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Iraq: Intelligence Personnel
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, between 17 March 2003 and 28 June 2004, United Kingdom intelligence personnel in Iraq were escorted or protected by Armed Forces personnel or by civilian contractors. [HL254]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): The Ministry of Defence does not employ private security contractors in Iraq. United Kingdom civilian intelligence personnel would routinely have been escorted and protected by military personnel, although in some circumstances these may have been drawn from the armed forces of coalition partners.
Joint Casualty Receiving Ship
Earl Attlee asked Her Majesty's Government:
What provision was made in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review for a joint casualty receiving ship; and when such a facility was expected to come into service. [HL284]
Lord Drayson: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) of 1998 announced the intention to acquire an additional primary casualty receiving ship, later renamed the joint casualty treatment ship (JCTS), as part of plans to strengthen the medical support that could be provided for substantial combat operations overseas. No decisions on the timescales for providing this capability were made at the time of the SDR.
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Armed Forces Bill
Lord Astor of Hever asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Armed Forces Bill to be introduced this Session will make provision for employees, other than sponsored reservists of civilian contractors deployed to areas of military conflict; and, if so, whether they will publish the relevant draft clauses in time to allow for consultation before the publication of the Bill. [HL324]
Lord Drayson: The Armed Forces Bill will make provision for employees of civilian contractors deployed to areas of military conflict in support of the Armed Forces. My department is at present working on provisions for the Bill that will modernise and clarify the existing provisions. Though we do not expect to be able to publish the relevant clauses in draft before the Bill is introduced, we do intend to continue the process of engagement with those who have an interest in the Bill, including noble Lords. I shall write to the noble Lord about this shortly.
Schools: Failing Schools in London
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish the names of the 55 London schools identified in the Ofsted report of 16 May as failing; and whether any of these schools are either specialist sports colleges or sports academies. [HL71]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Lord Adonis): The Ofsted report of 16 May identifies 55 London schools as "failing", these figures refer to the number of schools requiring special measures in August 2004. None of these schools were specialist sports colleges or sports academies.
Despite the raising of the bar on standards, the number of London schools which can be classified as "failing" has since fallen sharply, from 55 to 39. The table below lists the schools identified in the Ofsted report; schools highlighted have since been removed from special measures.
Standards in London schools have improved rapidly since 1997 with GCSE results in London overtaking the national average for the first time in history in 2004. In 1997, 36 of the 402 mainstream maintained schools with results published in the performance tables had 70 per cent or more pupils achieving five A* to C, with 94 having less than 25 per cent achieving this standard. In 2004 of the 403 published schools 92 had 70 per cent or more pupils achieving five A* to C, with 17 having less than 25 per cent achieving this standard.
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Schools: Sport
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their best estimate of the percentage of girls who take part in after-school sport compared to the percentage of boys. [HL169]
Lord Adonis: The information required to answer this Question is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, this information will be collected centrally from 2006.
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the building of new school sports facilities is included in the Building Schools for the Future programme. [HL262]
Lord Adonis: This Government give great priority to the physical and recreational needs of our children as a fundamental part of their education and development. Building and renewing secondary school sports facilities are included in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.
Central government capital funding for school buildings in 2005–06 is over £5.1 billion, including over £2 billion allocated to the first wave of BSF. BSF aims to transform secondary schools so that they are fit for the teaching and learning needs of the 21st century, including for sports and physical education. Decisions on investment will be made locally by the authorities which have been allocated funding as they develop their projects, in line with their priorities, which will reflect local need and government policies. In time, all secondary schools in England will benefit from BSF.
The balance of capital funding, about £3 billion in 2005–06, is mainly allocated to schools and authorities
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by formula, so that they can make investment decisions locally, in line with the priorities of their asset management plan. Again, these can include the improvement of school sports facilities, and we give guidance on good sports facilities for schools. We provide additional capital grant for schools which wish to develop sport as a specialism, where there is local matched funding. From 2008–09, we are providing additional funding for primary schools, to support their improvement, which will include sports facilities.
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