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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 29 January 2014
EDUCATION
The following Education questions were intended for publication on Tuesday 28 January 2014
Adoption: Medical Examinations
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department has issued on funding of adoption medicals. [184505]
Mr Timpson: Funding for medicals for prospective adopters is a matter of local policy for each adoption agency.
Children in Care
Mr Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the percentage change in the number of looked-after children per 10,000 child population between 2008-09 and 2012-13 was in each local authority in England. [184872]
Mr Timpson: Statistics on the numbers of looked- after children plus rates per 10,000 of the population (aged 18 or under) are published as part of the Statistical First Release ‘Children Looked After in England’.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption
Dyslexia-SpLD Trust
Mrs Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to promote the materials and resources produced by the Dyslexia-SpLD Trust to parents, schools and local authorities. [184772]
Mr Timpson: The Department for Education is funding a number of voluntary and community organisations through grants and contracts to support reforms to the special educational needs (SEN) system.
The Department also funds the Dyslexia SpLD Trust to promote best practice and increase the number of local authorities, schools and others who access the Trust's resources.
The Trust, like other organisations funded to support the Government's SEN reforms, is highlighted within the draft SEN Code of Practice, which all schools and local authorities must have regard to. These organisations also feature in presentations and communications activity led by officials to support the implementation of the reforms.
Free School Meals
Sir Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has for funding of free school meals for year one and year two pupils after 2016. [184862]
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Mr Laws: The Government announced in September 2013 that all pupils attending state-funded schools in England in reception, year one and year two will be offered a free school lunch from September 2014. The Chancellor of the Exchequer subsequently announced over a billion pounds of funding for this policy between 2014 and 2016 in his autumn statement, 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-1113. The Government are legislating to make this new entitlement permanent.
Primary Education: Inspections
Mr Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what Ofsted's policy is on the inspection of reception classes in primary schools with regard to the freeflow and child-initiated approach to education. [184604]
Mr Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Private Education: Offences against Children
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many independent schools have notified his Department of disciplinary action taken against a member of staff as a result of concerns about their sexual behaviour towards children in each of the last five years. [184938]
Mr Timpson: The National College for Teaching and Leadership has received referrals from 13 independent schools, relating to disciplinary action taken against a member of staff as a result of concerns about their sexual behaviour towards children, since it commenced its regulatory role on 1 April 2012.
Under the last Government, the regulatory system was operated by the General Teaching Council for England which only regulated registered teachers. There was no requirement for teachers in independent schools to be registered.
Pupils: Disadvantaged
Sir Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will announce pupil premium allocations for year one and year two pupils in each of the next three years to enable schools to plan budgets including free school meals' provision. [184861]
Mr Laws: The pupil premium was introduced to help schools raise the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils and not to pay for free school meals. We use data on pupils from each year's January school census to calculate pupil premium allocations for the following financial year.
We are not yet able to publish pupil premium allocation for 2014-15 and beyond as the data on the number of eligible pupils in each school, which are used to allocate the pupil premium, are not yet available. For the 2014-15 financial year we have published provisional allocations1 for schools based on data from the January 2013 school census. We will finalise allocations later in the year when the January 2014 school census data are available.
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Data from the January 2015 school census, used to calculate the 2015-16 pupil premium allocations, will not be available until June 2015.
1https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-2014-to-2015-illustrative-allocation-tables
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the highest and lowest levels of spending per capita on primary school reception classes in England in each year since 2007-08. [183492]
Mr Laws: Per pupil funding figures in reception classes for the highest and lowest funded local authorities in England in financial years 2007 to 2013 are shown in the following table. The funding provided to different class groups, including reception, is allocated by local authorities (LAs).
| Per capita funding from LA in reception classes | ||||||
| £ | ||||||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
Figures include age weighted funding allocated to reception pupils only. The figures exclude City of London and Isles of Scilly in all years shown, and other LAs with no comparable data in some years.
Since 2010, the average funding per pupil provided to LAs has .increased each year when also taking the pupil premium into account.
The pupil premium was introduced in 2011-12 to provide additional support for disadvantaged children including those in reception classes. The total funds allocated for reception pupils in each financial year from 2011 to 2014 were £53.1 million, £75.4 million and £119.0 million respectively.
The Chancellor announced in June that we would consult on how best to introduce a national fair funding formula, with implementation starting in 2015-16. We will announce the next steps shortly.
Schools: Defibrillators
John Woodcock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the proportion
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of schools in England which have automated external defibrillators. [184945]
Mr Laws: No assessment of the proportion of schools in England which have defibrillators has been made.
Schools: Finance
Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he will publish the next stage of his consultation on a single funding formula for schools. [184843]
Mr Laws: The Chancellor announced in June that we would consult on how best to introduce a national fair funding formula, with implementation starting in 2015-16. We will announce the next steps shortly.
Special Educational Needs
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2014, Official Report, column 502W, on special educational needs, what research his Department has commissioned on reasons for variations in local education authorities' results for special educational needs students at GCSE level. [184890]
Mr Timpson: In 2010, Ofsted published the report: ‘A statement is not enough—Ofsted review of special educational needs and disability’. This highlighted the variations in identification of special educational needs (SEN) between different schools and different local authorities and the potential impacts on attainment. We are reflecting the lessons of this report in our reforms to the SEN system which form part of the Children and Families Bill.
Teachers: Greater London
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teachers in London schools were qualified in each London borough in each of the last 10 years. [184665]
Mr Laws: The following table shows the proportion of full-time equivalent qualified teachers (excluding occasionals) in service in publicly funded schools in each London local authority and England in January 2003 to 2009 and November 2010 to 2012 which is the latest information available. We expect figures for November 2013 to be available in July 2014.
| Proportion of qualified full-time equivalent regular teachers (excluding occasionals) in service in publicly funded schools. January 2003 to 2009 and November 2010 to 2012. England and London local authorities | |||||||||||
| Percentage | |||||||||||
| January | November | ||||||||||
| LA number | LA name | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
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| Sources: Form 618g (January 2003 to 2009) and School Workforce Census (November 2010 to 2012). | |||||||||||
The following Departments are those received for publication on Wednesday 29 January 2014
Education
Barnfield College
Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) how many visits to Barnfield Academy were made by his Department or its executive agencies before the start of the investigation of the academy in September 2013; [184586]
(2) how many visits to Barnfield Academy were made by his Department or its executive agencies prior to the commencement of the investigation in September 2013; on what dates such visits were made; and for what purpose they were made. [184991]
Mr Timpson: The information requested is not held centrally and could be compiled only at a disproportionate cost.
Berkshire
Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will publish details of all funds allocated by his Department and its associated agencies to (a) Reading Borough Council and (b) West Berkshire Council in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13 and (iv) 2013-14 to date. [182167]
Mr Laws: The following tables show the total allocations (£millions) made to both local authorities in each of the requested financial years by the Department for Education (DfE) and its agencies. These figures are not comparable for the reasons given as follows:
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| Reading (£ million) | ||||
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |
| West Berkshire (£ million) | ||||
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | |
| Notes: 1. The tables include allocations to the local authorities but exclude allocations to academies and free schools. 2. The allocations for 2013-14 are provisional at this stage because the allocations for Dedicated Schools Grant are liable to change before the year end. | ||||
However, it should be noted that the figures are not comparable between years because:
Funding to local authorities (LAs) diminishes with the opening of academies, free schools and university technology colleges (UTCs) as they are funded directly by the Education Funding Agency. Since 2010, nine academies, two free schools and one UTC have opened in Reading and eight academies have opened in West Berkshire. Regarding the details of funding for schools in Reading and West Berkshire I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 14 January 2014, Official Report, 500W.
In 2012-13 a number of Agencies moved into the DfE whilst others closed. This changed the way that funding was provided to LAs.
During this time there were also some transfers of funding between DfE and other Government Departments. These were mainly small amounts but the most significant were the Education Services Grant (national total of £1.03 billion) which transferred from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to the DfE in 2013-14 and the Early Intervention Grant (national total of £2.3 billion) which transferred from the DfE to DCLG in 2013-14.
The DfE has also provided some funding to other Government Departments to contribute to programmes that were jointly funded and managed, such as the Child Poverty programme that was administered by the Department for Work and Pensions.
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Children: Day Care
Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he takes to ensure that local authorities fully implement their responsibilities as set out in the Childcare Act 2006 and the Early Education and Childcare: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities produced in 2013. [184886]
Elizabeth Truss: Local authorities are accountable to their local electorate for the delivery of their duties under the Act. The Department for Education publishes national datasets to enable local authorities to benchmark their performance against geographical or statistical neighbours, and to enable parents and communities to hold them to account. The benchmarking tables are available online at the following link:
http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/b00211546/foundation-years-benchmarking-too
Further Education: Finance
Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if his Department will introduce transitional support for further education colleges affected by reductions in funding for young people aged 18 and over in academic year 2014-15. [184404]
Matthew Hancock: As the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), told the Education Committee recently, he will consider options to mitigate the impact of the decision, but he has made no firm commitments.
GCE A-level: Greater London
Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of children completed at least one A-level in each London borough in each of the last five years. [184656]
Mr Laws: The requested information is provided in the following table:
| GCE A level results1 of all state-funded2 students aged 16 to 183: Years: 2008-09 to 2012-134. Coverage: London local authorities | |||||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |||||
| Region/local authority number | No. of students entered for at least one A level | % of students completing5 at least one A level | No. of students entered for at least one A level | % of students completing5 at least one A level | No. of students entered for at least one A level | % of students completing5 at least one A level | |
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| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | ||||
| Region/local authority number | No. of students entered for at least one A level | % of students completing5 at least one A level | No. of students entered for at least one A level | % of students completing5 at least one A level | |
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| n/a = not applicable 1 Covers GCE A level only. 2 Covers all state-funded mainstream schools, academies, free schools, maintained special schools and FE Sector Colleges (excludes Independent Schools, pupil referral units and other Government Department funded). 3 Covers students aged 16, 17 or 18 at the start of the 2012-13 academic year, i.e. 31 August 2012. 4 2012-13 is revised, all other years are final. 5 The proportion of students completing at least one A level has been defined as achieving a grade A*-E. Note: Where qualifications taken by a student are in the same subject area and similar in content ‘discounting’ rules have been applied to avoid double counting qualifications. Refer to the Technical Notes section of the statistical first release (SFR). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-england-2012-to-2013-revised Source: Key stage 5 attainment data | |||||
Land
Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which sites owned by his Department are currently earmarked for disposal; what the current class use is of each site; what the expected planning use is for each site; whether each site already has planning permission for the expected planning use; what the market value of the site is; and whether the site will be sold for the full market value. [184980]
Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), on 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 514W.
Pay
Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education (a) how many and (b) what proportion of staff employed by (i) his Department, (ii) agencies of his Department and (iii) contractors of his Department are paid less than the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage. [184443]
Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education and its executive agencies have no directly employed staff who are paid below the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation. External contractors providing services to the Department have confirmed that 115 staff are paid less than the living wage. All contract staff are paid above the minimum wage.
Pupil Exclusions
Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 6 January 2014, Official Report, columns 100-1W, on pupil exclusion, how many permanent exclusions affecting special educational needs students have been overturned following an independent panel review since 2012. [184891]
Elizabeth Truss: The information requested is not held by the Department.
Schools: Soft Drinks
Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance he gives on the sale or provision of energy drinks in schools. [184473]
Elizabeth Truss: England's school food regulations set out a combination of food and nutrient-based requirements which severely restrict the provision of foods high in fat, salt and sugar, including fizzy drinks.
The regulations set out the requirements for food and drink provided at both school lunch and other times. This includes breakfast clubs, tuck shops, mid-morning break, vending and after school clubs. The only drinks that may be provided are plain water, plain low-fat milk, plain fruit or vegetable juice, combinations of fruit (at least 50%) and water, flavoured milk containing at least 90% low-fat milk and less than 5% added sugar and tea, coffee or hot chocolate with less than 5% added sugar.
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Home Department
Confiscation Orders
Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what value of cash and recovered assets has been seized from criminals by each police force in each of the last five years. [182311]
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Mrs May [holding answer 13 January 2014]: We routinely publish the overall amount of assets recovered on an annual basis, and under this Government more assets have been recovered from criminals than ever before. The value of cash forfeited and assets recovered in each police force is provided in the following table:
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
A total of £420.15 million has been recovered across England and Wales in the last five years.
Criminal Investigation: International Co-operation
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her Department's policy is on granting requests for mutual legal assistance from countries with which the UK does not have diplomatic relations. [183542]
Mr Harper
[holding answer 20 January 2014]:The UK can provide mutual legal assistance (MLA) to any country or territory in the world. The UK Central
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Authority (UKCA) considers each mutual legal assistance (MLA) request on a case by case basis, taking into account all applicable domestic and international law obligations and any wider policy issues which may apply. A non-exhaustive list of reasons why a MLA request could be refused by UKCA can be found at page 11 of the MLA guidance published on
www.gov.uk
Immigration
Mr Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the level of net immigration into the UK was in each year since 1990. [184519]
Mr Hurd: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated January 2014:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the level of net immigration into the UK was in each year since 1990 [184519].
ONS produces estimates of Long-Term International Migration (LTIM), primarily based on data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), with adjustments made for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with regard to their length of stay, and migration to and from Northern Ireland. LTIM estimates are based on the United Nations definition of a long-term international migrant, that is, someone who changes their country of usual residence for a period of at least one year.
ONS has published estimates of LTIM since 1991; the latest available calendar year estimates of LTIM are for 2012. Table 1 shows LTIM estimates of net migration to the UK from 1991 to 2012.
| Table 1: Net migration to the UK, 1991 to 2012 | |
| Net migration (thousand) | |
| Note: Net migration is calculated as immigration minus emigration. Source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/long-term-international-migration/2012/table-2-01a.xls | |
Provisional LTIM estimates for calendar year 2013 will become available on 22 May 2014.
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It should be noted that in light of the results of the 2011 Census revised net migration figures have been published as components of change in revised mid-year population estimates from the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2012 for the United Kingdom. These include a revision to the net migration component, focused primarily on the middle part of the decade before improvements were made to the International Passenger Survey in 2009. This revised series of net migration is shown in Table 2:
| Table 2: Population Estimates for United Kingdom: Components of Change for net international migration for the year to mid-2002 to the year to mid-2012 | |
| Net migration (thousand) | |
| Note: Net migration is calculated as immigration minus emigration, Estimates are for net international migration to the UK for the year ending 30 June e.g. estimates for 2001-02 are for the year ending 30 June 2002. Source: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-uk--england-and-wales--scotland-and-northern-ireland/mid-2001-to-mid-2010-revised/chd---chart-3.xls | |