Social Security Benefits

Mr Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people requested benefits advances in the most recent year for which figures are available; what proportion of those people received an advance; and what amount was received per person on average. [180725]

Esther McVey: The following information was gathered clerically primarily for internal use and has not been validated to the same extent as official/national statistics.

There are a number of applications where the offer is rejected by the customer or where, at the point of payment, the offer is withdrawn and the primary benefit is paid instead. Data are not kept on the volume of these cases.

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of how much his Department spent on publicising benefits in (a) 1997, (b) 2001, (c) 2005, (d) 2010 and (e) 2012. [180997]

Mike Penning: The delivery agencies for this Department were created in April 2002, so figures prior to this date are not available.

For the other years requested, in all cases I can provide figures for the publication of information leaflets about pensions and each of our benefits. While the Department does not actively ‘promote’ benefits generally,

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three exceptions were to increase awareness about pension credit, winter fuel allowance and council tax benefit. Where campaigns ran to promote these, figures for the years in question are also detailed.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many sanctions Jobcentre Plus has issued in the last year due to a claimant undertaking part-time study being judged as not available for full-time work. [181006]

Esther McVey: Information on how many JSA sanctions Jobcentre Plus has issued in the last year, due to a claimant undertaking part-time study being judged as not available for full-time work, is not available.

However, information on the number of sanction referrals for jobseeker's allowance, by reason “not being available for work”, from 22 October 2012 to 30 June 2013 can be found in Table 1.5 at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many employment and support allowance claimants have a musculo-skeletal condition; and how many such claimants have been in receipt of out-of-work benefits for a duration of over (a) two years and (b) five years; [181293]

(2) how many employment and support allowance claimants have a mental health condition; and how many of those claimants have been in receipt of out-of-work benefits for a duration of over (a) two years and (b) five years. [181294]

Mike Penning: Statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants by medical condition and duration of their current claim can be found at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/

Guidance for users is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

The specific information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the prospects for digital by default in the benefit system. [181956]

Mike Penning: We have successfully introduced a digital service for both jobseeker's allowance and state pension, which enables claimants to apply online if they prefer. Since August 2013, take up for jobseeker's allowance online has been exceeding 80%.

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We have also introduced Universal Jobmatch, which allows our working age claimants to search for jobs online. Universal credit, which is being rolled out gradually, is primarily a digital service.

Work has been undertaken to develop a digital service for personal independence payment, carer's allowance and single-tier state pension, which covers a large part of the future benefit system. A beta version of the online claim service for carer's allowance went live to the public in October.

We will continue to examine further opportunities for digitalisation in due course as part of the Government's strategy to be digital by default.

Social Security Benefits: Learning Disability

Mike Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assistance his Department provides to benefit claimants with reading and writing difficulties and who are new to using computers to use his Department's universal jobmatch service. [181902]

Esther McVey: For the majority of claimants, using universal jobmatch will be an important part of improving employment prospects. However, using the service may be less than straightforward for claimants who have reading and writing difficulties and who are new to using computers. Where a lack of basic or ICT skills is a barrier to finding work, the claimant will be referred either for an in-depth skills assessment with a training provider or directly to the most appropriate training.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will respond to the urgent e-mail sent by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight on 3 December 2013 relating to the availability of Atos appointments on the Isle of Wight. [181699]

Mike Penning: I replied to my hon. Friend on 19 December 2013.

State Retirement Pensions

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department will write to individuals with a statement of their foundation amount under the new state pension system. [181792]

Steve Webb: Effective communications are crucial to the success of the state pension reforms. The Department is committed to providing timely information to those affected. DWP is working with HMRC to develop a detailed communications strategy learning from the experience of implementing other pension reform. We will place a summary in the parliamentary Libraries in due course.

We currently offer an on-demand state pension service. This will also be a feature of the new system, ensuring people have their up-to-date pension position including their foundation amount. As part of the implementation of the reforms we are looking at how we can modernise our services to meet customer needs. Raising awareness of the availability of the service and encouraging individuals to use it will form a key objective of our communications strategy.

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Unemployed People: ICT

Mike Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of jobseekers do not have basic computer literacy skills; what support his Department provides to improve the basic computer literacy skills of jobseekers; and how his Department

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measures the performance of Jobcentre Plus in this area. [181726]

Esther McVey: The findings from the Skills for Life Survey 2011 (the most recent survey conducted) shows the following Information and communications technology (ICT) levels for respondents claiming JSA.

Where a claimant's lack of skills is a barrier to them finding work they will be referred either for an in-depth skills assessment with a training provider or direct to the most appropriate training.

DWP does not measure the performance of Jobcentre Plus in this specific area.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to self-employed claimants of universal credit of meeting the requirement to provide accounting information additional to that prepared for tax purposes when applying for that credit. [181003]

Esther McVey: Record-keeping and accounting is a process which businesses should already be doing in order to report income to HMRC.

We have sought to minimise the burden on self-employed claimants when reporting to both DWP and HMRC by aligning the universal credit self-employed earnings reporting requirements as closely as possible with HMRC's new simplified cash basis accounting system, enabling claimants to keep similar accounts, for both purposes. Therefore claimants should already have the information they require for universal credit.

Self-employment represents a very wide range of activities, so we cannot estimate any extra cost to self-employed claimants of reporting this information monthly to DWP, but regular monthly scrutiny of their businesses' financial records will give self-employed claimants a better handle on how their business is performing and can only assist in the preparation of accounts for their end of year tax self-assessment.

We will continue to work closely with HMRC, stakeholders including self-employed people and their representative groups, and record-keeping software providers, to test and develop the best reporting mechanisms and guidance for universal credit and we believe this is the right way to avoid unnecessary burdens on self-employed businesses.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what work on the universal credit project has been done offshore. [181230]

Esther McVey: Development of some of the universal credit IT system has previously been undertaken offshore. This was carried out at sites which were security checked and certificated to a high level. UK-based teams have rigorously inspected and tested IT developed offshore. All current IT development is taking place in the UK.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many internal reviews of the universal credit project there have been since 2011. [181231]

Esther McVey: As part of the Department’s governance of major programmes senior departmental officials regularly assess delivery and expenditure. The governance arrangements are agreed with the Major Projects Authority. DWP's Internal Audit team have reviewed the universal credit programme continuously since 2011 to provide independent, objective assurance on the adequacy and effectiveness of governance, risk management and control. The key issues highlighted from these reviews were considered within the NAO report, ‘Universal Credit: early progress’, published in September 2013.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) civil servants and (b) non-civil servants are currently working on development of the universal credit. [181232]

Esther McVey: Current resourcing data shows that there are currently 548.1 full-time equivalent civil servants supporting the universal credit programme.

For non-civil servants, as we do not contract on the basis of numbers but on specific pieces of work, it is each suppliers decision as to how many resources they decide appropriate to complete that work.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have moved on from working on the universal credit programme since its start. [181233]

Esther McVey: This level of detail is not available due to the way we resource our Change Programmes as resources flex in and out of a central change resource pool depending on delivery plans. However, as an indication the current resource turnover rate for DWP Corporate Change is 4.91%.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what involvement the Digital Government Service currently has in the development of the universal credit IT system. [181236]

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Esther McVey: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), on 5 December 2013, Official Report, column 65WS, which included an update on our work with the Government Digital Service and announced the next stage of universal credit implementation.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he made in 2011 of the suitability of using Agile IT methods to develop the universal credit IT system. [181237]

Esther McVey: As my colleague, the then Minister for Employment, my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Mr Hoban), stated in PQ 147495 on 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 205W, in a programme as complex as universal credit, which includes new IT developments and changes to existing IT assets, both agile and waterfall methods may be appropriate at different times. As examples, initial development used agile techniques while, in its final stages of testing for the pathfinder from April 2013, the programme is using the waterfall approach—a standard DWP testing methodology.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to pages 134-5 of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s document Economic and fiscal outlook for December 2013 (1) if he will set out the process by which his new plans for the delivery of universal credit will be approved by the (a) Treasury and (b) Major Projects Authority; [181243]

(2) by which date his new plans for the delivery of universal credit will get approval from (a) the Treasury and (b) the Major Projects Authority. [181244]

Esther McVey: HM Treasury and the Major Projects Authority have an ongoing role in approving and assuring our plans. The plans for delivering the next stage of implementation, announced on 5 December, will be subject to review between the new year and spring 2014.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likelihood that universal credit claimants will be able to migrate from the current IT infrastructure to the new digital solution by December 2017; and if he will make a statement. [181269]

Esther McVey: As we set out in our press notice of 5 December, current plans will see new claims to existing benefits closed during 2016. This will mean that all new benefit claimants across the country will claim universal credit instead of the legacy benefits like jobseeker’s allowance or housing benefit. Meanwhile, most of the existing benefit claimants will be moved over to universal credit during 2016 and 2017. Decisions on the later stages of universal credit roll out will also be informed by the completion of the enhanced IT and these decisions will determine the final details for how people transition to the new benefit.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the additional cost, compared to his current plans of (a) making universal credit payments fortnightly and (b) allowing

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universal credit claimants to split their payments between the two members of a couple once all claimants have been transferred to universal credit. [181296]

Esther McVey: Universal credit prepares claimants for the world of work in which 75% of employees are paid monthly and encourages claimants to take responsibility for their financial affairs. The Government understand, however, that the move to single monthly household payments is a significant change from the way many benefits are currently paid so is committed to providing support for those who need it. We recognised that for a minority of claimants alternative payment arrangements, including paying people more frequently or splitting payments may be required.

Costings for making payments fortnightly and allowing all universal credit couples to have split payments are not available.

Welfare State: Reform

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the cumulative impact of his Department's welfare reforms since May 2010 on (a) working households, (b) workless households, (c) single parents, (d) disabled people and (e) elderly people. [181705]

Esther McVey: The Government regularly produce analysis of the cumulative impact of all coalition changes, including welfare, on households across the income distribution. This information is produced by the Treasury and is published alongside every Budget and autumn statement, in the interests of transparency. The previous Government did not provide this type of analysis. The most recent update was published with the autumn statement on 5 December 2013, and can be found using the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263548/impact_on_households_ autumn_statement_2013.pdf

This analysis estimates the effect of coalition measures from all fiscal events from the Budget in June 2010 to the autumn statement in 2013. It also includes changes that were announced before the Budget in June 2010 that have been implemented by this Government.

Current coalition policies are compared with what might have happened if the previous Government's policies had continued into the future without any further fiscal consolidation even though these policies were not affordable or sustainable.

Distributional analysis is provided for the whole population on the basis of household income and household expenditure. However this is not disaggregated to the level of household characteristics such as disability status or economic status.

Winter Fuel Payments

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what mechanisms his Department uses to identify the number of winter fuel payment recipients who use off-grid energy; [181806]

(2) how many winter fuel payment recipients use off-grid energy. [181808]

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Steve Webb: The information requested is not available. There is no existing source of data on off-grid gas users at individual household level. However, in the context of broader work on fuel poverty, the Department—jointly with the Department for Energy and Climate Change—is in discussion with the energy supply industry to ascertain what data could become available, and at what level of detail, with a view to understanding the scope for improving the targeting of support for those reliant on fuel oil and other alternatives to mains gas.

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of winter fuel payment there are in each parliamentary constituency in the most recent year for which figures are available. [181807]

Steve Webb: The information is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/winter-fuel-payments-caseload-and-household-figures

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many voluntary sector organisations identified in the first Work programme stock take are not included in the most recent stock take. [181004]

Esther McVey: The latest stocktake (September 2013) shows that 364 subcontracts are held by voluntary sector organisations. This figure has been broadly consistent from the start of the Work programme although there have been changes in supply chain organisations due to performance management activities.

The latest information, as at 31 September 2013, can be found through the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/organisations-that-supply-services-to-the-work-programme-providers

The proportions in the private, voluntary and public sectors can be calculated from this data.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent assessment is of the level of innovation being achieved by Work programme providers. [181863]

Esther McVey: As the programme matures many Work programme providers are showing signs of innovation, for example Working Links are testing a personal budget type approach with ESA claimants, giving them the freedom to purchase employment support which will meet their needs. We can also see clear variation in provider performance, demonstrating that the best and most innovative approaches can make a real difference.

In addition, the independently chaired Work programme Building Best Practice Group has been set up to help organisations delivering the Work programme find the best ways to support the harder to help and to share knowledge of what works. The group will report back-to me in spring 2014.

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Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the reasons for the fall in Work programme performance reported in the December performance statistics. [181943]

Esther McVey: Work programme performance has improved since being launched in June 2011. Up until the end of September 2012, just under 55,000 had found lasting work. This has increased to 208,000 people by September 2013.

Overall the proportion of Job Outcome payments attained at the 12-month stage has increased steadily for monthly intakes since the start of the programme.

For example comparisons of cohorts of referrals that have achieved Job Outcomes within 12 months:

8.4% of the first monthly intake—June 2011—achieved a Job Outcome by 12 months.

This compares with 12.5%, 12.3% and 11.7% for the July, August and September 2012 monthly intakes respectively.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what targets he has set in relation to people who leave prison and move onto the Work programme; [182024]

(2) how the Work programme has performed against its targets for those leaving prison since the programme's inception. [182025]

Esther McVey: Targets have not been set for those leaving prison and moving onto the Work programme.

The Government are committed to helping prison leavers and Jobcentre Plus staff can now process benefit claims in prison thus streamlining the benefits process. This makes immediate referral to the Work programme possible on release from prison and ultimately gives the maximum help to prison leavers and reduces the temptation to re-offend.

Education

PISA Report

15. Mr Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the findings of the recent PISA report. [901752]

Elizabeth Truss: England's performance has stagnated while others which have radically reformed their education systems have seen impressive gains.

Reform takes time. Improvement did not happen overnight in Poland and Germany.

We are putting in place the right mix of autonomy, accountability and high expectations that will move us from average to great.

20. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the findings of the recent PISA report. [901759]

22. Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the findings of the recent PISA report. [901762]

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Elizabeth Truss: England's performance stagnated in PISA 2012. In contrast, Germany and Poland did reform and have seen considerable improvement since 2000 and East Asian jurisdictions have also moved further ahead.

We are learning from their successes and putting in place the right mix of reforms—increasing school freedom and accountability and putting more of a focus on core academic subjects.

Teachers: Pay and Conditions

16. Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress his Department has made on negotiations with teaching unions on teachers' pay and conditions and industrial action. [901753]

Mr Laws: The Secretary of State for Education has invited the NUT and the NASUWT to attend a programme of talks about the implementation of education policy, including in those areas covered by their trade disputes. He has invited all other organisations representing teachers as it is only fair that all members of the profession are represented. The talks will begin this month and I hope that NUT and NASUWT will attend. It is disappointing that they continue to threaten national strike action.

Royal College of Teaching Proposals

17. Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of proposals for the establishment of a Royal College of Teaching. [901756]

Mr Laws: A successful professional body for teaching, established and owned by the teachers themselves, could play an important role in raising the standard and status of teaching. Key to the success of any such body would be its independence from government. We have been following with interest initiatives that have begun to take root in the education sector, including those under the aegis of the Prince's Teaching Institute, and we look forward to seeing their proposal when it is published in the new year.

Domestic Violence

18. Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of the effect of domestic violence on children's education. [901757]

Mr Timpson: We are taking steps to address the impact through far-reaching reforms to child protection systems and to social work education to improve safeguarding and child welfare. We also support cross-Government work, led by the Home Office, to tackle domestic violence.

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Free Schools

19. Jackie Doyle-Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many free schools he expects to be open at the end of the present Parliament. [901758]

Michael Gove: There are 174 open free schools and another 116 in the pipeline. I therefore expect there will be almost 300 free schools open by the end of the present Parliament.

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many current head teachers or principals of free schools do not have a professional teaching qualification; [180743]

(2) how many head teachers or principals of free schools did not have a professional teaching qualification when the free school was established. [180744]

Mr Timpson: The Department holds information on whether teachers hold Qualified Teacher Status, but not separate data on head teachers only.

No head teachers or principals in state-funded schools are required to hold Qualified Teacher Status, except for:

1. Head teachers in local authority maintained schools, whose role involves teaching; and

2. Head teachers or principals in state-funded special schools, whose role involves teaching.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the free schools for 16 to 19 year olds that are operating in the 2013-14 academic year; how many (a) 16 and (b) 17 year olds have enrolled in each; and for how many students each school has been funded by the Education Funding Agency. [181201]

Mr Timpson: There are seven 16-19 free schools operating currently. Six of the seven free schools opened in September 2013 and therefore only have pupils in year 12. All these new free schools have been funded on a single year to take in year 12. The London Academy of Excellence opened in academic year 2012/13. A total of 1,210 planned pupils are funded at the seven 16-19 free schools for 2013/14. The details at institution level of funding, and the number of pupils funded and enrolled are shown in the following table. All open academies and free schools will have their budgets adjusted upwards and downwards within the terms of their funding agreements based upon the number of pupils recorded in their census. Where academies are funded on the basis of their estimate of pupil numbers in the coming year, an adjustment will be made, in accordance with their funding agreement, if the estimate is different from the numbers on the pupil census. This adjustment could be positive or negative and where it is negative the funding is recovered from the academy.

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Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2013, Official Report, column 399W, on free schools, whether it is his policy to respond to a decision note from the Information Commissioner's Office on the final day of the statutory timescale set out in the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [181207]

Mr Timpson: It is the Secretary of State for Education’s policy to respond to decision notices by the deadlines set by the Information Commissioner.

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2013, Official Report, column 463W, on free schools, for what reasons he has no plans to publish records of monitoring visits by education advisers to free schools. [181295]

Mr Timpson: Monitoring visits by the Department's education advisers are designed to provide professional challenge and support for newly opened free schools. The NAO report on establishing free schools, which was published on 12 December, includes information on the monitoring reports, which can be found here:

http://www.nao.org.uk/report/establishing-free-schools/

Free schools are inspected by Ofsted within two years of opening, and it is publication of inspection reports that ensures public accountability for the performance of free schools.

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) all-through free schools have facilities to provide hot school meals. [182023]

Mr Timpson: The information requested is not held centrally. The Government are providing £150 million of capital funding to improve kitchens and dining facilities in schools, including free schools, ahead of the introduction of universal free school meals for pupils in reception, year l and year 2 from September 2014.

Targeted Basic Need Funding

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the adequacy of targeted basic need funding. [901745]

Mr Laws: The Targeted Basic Need programme will create more than 70,000 new school places by September 2015 in the local authority areas that need them most, at a cost of about £820 million. The capital allocations the Department has provided to local authorities to deliver the places were calculated using the Education Funding Agency's Contractors' Framework rates. They should be sufficient to procure schools using the latest standardised designs.

Academies

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the free schools and university technical colleges his Department is funding; how many children have been enrolled at each such institution; and for how many children each such institution is being funded. [181202]

Mr Timpson: There are 174 free schools and 17 university technical colleges open in the academic year 2013/14. A total of 29,073 planned pupils are funded at these institutions for 2013/14. Each institution's level of funding, number of pupils funded and number of pupils enrolled are provided in the following table.

All open academies and free schools will have their budgets adjusted upwards and downwards within the terms of their funding agreements based upon the number of pupils recorded in their census.

As the NAO said in their recent report, free schools become more popular the longer they are open.

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Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2013, Official Report, columns 260-61W, on academies, how payment is calculated for academy brokers in relation to visits on which his Department does not hold data. [181297]

Mr Timpson: Brokers are procured through open competition. The Department’s procurement method ensures best value for money through quality service from brokers. Brokers are paid on a daily rate basis, including travel and expenses.

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Academies: Sponsorship

Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) on what date the BAU Foundation Trust was approved as a suitable sponsor for academies; and whether that approval is still in force; [181802]

(2) on what date the Mentora Academies Trust was approved as a suitable sponsor for academies; and whether that approval is still in force. [181803]

Mr Timpson: BAU Foundation was approved as an academy sponsor on 22 August 2013. It subsequently established Mentora Academies Trust, which would have overseen any academies sponsored by BAU.

Following the recent resignation of a number of trustees, we have informed BAU Foundation that the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), is minded to withdraw their status as an approved academy sponsor.

Adoption

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of children adopted over the age of five whose adoption breaks down before adulthood. [181182]

Mr Timpson: Information on the number of children adopted from care whose adoption breaks down is not currently available. However, the Department for Education has commissioned research that will enable us to quantify the incidence of adoption breakdown for children who were legally adopted between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2011, including by age at the time of placement. The results will be published in spring 2014.

In addition, the Department will collect information on children re-entering care where the child has previously been adopted or left care through a special guardianship or residence order for the first time in spring 2014. The information is expected to be available in autumn 2014.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make post-adoption support a requirement on adoption agencies across the UK. [181187]

Mr Timpson: The Government consider that a new duty on local authorities is not necessary because the new provisions and investment, which were listed in a previous question from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe), and answered on 17 December 2013, Official Report, column 587W, will deliver real improvements for adoptive families. The Department understands that such a duty on local authorities could seem an attractive option. However, we believe a duty could also incentivise perverse behaviour; for example, local authorities might be more likely to under-assess support needs if they had to then find the funding to meet these needs. Without introducing extra bureaucracy, this would make the experience for adoptive families worse, not better.

On 11 September 2013 we announced that we would be investing £19.3 million in the creation of an Adoption Support Fund which avoids these perverse incentives. By adding significant extra money into the system, the Fund will help to improve access to, and the provision

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of, adoption support services. It will enable local authorities to assess properly and consistently in the knowledge that there is enough money available to pay for what the child needs, including more expensive, proven packages of support. In addition, we expect that the Fund will help to stimulate and grow the market for adoption support providers by acting as a commissioner of services. It will also help to incentivise investment by local authorities and from charitable and philanthropic organisations/individuals. These benefits would not be realised through a duty to provide.

Al-Madinah School

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 729W, on Al-Madinah school, if he will now publish the qualifications held by each member of the teaching staff at the Al-Madinah free school at the beginning of the school term. [181204]

Mr Timpson: It would be inappropriate to publish any staffing details at this time.

The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has decided that the needs of the pupils at Al-Madinah school would be best served by bringing in more experienced management, with the skills and capability required to deliver the improvements needed at the school. To that end, the Secretary of State has asked Barry Day, chief executive of the Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust, to start work with the trust.

Apple Inc

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what electronic or paper records were taken at the meeting between the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), who has responsibility for children and families, and representatives from Apple Inc at their meeting in February 2013; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the official record. [181102]

Mr Timpson: Following the meeting I had with representatives from Apple on 12 February 2013, I wrote to them to record the points of discussion.

Arts: Foundation Courses

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions Ministers in his Department had with their Ministerial colleagues at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport before making changes to the level of arts foundation diploma resources. [181306]

Matthew Hancock: The announcement on 10 December regarding funding for the academic year 2014/15 for 16 to 19-year-olds did not specifically affect the funding of the arts foundation diploma, but rather affects all those in the third year of post-16 education.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of (a) the cost of teaching an arts foundation diploma and (b) how many hours of teaching are needed on an arts foundation diploma course. [181739]

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Matthew Hancock: The Department does not hold estimates of the cost of teaching particular qualifications, because post-16 education is now funded per student rather than per qualification.

In 2013/14, post-16 study programmes are funded at a base rate of £4,000 per year. Funding for institutions which currently receive more is protected until 2016/17. Foundation Art and Design Diplomas also receive a 20% uplift if the Diploma is the core aim of the study programme.

The examination awarding bodies recommended 645 guided learning hours for these courses.

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many students obtained an arts foundation diploma in the years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13. [181741]

Matthew Hancock: The requested information has been provided in the following table:

Charities: Education

Sir Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to educate young people about charity in schools. [182015]

Elizabeth Truss: We have revised the citizenship programmes of study to direct teaching towards the core knowledge of citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, and to give schools more scope to decide how to teach citizenship. Teaching should develop pupils' understanding of democracy, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Among other things, pupils should be taught about the roles played by public institutions and voluntary groups in society, and the ways in which citizens work together to improve their communities, including opportunities to participate in school-based activities.

In addition, schools may include teaching within personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), a non-statutory subject in a school's curriculum. PSHE equips children with the knowledge and skills to make safe and informed decisions. Teachers are well-placed to judge which topics to cover, tailored to the needs of their pupils and in the context of the school's overall programme.

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Children: Day Care

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to encourage new childcare providers to enter the commercial market. [181025]

Elizabeth Truss: The Government are putting in place a number of measures to support growth in child care provision; These include:

1. Simplifying the regulatory framework and planning rules so nurseries can expand more easily and making it automatic for good nurseries to offer Government-funded early education places;

2. Improving the funding system to increase consistency across local authorities and maximise the funding that reaches the frontline;

3. Enabling the creation of childminder agencies. Through childminder agencies we aim to make it simpler for people to enter childminding. Childminder agencies will be able to share administration and other costs; help childminders with training and resources; and ensure parents can find flexible, quality, home-based care;

4. Making it easier for schools to extend their nursery provision to two-year-olds, and deliver 8am to 6pm child care for both nursery age and older children; and encouraging schools to work with private and voluntary child care providers to achieve this;

5. Developing a new tax-free child care scheme to expand support for affordable child care to 2.5 million families to stimulate demand; and

6. Launching the London Childcare Fund; £8 million of additional funding to London local authorities to help them get better value from the £1 billion Government spends and expand provision for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

The Government will continue to work with providers and provider organisations to understand, and then reduce, the barriers to new providers entering the market and to existing nurseries expanding.

Dr Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures his Department is taking to encourage schools to work with private and voluntary providers to offer after-school and holiday child care. [181027]

Elizabeth Truss: The Government are making it easier for schools and private, voluntary and independent providers to provide out-of-hours and holiday care; and for them to do it in partnership where they choose to. This sort of care can: improve pupil outcomes, gain recognition from Ofsted, meet parental needs, making a school attractive to parents and make the school a community resource.

Examples of the steps the Government are taking to make it easier include:

1. Reducing costs to providers by revising the regulatory framework so that a more proportionate set of requirements are in place, without compromising the safety of children. This includes allowing child care providers to work in multiple locations with only one registration with Ofsted and aligning staff qualifications requirements with those in place during the school day;

2. Working through experienced voluntary and community sector organisations to identify and remove barriers to 8am to 6pm care; and

3. Helping schools to learn from each other about what works, by sharing case studies of successful out-of-hours and holiday care in schools, including effective business models that deliver financially sustainable provision.

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Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education to what budget the £8 million funding for improving access to child care places for families in London will fall; and what estimate he has made of the number of private sector and voluntary providers who will take part in the match-funding scheme. [181325]

Elizabeth Truss: The £8 million of additional funding for London councils, which I announced on 12 December, will be paid to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant.

I have encouraged local authorities to work with the Greater London Authority to pursue a range of innovative activities to get better use of the £1 billion budget currently spent on London child care. This can be used to expand the provision for two, three and four-year olds, including through support for school nurseries to offer full-time education, and child care from 8am to 6pm, and match funding capital, which is expensive for private, voluntary and independent providers.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools currently provide 8am-6pm childcare. [181326]

Elizabeth Truss: This information is not held in the format requested.

The Department for Education's Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey collects information on the number of child care providers in England, including after school clubs. In 2011, there were 10,000 after school clubs, of which 71% were offering before school activities or child care for school aged children in term time. This compares to 9,500 after school clubs in 2010, of which 67% were offering before-school activities or child care for school aged children in term time.

Children: Internet

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department gives to schools to ensure children use school computers to access the internet safely. [180834]

Elizabeth Truss: The Government will shortly be issuing updated statutory guidance to replace ‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education', which will remind schools of their responsibility to ensure they have a culture of safety and that pupils are safe. This includes using opportunities in the curriculum and more widely to teach children how to stay safe.

As part of the reforms to the national curriculum, the Department for Education is strengthening the requirements to teach e-safety via the new computing programmes of study. Computing is replacing ICT as a core national curriculum subject and will be mandatory at all key stages from September 2014. This will see e-safety, for the first time, being taught to primary school pupils-from age 5 to 11 in key stages 1 and 2-rather than leaving this until secondary school.

Teachers are free to teach the curriculum as they see fit, drawing on resources as appropriate. Relevant resources include ‘Think U Know’ which is produced by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (now part of the National Crime Agency), which provides training and education resources for practitioners to use with

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children and young people to increase their understanding of online safety. Also, the UK's Safer Internet Centre hotline, the Professional Online Safety Helpline, provides information to child care professionals on internet safety.