National Curriculum: Cybercrime
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if there are any plans to introduce the subject of cyber-security into the national curriculum. [84073]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 1 December 2011]: We aim to reform the national curriculum so that it properly reflects the body of essential knowledge in key subjects, leaving teachers greater flexibility to use their professional judgment to design wider school curricula that best meet the needs of their pupils. Teachers will be able to use this increased flexibility to teach pupils about important topics such as internet safety.
We will be announcing our initial proposals for the national curriculum next year, following which there will be full public consultation before final decisions are made.
Pre-school Education
Mrs Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what criteria his Department will use to determine eligibility for free nursery places for two-year-olds announced in the Autumn Statement; [85792]
(2) how many children he expects to participate in the scheme providing free early years entitlement to children aged two in each financial year to 2014-15; [85793]
(3) what assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities to provide sufficient child care places to meet the demand for free early years entitlement for children aged two years; [85794]
(4) whether he will provide support to help local authorities increase local child care capacity to the levels needed to deliver free early years entitlement for children aged two years. [85795]
Sarah Teather: The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Autumn Statement that the early education entitlement for two-year-olds will be expanded to cover around 260,000 children—around 40% of two-year-olds—by 2014-15. The Government intend to take a phased approach to the implementation of the new entitlement. The 20% most disadvantaged two-year-olds—around 130,000 children—will be eligible from September 2013. From 2014, the entitlement will be extended to 40%. Currently, around 20,000 two-year-olds access free early education places.
We are already consulting on proposals for eligibility criteria for the first phase of implementation from September 2013. We propose that two-year-olds who meet the criteria for free school meals, or who are looked after, should be eligible for the entitlement. We will publish further proposals in due course about eligibility criteria to reach 40% of two-year-olds from 2014, focusing on the children and families that need them most. We
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will seek the views of parents, early education providers and local authorities on how this can best be achieved.
In recognition of the costs involved in reaching around 40% of two-year-olds, the Government have announced additional funding. A further £68 million has been included in the Early Intervention Grant (EIG) in 2012-13, in addition to the £223 million that was previously announced in December 2010. This funding is available to local authorities to build towards the new entitlement. Many are already using this funding to offer places to the two-year-olds who need them most, as well as to build capacity locally and support quality improvements. The early years market is dynamic and diverse, and we expect that it will respond positively to the increase in demand that the new entitlement will create.
We are working with local authorities, providers, and their representative organisations to support them in delivering the entitlement. The Government have set aside £4 million in the current financial year for 18 local authorities who are testing new approaches in providing free early education for two-year-olds. There will also be £5 million funding available in 2012-13 to support local authorities' delivery of two-year-old places. The Department for Education will discuss how this resource can best be deployed with local government partners and other sector representatives.
Primary Education: Bournemouth
Mr Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the shortage of primary school places in Bournemouth. [84151]
Mr Gibb [holding answer 1 December 2011]: The Department collects information from each local authority on school capacity in maintained schools through an annual survey, which includes local authorities' own pupil forecasts. The most recent survey data relate to the position in May 2010 and are available on the Department for Education's website:
http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STR/d000982/index.shtml
The Department provides capital funding to local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places. It is the responsibility of each local authority to manage the supply and demand for school places in its area and to secure a place for every child of statutory school age who wants one.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will ensure that the funding per pupil in voluntary-aided schools is comparable to the funding per pupil in an academy school in the same local authority area if the local authority central spend equivalent element of an academy's general annual grant is disregarded. [84006]
Mr Gibb: We aim to fund academies at the same level as equivalent schools in the same local authority area, and the academies funding system is designed to achieve this.
Academies' funding agreements specify that their funding should be equivalent to their maintained peers. They are therefore funded according to the local funding
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formula which applies to maintained schools, including voluntary aided schools. There may be legitimate differences within this formula in recognition of voluntary aided schools' specific responsibilities and costs.
Schools: Rural Areas
George Freeman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has any plans to review the use of the Acorn funding formula for schools in rural areas; and if he will make a statement. [81345]
Mr Gibb: On 19 July 2011, the Department for Education published “A Consultation on School Funding Reform: proposals for a fairer system”. The consultation sought views on the components and indicators of a potential new funding formula for schools. The consultation proposed using Free School Meals data to target money to deprived pupils rather than an area-based measure of deprivation. The consultation closed on 11 October and the Department is currently considering the responses. Further information on the reform of school funding will be made available in due course.
Sixth Form Education
Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration is given to existing post-16 provision in areas where a free school seeks to provide sixth form education. [84468]
Mr Gibb: Under section 9 of the Academies Act 2010, the Secretary of State for Education is under a duty to consider the impact of establishing a new school on maintained schools, academies and further education institutions in the area in which the new school is situated or proposed to be situated. This requirement applies in relation to the establishment free schools, including a free school proposing to offer post-16 provision.
Specialised Diplomas: Environment
Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reason the Specialist Diploma in Environmental and Land-based Studies has been withdrawn. [86654]
Mr Gibb: Following consultation this summer, Ofqual is revising the regulatory arrangements for diplomas to allow awarding organisations to make their own decisions about whether to offer it as a qualification, based upon demand from schools and colleges. As a result, some awarding bodies have chosen to withdraw from the full diploma. Some awarding bodies will continue to offer the Principal Learning components as qualifications in their own right. These high quality vocational qualifications can support progression outside of the framework of the diploma and can be combined with other qualifications to meet the needs of a broad programme of study.
Teachers: Pensions
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment his Department has made of the pension entitlements of teachers in (a) the UK and (b) other OECD countries. [83611]
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Mr Gibb: The provisions of the pension schemes covering teachers in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland are broadly the same and consequently the pension entitlements for teachers across the UK will be more or less the same. The Department has made no assessment of the pension entitlements of teachers in the UK and other OECD countries.
Following the recommendations made by Lord Hutton of Furness in the report of the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission, the Department is currently discussing proposed reforms to the Teachers' Pension Scheme with the teacher unions and other stakeholders. The aim of those discussions is to secure a pension scheme that continues to be valued by the profession and which helps to continue to attract people of high ability into teaching.
International Development
Afghanistan: Females
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will increase support for development programmes in Afghanistan that promote women's rights. [86163]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) is placing women and girls at the heart of its development programme and is already supporting women's rights in Afghanistan. During my recent visit to Kabul I launched the Strengthening Afghanistan's Civil Society Project (‘Tawanmandi'—‘Strengthening' in Dari). Jointly funded with Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Tawanmandi will provide grants to civil society organisations across Afghanistan to help them to engage more effectively with the Government and hold it to account. Human rights, particularly women's rights, and access to justice will be major themes.
In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides support to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Human Rights Support Unit at the Ministry of Justice. The FCO also provides support to paralegal services working with women and girls in adult prisons and juvenile detention centres.
Conciliation Resources
Mr MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect on the work undertaken by Conciliation Resources in Abkhazia of Russia recognising Abkhazia as an independent state; and if he will make a statement. [86040]
Mr Lidington: I have been asked to reply.
Conciliation Resources has been working in Georgia since the mid 1990s. It continues to work on projects which are designed to improve the prospects for peace by connecting people across the conflict divide, challenging existing prejudices, and working to tackle the root causes of the conflict. These projects are consistent with the work of the internationally mediated Geneva Talks process. The work undertaken by Conciliation Resources in Abkhazia, Georgia promotes conflict resolution between
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Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia and in our assessment has had no bearing on Russia's decision to recognise Abkhazia as an independent state. The UK fully supports Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Mr MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he has received reports that the work of Conciliation Resources is going beyond its remit in Abkhazia; and if he will withdraw funding from Conciliation Resources if that is the case. [86041]
Mr Lidington: I have been asked to reply.
Conciliation Resources and other organisations like it are undertaking valuable work to build the foundations for future conflict resolution in Georgia. The Government of Georgia have raised the work of Conciliation Resources in Georgia with us. We have received no reports that show that the work of Conciliation Resources is going beyond its remit in Abkhazia, Georgia. We have no plans to amend funding levels.
Mr MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures his Department has in place to monitor the activities of Conciliation Resources in Abkhazia. [86042]
Mr Duncan: DFID provides support to Conciliation Resources through the Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF). The Conciliation Resources' programme works with groups in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Uganda, Georgia-Abkhazia and Fiji to help women, men and youth in conflict-affected communities to work effectively with politicians and policymakers on issues that impact on their lives.
DFID monitors the GTF programmes through the assessment of annual reports and independent mid-term reviews.
Food Labelling
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether food and catering services in (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible plan to implement calorie labelling on menus and display boards. [85860]
Mr Duncan: The Department for International Development's two United Kingdom office staff restaurants have operated under contract to Mitie Technical Facilities Management since December 2010 on a non-subsidised basis.
Mitie Catering Services is currently working towards providing calorie labelling at the point of choice for standard food and drinks items. Prior to this information being displayed on menu boards for daily specials, Mitie Catering Services is testing the most effective way for this to be implemented into the business on such items as pre-packaged food products.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the food and catering services in (a) his Department and (b) public bodies for which he is responsible are taking to ensure the countries of origin of foods are labelled on its menus and display boards. [85861]
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Mr Duncan: The Department for International Development's (DFID) two United Kingdom office staff restaurants have operated under contract to Mitie Technical Facilities since December 2010 on a non-subsidised basis.
Mitie Catering does not currently display the country of origin on DFID's staff restaurant menus and display boards. However, the country of origin information is readily available along the supply chain and all products can be traced back to source.
Risk Assessment
Mr Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what risk registers are held by the public bodies for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement. [85707]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: There are two non-departmental public bodies that fall under the responsibility of the Department for International Development (DFID): (a) the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) and (b) the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission (CSC).
ICAI publishes in an annual corporate plan its approach to risk management and specific information on how it mitigates key risks. ICAI maintains a risk register as a central part of that risk management process. DFID scrutinises ICAI's risk management as part of the regular assurance activities, including internal audits, provided for in the framework agreement with ICAI.
CSC maintains a risk register which is reviewed annually by the Audit and Risk Management Committee and presented to the Commission each July.
Departmental Secondment
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what secondments there have been to his Department from (a) industry and (b) the third sector since May 2010; what the (i) purpose and (ii) duration is of each secondment; and whether each secondment was to a policy development role. [86142]
Mr Duncan: From May 2010 the Department for International Development has:
(a) Two secondments from industry, both in policy development roles and both short-term.
Duration October to December 2011
(b) Six secondments from the third sector, all to policy development roles;
Four senior research fellows to work alongside the integrated policy and research teams. Duration for two years from March 2011.
Two social development advisers to work on Violence against Women. Duration for one year from October 2011.
Parliamentary Written Questions
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many and what proportion of questions for ordinary written answer received a substantive response within (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 30 and (d) more than 30 sitting days in the 2010-12 session to date. [85923]
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Mr Duncan: The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with information relating to written parliamentary question performance on a sessional basis and will provide this information to the Committee at the end of the session. Statistics relating to the Government Department's performance for the 2009-10 parliamentary session were previously provided to the Committee and are available on the Parliament website.
Between May 2010 and November 2011 the Department for International Development (DFID) answered 1,499 ordinary written parliamentary questions within 10 sitting days and 90 within 20 sitting days. No ordinary written parliamentary questions took more than 20 sitting days to answer.
Developing Countries: Water
Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what programmes his Department supports to educate children in international crisis zones on the importance of clean water. [85875]
Mr Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) provides core funding to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) which has an important role in ensuring children's basic needs are met, including access to and education in water and sanitation. UNICEF protects the health and well-being of children through the promotion of safe drinking water, especially during humanitarian crises.
DFID will provide £40 million in annual voluntary core funding to UNICEF for each of the next two financial years (2011-12 and 2012-13). There is also a provisional funding allocation of £40 million per year for financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15, dependant on a mid-point review.
In addition to this multilateral funding, DFID have also committed directly to delivering on a series of challenging targets concerning water and sanitation. These include making sure 15 million more people have access to clean drinking water, 25 million more people have access to improved sanitation facilities and 15 million more people are reached by hygiene promotion.
Development Aid
Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has received on the Busan agreement on aid effectiveness. [86166]
Mr Andrew Mitchell: The three main UK priorities of results, transparency and fragility are now enshrined in the Busan outcome document which can be found here:
http://www.aideffectiveness.org/busanhlf4/en/component/content/article/698.html
Further to this, the UK played a central role in developing an outcome document that could be supported by emerging economies including China, India and Brazil.
I have outlined in more detail the outcomes of Busan in my written ministerial statement dated 7 December 2011, Official Report, column 30WS.
I have engaged with a wide variety of actors throughout the process, including other donor countries, emerging economies, eg China during my visit just before Busan,
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developing country leaders, the UKAN (UK Aid Network) group of NGOs during the conference and more recently with BOAG (British Overseas Aid Group) upon my return. This was with the intention that as broad a set of stakeholders could sign up to the Busan outcome document as possible.
Kashmir: Overseas Aid
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects his Department sponsors in Kashmir; and how much it spent in Kashmir in the last 12 months. [85755]
Mr Duncan: Under our International Partnership Agreement Programme, the Department for International Development provided £63,536 during 2010-11 to support Save the Children's work in Jammu and Kashmir. Our support to the Government of India's universal primary education programme (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) and National AIDS Control Programme also included Jammu and Kashmir.
Sri Lanka: International Assistance
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the International Committee of the Red Cross on the progress of reconstruction and resettlement in Sri Lanka. [85939]
Mr Duncan: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), has not had any recent discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the progress of reconstruction and resettlement in Sri Lanka. However, the British high commission in Colombo meets regularly with all international agencies present in Sri Lanka. They have regular discussions with the ICRC about the situation in Sri Lanka.
Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the World Food Programme on the provision of emergency food assistance in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. [85940]
Mr Duncan: The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr Mitchell), has not had any recent discussions with the World Food Programme (WFP) on the provision of emergency food assistance in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. However, the British high commission in Colombo meets regularly with all international agencies present in Sri Lanka, including those based in the north. They have regular discussions with the WFP about the situation in Sri Lanka.
World Toilet Day
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he took to raise awareness of World Toilet Day 2011. [85915]
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Mr Duncan: In the run up to World Toilet Day, the Under-Secretary of State for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr O'Brien), visited a sanitation project in Bangladesh to publicise the need for strong support in providing access to clean water, improved sanitation facilities and better hygiene practices.
These initiatives complement DFID's commitments to making sure 15 million more people have access to
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clean drinking water, 25 million more people have access to improved sanitation facilities and 15 million more people are reached by hygiene promotion.
DFID country offices were also involved in activities to promote sanitation on World Toilet Day. For example, DFID's Head of Office in Sierra Leone participated in an event organised by the Ministry of Health, the Urban WASH Consortium and UNICEF at a school in the east of the capital, Freetown.