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Scotland: Analysis of Examination Results 1994-97
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish data for Scotland showing for state schools, independent schools and all schools separately, the percentage of S4 pupils in each of the years 1994 to 1997 passing Standard Grade examinations with credit level (grades 1 and 2) in the following subjects: mathematics, English, English literature, sciences (showing separately percentages for general science, physics, chemistry and biology), French, history and geography, showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of S4 pupils.[HL925]
Lord Sewel: Examination data for Scottish Qualifications are published on an annual basis and available in the Library of the House of Lords. Read together, the annual Examination Statistics published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Examination Results in Scottish Schools from the Scottish Office show examination success at Standard Grade broken down by school, by subject, by gender and by grade. Additional detailed analyses can be made available in response to specific enquiries.
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish data for Scotland showing for state schools, independent schools and all schools separately, the percentage of S4 pupils in each of the years 1994 to 1997 passing Standard Grade examinations with credit level (grades 1 and 2) in the following combinations of subjects: mathematics and English; mathematics, English and one science; mathematics, English, one science, French and either history or geography, showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of S4 pupils.[HL926]
Lord Sewel: Examination data for Scottish qualifications published on an annual basis do not include information on combinations of subjects in the
format requested. Such detailed analyses can, however, be made available in response to specific enquiries.
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish data for Scotland showing for state schools, independent schools and all schools separately, the percentage of S4 pupils in each of the years 1994 to 1997 obtaining five or more Standard Grade passes at credit level (grades 1 and 2), showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of S4 pupils.[HL927]
Lord Sewel: Information on the percentage of S4 pupils obtaining five or more Standard Grade credit awards in each secondary school in Scotland is published in the series Examination Results in Scottish Schools. This source does not provide a gender breakdown. Further detailed analyses of this type can, however, be provided in response to specific enquiries.
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish data for Scotland showing for all state schools, independent schools
and all schools separately, the number of pupils in S5 together with the percentage of the previous S4 year group in each of the years 1994 to 1997 obtaining three or more Higher Grade passes at Bands A, B or C, showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of S4 pupils.[HL928]
Lord Sewel: Examination data for Scottish qualifications are published on an annual basis and available in the Library of the House of Lords. Read together, the annual Examination Statistics published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Examination Results in Scottish Schools from the Scottish Office show examination success at Higher Grade broken down by schools, by gender and by grade, including an analysis of success in three or more Higher Grades at A-C. Additional detailed analyses of the data can be made available in response to specific enquiries.
Baroness Blatch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will publish data for Scotland for state schools, independent schools and all schools in each of the years 1994 to 1997 giving the number of pupils in S5 together with the percentage of the previous S4 year group in each of the subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, English literature, history, geography, French and economics, entering for Higher Grade, passing Higher Grade at bands A, B or C and passing Higher Grade at band A, showing data separately for boys, girls and all pupils and including, for each category of school, the number of schools and the number of S4 pupils.[HL929]
Lord Sewel: Examination data for Scottish qualifications are published on an annual basis and available in the Library of the House of Lords. Read together, the annual Examination Statistics published by
the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Examination Results in Scottish Schools from the Scottish Office show examination success at Higher Grade broken down by school, by subject, by gender and by grade. Additional detailed analyses of the data can be made available in response to specific enquiries.Benefit Fraud
Earl Russell asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the Prime Minister referred to "benefit fraud estimated at £4 billion a year" (The Times, 5 January), to what areas of the benefit system and to what estimate was he referring; and whether Her Majesty's Government are now in a better position to make a better estimate.[HL972]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham): The figure of £4 billion is the previous administration's estimate of the level of benefit fraud. The estimate was based on the findings of the ongoing programme of benefit reviews. Copies of completed benefit reviews are available in the Library.
The Government are examining this estimate. We are not convinced that the current analysis of benefit review results enables us to distinguish fully between wrongly made payments arising from fraud, incorrect claims, misunderstandings by benefit claimants on when to report changes of circumstances, or the weakness in the design of benefits. We have asked for further work to be done on the methodology of, and analysis of, all current reviews.
Disability Benefits: Prices and Earnings Link
Lord Morris of Manchester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What would be the value today of attendance, invalid care allowance, severe disablement allowance, mobility allowance and the care component of disability living allowance, if the link with prices and earnings created by the Social Security Act 1975 had not been broken by the Social Security Act 1980.[HL735]
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: The information requested is set out in the table. However, only attendance allowance was linked with prices and earnings by the Social Security Act 1975 and disability living allowance was introduced in 1992.
| Benefit | Actual April 1997 Rate | April 1997 Rate if Earnings Link | ||
| Attendance allowance: | ||||
| Higher rate | 49.50 | 68.55 | ||
| Lower rate | 33.10 | 45.80 | ||
| Invalid care allowance | 37.35 | 51.85 | ||
| Severe disablement allowance | 37.75 | 52.20 | ||
| Mobility allowance | --(3) | 44.20 | ||
| Disability living allowance(4) | ||||
| Mobility component | ||||
| Higher rate | 34.60 | 36.85 | ||
| Lower rate | 13.15 | 14.00 | ||
| Disability living allowance(4) | ||||
| Care component: | ||||
| Higher rate | 49.50 | 52.60 | ||
| Middle rate | 33.10 | 35.15 | ||
| Lower rate | 13.15 | 14.00 | ||
Notes:
(1) The Retail Price Index (All Items) and the Average Earnings Index (Whole Economy) as produced by the Office of National Statistics was used in these calculations.
(2) VAT on fuel was added in April 1994 at the rate of 50p for a single person on Severe Disablement Allowance and 20p for a single person on Invalid Care Allowance.
(3) Mobility allowance was abolished and replaced by DLA higher rate mobility component in 1992.
(4) The values for Disability Living Allowance are based on the actual starting values of DLA in 1992.
Lord Rea asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington): Since Sharing Resources for Health in England: Report of the Resource Allocation Working Party was published in 1976, there has been a clear objective for Hospital and Community Health Services resource allocation--namely, "to secure equal opportunity of access to healthcare for people at equal risk". RAWP recommended distributing resources on the basis of population, weighted according to two basic criteria: need--adjustments were to be made for perceived differences in the need for healthcare; cost--unavoidable differences in the cost of providing services were to be taken into account.
The current Hospital and Community Health Services weighted capitation formula contains three basic elements. The first element is an age-related need
Even when differences due to age are taken into account, populations of the same size and age distribution display different morbidity characteristics. The second element of the formula is an additional adjustment for need, over and above that accounted for by age. This adjustment takes the form of three indices of need for different services: acute, psychiatric and community. The needs indices include a wide range of health and socio-economic indicators associated with the need for healthcare--e.g., unemployment, elderly living alone, single carers, lone parent households, households with no central heating, etc. The percentage weighting of the indices is determined by reference to a three-year average of the latest available national expenditure figures. Fairness has been put as the top
The third element of the formula is a geographical cost adjustment to take account of the fact that the cost of providing healthcare is not the same everywhere due to the impact of local market forces on staff and capital costs. In 1998-99, a further cost adjustment was introduced into the formula to reflect the fact that the cost of providing emergency ambulance services varies across the country.
The Government have put in place new mechanisms to distribute NHS cash more fairly. A new Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation was established in September 1997, with the intention to further improve the arrangements for distributing resource for both primary and secondary care. The healthcare needs of populations, including the impact of deprivation, will be the driving force in determining where cash goes.
Changes to the formula since 1976 are shown in the following table.
Viscount Simon asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman): Copies are being placed in the Library of the House today.
Lord Cocks of Hartcliffe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Hayman: Whether the requirements in Section 30 (5) of the Local Government Act 1974 for publicising reports of the Local Government Ombudsman are met is a matter for the local authority concerned and not for Her Majesty's Government.
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Jay of Paddington on 3 March (WA 158), how the current Hospital and Community Health Services weighted capitation formula takes account of the health needs of deprived populations; how the formula has changed since 1976; and whether any further changes to the formula are planned.[HL1079]
1977/78--Resource Allocation Working Party (RAWP) 1980/81--Advisory Group on Resource Allocation (AGRA) 1990/91--Working for Patients 1995/96--1994 review 1997/98--Resource Allocation Group (RAG) 1998/99--RAG
Age Related Need Age/sex utilisation Age/sex utilisation Age-cost curve (sex dropped) More sensitive age-cost curve Age-cost curve Age-cost curve
Additional Need Condition-specific all ages Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR) Condition-specific all ages SMR Square root SMR, under 75 years of age Two needs indices introduced: general and acute 64% psychiatric 12% no weight 24% New needs index introduced: Community Health Services (CHS) 11% acute index 64% psychiatric index 11% no weight 14% 100% weighting for need: acute index 70% psychiatric index 18% CHS 12%
Cost--Staff London Weighting London Weighting MFF introduced, 3 pay zones: Greater London; Rest of Thames; Rest of England. Staff groups: maintenance; admin. & clerical; unqualified nurses; ambulance staff. London Weighting MFF 3 pay zones: Greater London; Rest of Thames; Rest of England. Staff groups: maintenance; admin. & clerical; unqualified nurses; ambulance staff. North Thames 3% supplement and South Thames 1% supplement. London Weighting (Medical and Dental) MFF 4 pay zones: Inner London; Outer London; Rest of SE England; Rest of England. Staff groups extended to include qualified nurses; PAMS; and midwives. London Weighting (Medical and Dental) 61 pay zones London Weighting (Medical and Dental) Pay zones reduced to 51 Introduction of geographical cost adjustment for emergency ambulances.
Cost--Capital Capital Charges integrated with HCHS revenue. Land and buildings MFF introduced. Revised Capital Charges MFF
Whether they will place in the Library of
the House a copy of the code practice for local
authorities roadside emissions testing.
[HL991]
Whether the public notice entitled Bristol City Council: Report of Local Government Ombudsman on Complaint of Injustice published in the Western Daily Press on 13 February (p. 28, col. 6 and 7) fulfils the statutory duties of publication and gives sufficient information about the complaint of maladministration.[HL1017]
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