Married People
Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of adults in each local authority area were identified as married in the latest period for which figures are available. [56793]
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Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply to the hon. Member. A copy of their response will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated May 2011:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of adults in each local authority area were identified as married in the latest period for which figures are available. (56793)
The Annual Population Survey provides the best estimates of adults living in households who are married by local authority. The most recent statistics available are for 2009. Table 1 shows the proportion of adults in each local authority area who were married. In this instance an adult is considered to be aged 16 or over as this is the age at which it is legal to get married. Because the proportions come from a survey, they are subject to a margin of error.
| Table 1: Percentage of those aged 16 or over who are married by local authority, UK, 2009 | |
| Local authority | Percentage |
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| Notes: 1. The sample size in the City of London is too small to calculate a meaningful percentage. 2. Data are not available by local authority in Northern Ireland. 3. The percentages include those who are married and separated from their partner. They exclude same sex couples who are in civil partnerships. 4. The Annual Population Survey is made up from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) plus various sample boosts. The APS is a household survey of people in the UK. It includes those resident at private addresses, but does not cover most communal establishments. Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS | |
Deputy Prime Minister
Political Party Funding
2. Lindsay Roy: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to bring forward legislative proposals on the funding of political parties. [56960]
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Mr Harper: The Government are committed to work to reform party funding. The Committee on Standards in Public Life is conducting a review and the Government will consider its recommendations, alongside other relevant evidence, before taking this forward.
Electoral Register
10. Mr Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to increase the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register. [56968]
Mr Harper: Maintaining a complete and accurate electoral register is the responsibility of electoral registration officers (EROs). More can be done to support completeness and accuracy. So we have announced plans to speed up the implementation of individual electoral registration in 2014, which will ensure that only those entitled to vote will get on the register. We are also trialling data matching, which will launch in June this year, to help identify people missing from the register. If successful, we will consider rolling this out across the country.
West Lothian Question
13. Stephen Phillips: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received on the West Lothian question. [56971]
Mr Harper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Deputy Prime Minister gave in response to the question by my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr Turner), today.
Recall of Members of Parliament
14. Clive Efford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to publish his proposals for recall of hon. Members by their constituents. [56972]
Mr Harper: The Government are committed to bringing forward legislation to introduce a power to recall Members of Parliament where they have engaged in serious wrongdoing.
We are currently considering what would be the fairest, most appropriate and robust procedure and we will announce the details of our proposals before the summer recess.
Voting Rights: Prisoners
Priti Patel: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of press release 283(2011) issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the enfranchisement of prisoners; whether the Government was (a) consulted and (b) notified in advance of its publication; and what steps he plans to take in response to the comments made. [51636]
Mr Harper: The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights provided an advance copy of the press release to the UK Delegation to the Council of Europe on 29 March 2011.
We are not responding directly to the press release. However, the Justice Secretary met the Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Hammarberg, at the “High level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights” which took place in Izmir, Turkey on
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26 and 27 April 2011. Throughout the Izmir conference, the Justice Secretary was clear that the Court must focus on truly important cases and have proper regard to the judgment of national parliaments and courts. This approach was endorsed at the conference, where the importance of the principle of subsidiarity was emphasised. An official record of the Izmir Declaration can be found here:
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/conferenceizmir/default_en.asp
Education
Children in Care: Higher Education
Mr Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on financial support for the continuation and extension of the Frank Buttle Trust quality mark for higher and further education institutions; [55761]
(2) whether his Department has plans to support the continuation and extension of the Frank Buttle Trust quality mark for higher and further education institutions. [55767]
Mr Hayes: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) does not provide direct funding to the Frank Buttle Trust to support the care quality mark in higher education institutions. Many universities, as autonomous institutions, choose to work with the Frank Buttle Trust to gain the care quality mark and they pay an annual fee direct to the Trust.
The (former) Learning and Skills Council had agreed to make a small contribution to the development project for England, which was exploring extending the quality mark to the further education sector. In recognition of the uncertainty caused by the transition from the Learning and Skills Council to the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency, the Department also made a small contribution for the remainder of the development project. In return, the Trust was expected to work with the further education sector as it becomes more self-regulating; obtain support for the remainder of the project; and determine the viability of a sector-supported quality mark in the way described for higher education institutions.
The Department has not made any further commitment to financial support for the Frank Buttle Trust quality mark for further education institutions.
BIS reviewed awards in the further education system that were supported by public funds, but this quality mark was outside that review, given that no continued support or contribution is given by the Department.
Class Sizes: Middlesbrough
Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average number of pupils per class in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency was (i) in each year from May 2005 to April 2010 and (ii) on the most recent date for which figures are available. [56722]
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Mr Gibb: The information requested is shown in the table.
Information on class sizes is collected as part of the School Census in January each year. The classes are recorded as taught during a single selected period on the day of the census.
The latest available information is for January 2010 and can be accessed at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000925/index.shtml
Data for 2011 at national and local authority level are due to be published on 22 June 2011 and will be available as part of the ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2011’ Statistical First Release at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001012/index.shtml
| Maintained primary and state-funded secondary schools (1,2) : classes as taught (3; ) as at January each year, in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency | ||
| Average class size | ||
|
|
Primary (1) | State-funded secondary (1,2) |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) One teacher classes as taught during a single selected period in each school on the day of the census in January. Source: School Census | ||
Classroom Assistants
Nicky Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the use of higher level teaching assistants in schools; and what discussions he has had with Ofsted about the extent to which inspectors may take into account in assessments the use of higher level teaching assistants in schools. [56212]
Mr Gibb: The Department has made no recent assessment of the use of higher level teaching assistants in schools.
We are committed to refocusing school inspection on four core areas; pupil achievement; teaching; leadership and management; and behaviour and safety. The Department is in regular discussion with Ofsted about this reform programme. The use of higher level teaching assistants will be relevant to the quality and impact of teaching and leadership. There are no plans for this specific issue to be routinely covered as a discrete aspect of the inspection.
Departmental Official Engagements
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the official engagements of the Minister of State for Children and Families were on 27 April 2011. [56614]
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Departmental Research
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which longitudinal studies monitoring the physical health and emotional well-being of children his Department has and its predecessors have undertaken in each of the last five years; when each such study commenced; what each was monitoring; what the budget of each was in each year; what plans there were for the future of each such study; and what their budgets have been to date. [56888]
Mr Gibb: In the last five years the Department for Education and its predecessors have invested in six longitudinal studies that collect information about children’s physical health and mental well-being. These are:
The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England
The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England is a study which followed an initial cohort of 15,500 young people. Interviews were conducted annually from 2004 (when the respondents were academic age 13) to 2010 (when they were aged 19). This study was designed to enhance understanding of the transitions made by young people from the latter part of compulsory education into early adulthood. It collected a wide range of information pertaining to those issues, including data on outcomes and achievements, education, employment and benefits, relationships and behaviours, volunteering and life satisfaction.
Questions about emotional well-being were asked when respondents were aged 14, 16 and 19. The questions were adapted from tried and tested questions from existing surveys and do not include objective measures of physical health. A single self-reported assessment of health was obtained when respondents were aged 15 and 16.
The total budget for the study was £10,858,992 (from DfE and Treasury sources, with contributions from Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Department for Work and Pensions). The financial year breakdown was as follows:
|
|
Budget (£) |
DfE have no plans to conduct further interviews of this cohort and no decisions have been made to date about future cohort studies of young people.
The National Evaluation of Sure Start Impact Study
Development of the National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) Impact Study commenced in 2000 and fieldwork started in 2003. The objective of the study is to assess the effects of the earliest Sure Start Local Programmes on child development and family functioning. This is achieved by comparing the families interviewed in this study with a comparable set of families interviewed as part of the Millennium Cohort Study who have not experienced Sure Start Local Programmes.
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The NESS Impact Study has followed an initial cohort of over 12,500 children and families living in the original Sure Start Local Programme areas. The children and families were interviewed about a range of physical health and well-being measures when the children were nine months, three years and five-years-old. The seven-year-old fieldwork is currently underway. It is not anticipated that the study will be extended beyond this sweep of fieldwork and will come to an end when the seven-year-old results have been reported.
Total funding from the Department to the end of 2010/11 was £14,080,996. The budget for each year was:
|
|
Budget (£) |
The Millennium Cohort Study was commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Their funding has been supplemented by a consortium of Government Departments including DfE. The study is following 19,000 children born in the UK in 2000/01 and is tracking their overall development.
There have been two data collections within the last five years, when the children were aged five and seven. The MCS has explored some elements of health and emotional well-being in its wider coverage of family life, child care; child behaviour, school choice, cognitive development; parental employment, income and poverty; neighbourhood and residential mobility; and social capital. The next sweep of the study is planned for 2012 when the children will be 11-years-old. The Department has not yet decided whether to financially support the survey beyond this phase.
Funding from the Department to the end of 2010/11 has amounted to £1,914.103. The budget for each year was:
|
|
Budget (£) |
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The Effective Pre-school Primary and Secondary Education project
The Effective Pre-school Primary and Secondary Education project (EPPSE) started in 1997. It aimed to identify the impact of pre-school provision on a national sample of children between the ages of three and seven. Since then the Department has funded the research to follow the same sample of 3,000 children through primary school and into secondary school.
The study has investigated both attainment/cognitive and social/behavioural development. Emotional well-being is treated as a behavioural issue through such concepts as independence, self-regulation and pro-social behaviour. Physical health is not addressed other than as a background factor in a child’s early years. The focus of the study is on the influence of home, pre-school, primary and secondary school on attainment and behavioural development. The Department has not yet decided whether to fund the study beyond age 16.
Total funding from the Department to the end of 2010/11 was £6,822,956. The budget for each year was:
|
|
Budget (£) |
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is a sub-regional longitudinal study following 14,000 children since before they were born in1991/92. It is largely funded by the Medical Research Council with this Department and its predecessors contributing funding since 2006 to ensure data relevant to learning and schools were collected. The overall study is very wide ranging, with many health issues assessed as well as family and school experiences at school, perceived abilities in key subjects, self-confidence, transitions into work, adolescent behaviour and body image.
The Department’s contract with ALSPAC is almost complete and no decision has been made about further funding.
Total funding from the Department to the end of 2010/11 has been £722,171. The budget for each year was:
|
|
Budget (£) |
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Understanding Society is commissioned and managed by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Their funding has been supplemented by contributions from a number of Government Departments, including DfE.
It is a large-scale household study which aims to track up to 100,000 individuals in 40,000 households across the UK. Each individual in sample households aged 10 years and above is included in the study. Those aged 10 to 15 years are given a separate questionnaire to complete. The study started in 2009 and the third wave of interviews started in early 2011.
The focus of the study is on the household and how each member relates to each other and the questions asked cover a wide spectrum of issues. Questions on emotional well-being and health and nutrition have been asked of respondents aged 10 to 15 in all three waves of interviews to date.
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Total funding from the Department was £200,000 (paid in 2010/11). Further contributions are not anticipated.
Free School Meals
Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the proportion of children who take up their entitlement to free school meals in each (a) ethnic and (b) religious group. [56508]
Mr Gibb: The information available on the number and percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals in each ethnic group is shown in the following table. The answer includes full and part-time pupils aged five to 15. Information is not available on the proportion of pupils who meet the eligibility criteria but do not make a claim.
Information on pupils' religious group is not collected by this Department.
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools (1,2,3) : Number and percentage of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals by ethnic group (4,5) , January 2010—England | ||||||||
| Pupils aged 5 to 15 | ||||||||
| Maintained primary schools (1) | State-funded secondary schools (1,2) | Special schools (3) | Total (1,2,3) | |||||
|
|
Number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (5) | Percentage of pupils in each ethnic group eligible for and claiming free school meals (incidence) (6) | Number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (5) | Percentage of pupils in each ethnic group eligible for and claiming free school meals (incidence) (6) | Number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (5) | Percentage of pupils in each ethnic group eligible for and claiming free school meals (incidence) (6) | Number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals (5) | Percentage of pupils in each ethnic group eligible for and claiming free school meals (incidence) (6) |
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| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Pupils of compulsory school age and above were classified according to ethnic group. Excludes dually registered pupils. (5) Includes full and part-time pupils aged five to 15. (6) The number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals expressed as a percentage of all pupils in each ethnic group, for each school type. (7) Information refused or not obtained. (8) Includes all pupils classified as belonging to an ethnic group other than White British. (9) All pupils aged five to 15. Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: School Census | ||||||||
Free School Meals: Cheshire
Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of children are entitled to free school meals in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Chester West and Cheshire Unitary Authority area and (ii) Halton Borough Council area. [56810]
Mr Gibb: The information available, on pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals, is shown in the following table. The answer includes full-time pupils aged 0 to 15 and part-time pupils aged five to 15.
| Maintained primary and state-funded secondary schools (1,2) : free school meal eligibility (3,4) , as at January 2010, in Cheshire West and Chester and Halton local authorities | ||||||
| Primary schools (1) | State-funded secondary schools (1,2) | |||||
|
|
Number on roll (3,4) | Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (3,4) | Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (3,4) | Number on roll (3,4) | Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (3,4) | Percentage known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals (3,4) |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes city technology colleges and academies. (3) Includes sole and dual (main) registrations. (4) Includes full-time pupils aged 0 to 15 and part-time pupils aged five to 15. Source: School Census | ||||||
Information on school meal arrangements was published in the Statistical First Release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics: January 2010’ available on our Research and Statistics Gateway website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000925/index.shtml
GCE A-Level
Elizabeth Truss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of GCSE A-level students gained at least three GCSE A-levels at grade A or A* in (a) mathematics, (b) English literature, (c) further mathematics, (d) biological sciences, (e) physics, (f) chemistry, (g) geography, (h) history and (i) a modern foreign language in (i) comprehensive schools, (ii) selective schools, (iii) independent schools and (iv) sixth form colleges (A) nationally and (B) in each local education authority in the last year for which figures are available. [54699]
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Mr Gibb [holding answer 9 May 2011]: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.
Greater Manchester
Mr Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what payments his Department and its non-departmental public bodies have made to (a) the Manchester College, (b) Manchester College for Arts and Technology and (c) City College, Manchester since 1997; and for what purpose in each case. [55748]
Mr Gibb: The following payments by the Department for Education, the Young People's Learning Agency and their predecessors have been made to the Manchester College, Manchester College of Arts and Technology and City College, Manchester:
| £ | |||
| DFE and predecessor | The Manchester College | Manchester College of Art and Technology | City College, Manchester |
| £ | |||
| Young People's Learning Agency and predecessor | The Manchester College | Manchester College of Art and Technology | City College, Manchester |
The Department's and predecessors' funding related to course fees for various members of staff undertaking qualifications. The Young People's Learning Agency's and predecessors' funding was for 16-19 education (including European Social Fund monies and funding for Apprenticeships), learner support, capital and offender learning (which includes all offender learning funding—for 16 to 19-year-olds and adults).
In accordance with NAO and departmental policy, records relating to creditors and other financial transaction data are kept for a maximum of six years from the end of the financial year to which they relate and complete data prior to the 2004-05 financial year are no longer available.