. [36044]
Tim Loughton: The Department for Education has incurred expenditure of £672,142.37 on furniture since May 2010. Of the expenditure incurred, £660,299.37 related to an inherited commitment from the previous administration for furniture procured prior to May 2010 for the Department’s new accommodation in Sheffield. The remaining £11,843 was spent on general furniture replacement across the Department’s estate.
A further £6,892.08 was spent on furniture supplied to staff for reasonable adjustments as required by DDA legislation.
Departmental Telephone Services
Mr Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reason his Department did not invite the Grandparents Association to submit a bid for its proposed advice line. [45497]
Sarah Teather: The Department is currently running a procurement process to award contracts to organisations to deliver online and telephone family support services over 2011-13.
The process is fully in line with best practice set by the EU procurement Directives and Government procurement rules.
This is a two stage process and only organisations whose first stage assessment score reached 60% or more of the total score were invited to submit full bids. The assessment of the Grandparents Association pre-qualification questionnaire did not reach the required threshold. I cannot comment further on the bid while we are still in a procurement process since it could affect the Department's commercial position.
We will be writing to the right hon. Member separately about this procurement.
Early Intervention Grant: Finance
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Think Family scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40528]
(2) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for Connexions in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40559]
(3) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Disabled Children Short Breaks scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40560]
(4) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Two Year Old Offer in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40561]
(5) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Early Years Workforce scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40562]
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(6) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for Early Years Sustainability in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40563]
(7) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for Sure Start Children’s Centres in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40564]
(8) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Child Trust Fund scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40607]
(9) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the January Guarantee scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40608]
(10) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Intensive Intervention Grant in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40609]
(11) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Children’s Social Care Workforce in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40610]
(12) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for ContactPoint in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40611]
(13) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Targeted Mental Health in Schools Grant in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40612]
(14) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for Key Stage 4 Foundation Learning in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40613]
(15) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Teenage Pregnancy scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40614]
(16) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Young People Substance Misuse scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40615]
(17) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Children’s Fund in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40616]
(18) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Youth Taskforce in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40617]
(19) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Positive Activities for Young People Programme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40618]
(20) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Challenge and Support scheme in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40619]
(21) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Youth Crime Action Plan in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40620]
(22) what funding his Department plans to provide for the Early Intervention Grant for the Youth Opportunity Fund in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; [40621]
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Sarah Teather: All of the funding streams specified above will have ended by the end of March 2011 and are replaced by the Early Intervention Grant. The Early Intervention Grant is a new un-ring-fenced and un-hypothecated funding stream that gives local authorities greater flexibility to target resources strategically and intervene early to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. This is a major reform and gives local authorities greater freedom to respond to local needs and target resources where they will have the greatest impact. The overall Early Intervention Grant is £2,222 million in 2011-12 and £2,307 million in 2012-13.
Against the background of greater flexibility to decide priorities locally, there are key areas of early intervention where the Government are ensuring that the overall grant provides support:
Sure Start Children’s Centres—Funding for Sure Start Children’s Centres in 2010-11 was £1.1 billion. We have ensured there is sufficient money in the Early Intervention Grant to retain a network of Sure Start Children’s Centres, accessible to all but identifying and supporting families in greatest need.
Short Breaks for Disabled Children: the Department will be providing £198 million/£202 million/£206 million/£210 million over the next four years.
Early Education Places for Disadvantaged Two-Year-Olds: the Department will provide £64 million/£223 million/£331 million/£380 million over the next four years. For the first two years of the spending period, this funding will be routed through the Early Intervention Grant. Ministers are considering the most appropriate route for funding from 2013-14 when it is expected that a duty for local authorities to provide free places for all disadvantaged two-year-olds will come into force.
The Secretary of State for Education’s written ministerial statement on the Early Intervention Grant is available at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0070450/written-ministerial-statement-by-the-secretary-of-state-for-education-on-schools-financial-settlement-education-spending
The Technical Note for the Early Intervention Grant is available at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/chiidrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/a0070357/early-intervention-grant-frequently-asked-questions/?cid=LAemail&pla=25feb2011&tvpe=email
Education Business Partnerships: Finance
Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to announce his decision on funding for education business partnership services from April 2011. [43558]
Mr Gibb: We plan to announce decisions shortly. I will write to the hon. Member.
Education: Assessments
Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation will collaborate with universities in its work to monitor and improve the quality of A levels and GCSEs. [43091]
Mr Gibb:
This is a matter for Ofqual, the independent exams regulator, and I have asked Glenys Stacey, chief executive of Ofqual, to write to the hon. Member on it.
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I am aware that Ms Stacey has now done that and I will arrange for a copy of Ms Stacey’s letter to be placed in the Library.
Letter from Glenys Stacey, dated 8 March 2011:
Further to your Parliamentary Question asking whether the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation will collaborate with universities in its work to monitor and improve the quality of A levels and GCSEs, I have three key areas of work being undertaken which you may find of interest in relation to this matter.
Providing universities a role in the design and development of A levels
I can confirm that Ofqual has been working in collaboration with colleagues from the Department for Education to establish how universities can be given a key role in the design and development of A levels in future. To date a series of workshops have been held with Higher Education representatives from different subject areas to identify the range of HE requirements for A levels and potential approaches for securing effective involvement.
We shall take the outcomes to Higher Education management groups, awarding organisations and learned societies to establish how to arrive at a process to secure the involvement of Higher Education in future developments of A levels that commands widespread confidence in the sector.
Monitoring work and Higher Education involvement
In our monitoring work, Ofqual involves Higher Education as appropriate. For work such as scrutinies (in-depth analyses of individual qualifications) and standards reviews (comparisons of standards in a qualification over, say, a five year period) some of the independent subject experts that we use have a Higher Education background.
In addition, for work that has a clear link with Higher Education, we invite Higher Education representatives as well as other subject experts. For the current international study we invited the university sector specifically (as the purpose of the review was to judge appropriate demand for entrance to UK universities).
Recruitment of subject experts
In order to ensure that recruitment of our independent subject experts is fair and open, Ofqual advertises annually to recruit individuals with subject and/or assessment expertise. It is from this pool that we draw our ‘independent’ subject experts. In most studies we additionally invite representatives from the regulators for Wales and Northern Ireland, awarding organisations involved in the study and learned societies to nominate representatives. We do not determine how these organisations select their nominees but they would be free to nominate representatives from Higher Education Where appropriate.
I trust that this clarifies the situation and provides you with the information you require.
Should you require any further information about this or the workings of Ofqual, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Education: Finance
Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how much and what proportion of formula grant to each local education authority has been allocated to expenditure on academies and free schools in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13; how many (i) academies and (ii) free schools there are in each such authority; and how many applications for (A) academies and (B) free schools have been received in respect of each authority; [36851]
(2) how many (a) academies and (b) free schools there are in each local authority area; and how many schools have applied to establish (i) an academy and (ii) a free school in each such area. [39892]
Mr Gibb:
Formula grant is unhypothecated and it is not therefore possible to identify how much has been allocated for particular services. Local authorities are responsible for decisions on the use of formula grant.
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The adjustments to the baseline for the formula grant for academies in 2010-11 and 2011-12, by each local authority (LA), are available on the Department for Communities and Local Government's web pages :
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/1011adjustedss.xls
http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/1112/1112adjustedss.xls
As of 4 March 2011 there were 467 academies open in England. In total, 638 schools have submitted an application to convert to academy status. These are shown by LA area in lists updated monthly on the Department for Education website:
http://www.education.gov.uk/academies
Once on the website click on the link “Schools submitting applications and open academies” where the information can be found.
There are currently no free schools open. As of 11 March 2011 there have been 323 proposals to set up free schools, which are shown by LA in the following table.
| Sum of number of proposals | |
| Local authority | Total |
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Extracurricular Activities: Regulation
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has for the (a) regulation and (b) inspection of out-of-hours schools and clubs. [32044]
Tim Loughton: The Government are committed to making regulation and inspection less burdensome and more proportionate to risk. Out of school clubs provided by maintained schools are within scope for inspection by Ofsted as part of routine school inspection. For those out of school clubs run by other providers that register with Ofsted, there is a briefer inspection arrangement.
Local authorities also have the power to investigate settings outside of schools where there are concerns about children's safety. As well as general safeguarding risks, there is clearly the potential in environments outside of school for children to be influenced by extreme views which are counter to democratic values and we have started to look in detail at ways to stop children coming into contact with such views alongside partners including Ofsted and the police.
Out of school provision can include anything from teaching at somebody's house to a large registered charity. This provision is mostly unregistered and therefore not subject to inspection, but we have asked Ofsted to look at options for improving public confidence in this sector and Ofsted will be writing to the Secretary of State shortly about this.
Independent Review Panels
Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what account is taken of relevant (a) financial and (b) non-financial interests in the appointment of members of independent review panels in his Department; [44381]
(2) what measures are in place to ensure the avoidance of conflicts of (a) financial and (b) non-financial interests of members of independent review panels in his Department; [44382]
(3) what criteria apply in respect of the selection of members of independent review panels commissioned by his Department. [44383]
Tim Loughton:
There are a number of possible routes by which someone might be appointed to an independent review panel depending on the scope and remit of the panel. Some appointments are made following a very
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light-touch process while others involve a more formal application and selection processes.
In all cases, appointees are required to observe Lord Nolan's “Seven Principles of Public Life”, often described as “the Nolan Principles”. The Seven Principles are selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. Further information describing the principles in more detail can be found on the Commissioner for Public Appointments website:
http://www.publicappointmentscommissioner.org/Codeof Practice/e0908a66106.html
Local Education Authorities
Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Education under what circumstances his Department is authorised to intervene in a local education authority under the provisions of Section 11 of the Education Act 1996. [45154]
Tim Loughton: Section 11 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on the Secretary of State, in exercising his powers to regulate the educational provision made in schools in England and Wales, to improve standards, encourage diversity and increase opportunities for choice. The Secretary of State pays due regard to those duties in exercising his powers of intervention under section 497A of the Education Act 1996 and under part 4 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006.
Members: Correspondence
Mr Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr Sanders) of 22 December 2010 on his constituent Mark Thorneywork. [43907]
Tim Loughton: Lord Hill of Oareford replied on 8 March.
National Curriculum Tests
Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent progress his Department has made on developing the future Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 curriculum. [44693]
Mr Gibb: The review of the national curriculum is taking place in two phases. The first phase of the review will consider the overall shape of the national curriculum, and the new Programmes of Study for English, mathematics, science and physical education, which will remain compulsory at all key stages. We are currently undertaking a call for evidence and engaging with a range of stakeholders. Officials are also currently analysing international curricula in these subjects. The review will use this analysis, alongside the views of stakeholders and responses to our call for evidence, to inform our thinking on what a new national curriculum should look like.
Obesity: Children
Chris Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department of (a) Culture, Olympics, Media
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and Sport and
(b)
Health on the effects of activity levels on obesity in children. [39013]
Sarah Teather: The Government take the issue of child obesity seriously and we will be publishing a document later this year to follow up the approach already set out in the White Paper “Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England”. This work is being taken forward by Government through the appropriate Cabinet Sub-Committee of which I am a member with ministerial colleagues from the Departments of Health and Culture, Media and Sport.
Parents
Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Accredited Parenting programmes; and if he will make a statement. [44191]
Sarah Teather: The Department for Education funds the online Commissioning Toolkit, which presents a robust assessment of the effectiveness of around 100 parenting programmes in common use in England. The toolkit has been developed by the National Academy for Parenting Research and is hosted by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC).
In addition to providing information to help local commissioning, the toolkit has guided the choice of parenting programmes for which 1,000 training places have been offered to practitioners by CWDC in 2010-11.
Positive Activities for Young People Programme: Finance
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what funding his Department allocated to the Positive Activities for Young People Programme in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [40605]
Tim Loughton: Table 1 shows the allocations made nationally by the Department for the Positive Activities for Young People programme (PAYP) in these three years. However funding for PAYP is included in the wider non-ringfenced Area Based Grant to local authorities, so decisions on actual spend on these activities are determined locally.
| Table 1: Positive activities for young people allocations within the area based grant (for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11) | |
| Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) | |
|
|
£ million |
Pre-school Education: Closures
Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many pre-school facilities closed due to a lack of available trustees in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [44522]
Sarah Teather: No central records are kept in relation to the number of pre-school facilities that have had to close in the last 12 months due to a lack of available trustees.
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Pre-school Education: East of England
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many free early years education places were provided in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk, (c) Essex and (d) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997. [44928]
Sarah Teather: The Department publishes information on the part-time equivalent number of free early education places filled by three and four-year-olds in maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers. Part-time equivalent places are derived by counting children taking up 12.5 hours per week as one place, 10 hours per week as 0.8 places, 7.5 hours per week as 0.6 places, five hours per week as 0.4 places and 2.5 hours per week as 0.2 places.
Table 1 shows the number of part-time equivalent places filled by three and four-year-olds in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire local authority in each year from 1997 to 2010.
| Table 1: Part-time equivalent number of free early education places (1,2,3) filled by three and four-year-olds | ||||
| Position in January each year: | Suffolk | Norfolk | Essex | Cambridgeshire |
| (1) A place is equal to 12.5 hours (five sessions) and can be filled by more than one child. (2) Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. (3) Prior to 2004, information on early education places was derived from returns made by local authorities as part of the Nursery Education Grant (NEG) data collection exercise. From 2004 onwards, information has been derived from Early Years Census and School Census data. Source: NEG, Early Years Census and School Census | ||||
The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release (SFR) 16/2010 “Provision for children under five years of age in England; January 2010”, available on my Department’s website:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000935/index.shtml
Pupil Numbers
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what mechanisms are in place to take account of high levels of mobility of pupils in pupil level annual school census data. [33174]
Mr Gibb:
The school census collects pupil level data on a termly basis from state-funded schools in England. We expect schools to provide data on all pupils attending their school at the time of the census. The National
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Pupil Database (NPD) is populated with data from the school census and other pupil level collections. It is possible to use the NPD to track pupils between years.
Pupils: Disability
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the number of disabled children in each local authority area was in the latest period for which figures are available. [40986]
Sarah Teather: Information on the number of disabled children is not currently available. Such information is being collected for the first time and on a voluntary basis as part of the spring 2011 school census. Future collection and publication arrangements for data on disability will be considered in the light of data and feedback collected in response to January 2011 school census returns which will become available in the spring.
Information on the number of pupils with statements of special educational needs (SEN) or at school action plus in 2010 by type of need in each local authority can be found in tables 23 to 25 of the Statistical First Release, “Special Educational Needs in England: January 2010” which can be found at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000939/index.shtml
Pupils: Disadvantaged
Mr Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his most recent estimate is of the amount that will be spent on pupil premium in each local authority area in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [42974]
Mr Gibb: The pupil premium for 2011-12 will be allocated to local authorities and schools with pupils that are known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) as recorded on the January 2011 School Census, Pupil Referral Unit Census and Alternative Provision Census. Each pupil known to be eligible for free school meals will attract £430 of funding which will go to the school or academy via the local authority or the Young People’s Learning Agency if the pupil is in a mainstream setting or will be managed by the responsible local authority if the pupil is in a non-mainstream setting.
Local authorities will also attract the looked-after child pupil premium for 2011-12 which will be allocated to local authorities for pupils who at some point in the year to 31 March 2010 were looked after continuously for at least six months, and who were aged four to 15 on 31 August 2009 as recorded on the April 2010 local authority return. Each pupil will attract £430 of funding which will go to the responsible local authority who will pass it to maintained schools for pupils who have been in care for six months or more in the year to 31 March 2011.
The amounts allocated in 2011-12 will depend on the numbers of FSM and looked-after pupils recorded on the January 2011 Censuses, so it is not possible to give precise figures for 2011 and subsequent years. We aim to extend the coverage of the pupil premium from 2012-13 onwards to pupils who have previously been known to be eligible for free school meals. We intend to consult on this, including the question of which deprivation indicator to use, in the summer.
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Although it is not possible to give precise figures for 2011 and subsequent years it is possible to estimate how much schools and local authorities will receive based on the figures from the January 2010 Census. The spreadsheet containing these estimates, disaggregated by local authority, region and constituency has been placed in the House Libraries.
Special Educational Needs
Mr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has plans to update his Department’s statutory guidance on access to education for children and young people with medical needs published in 2001. [32763]
Sarah Teather: There are no immediate plans to update this guidance which was published jointly with the Department of Health. However, I will be discussing the education of these children with Department of Health Ministers to ensure that our two Departments work together to support these children.
We wish to ensure that the children whose education is covered by this guidance receive the education that they need. Legislation introduced in the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 and to be commenced in September 2011 will ensure that all pupils without a mainstream school place are entitled to full time education unless medical needs make this prohibitive or inappropriate. This entitlement will include pupils in hospital long-term who are capable of accessing a full-time education.
This legislation may in due course mean the 2001 guidance will need some minor amendments.
Special Educational Needs: Academies
Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations his Department has received on provision of special educational needs services by academies. [14004]
Sarah Teather: The Special Educational Consortium (SEC) is the key organisation which has made representations to the Department specifically about specialist support services for children in academies with low incidence or complex needs.
With the help of the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), the Department has undertaken a survey of open academies with a high proportion of children with special educational needs (SEN) to inform policy development in this area. We also intend to continue working with the YPLA and the SEC on the issue of monitoring the impact of academy conversions on the provision of SEN services.