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The offences prosecuted and conviction figures are for specific charges laid before the courts. Prosecution cases can contain one or more charges. Only one offence may be charged in any one information laid before the courts. Each offence is a single breach of a specific piece of health and safety legislation.

The Pensions Regulator has brought, in 2006, one prosecution. This did not result in a conviction.

Restorative Justice

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many schools in England and Wales participate in restorative justice schemes. [HL1421]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): This information is not held centrally.

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Schools: Spending

Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the level of primary school spending per head in (a) Wales; (b) England; (c) Scotland; and (d) Northern Ireland; and [HL1452]

What is the level of secondary school spending per head in (a) Wales; (b) England; (c) Scotland; and (d) Northern Ireland. [HL1454]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): The tables below provide the available information for Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The figures provided are not comparable for the reasons set out in the notes:

(a) Wales—Net current revenue expenditure per primary and secondary pupil in Wales
	2006-07 Wales (£ per pupil)
Primary	3,902
Secondary	4,534

Notes:

1. The figures supplied are taken from the revenue outturn forms and will differ from published per pupil data for 2006-07 as the previously published figures for 2006-07 were budgeted.

2. All pupil numbers are adjusted to be on a financial year basis.

3. The figures are not comparable with the figures supplied by Northern Ireland, England and Scotland.

4. Expenditure on pupils by age is not collected by Wales.

(b) England—School based expenditure per pupil1,2 and combined local authority and school based expenditure per pupil3 in England during 2006-07
	2006-07 England (£ per pupil)
Primary school based expenditure per pupil 1,4,5	3,360
Secondary school based expenditure per pupil1,2,4,5	4,320
Combined local authority and school based expenditure per pupil3,4,5	4,710

Notes:

1. School based expenditure includes only expenditure incurred directly by local authority maintained schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates. This excludes the central cost of support services such as home to school transport, local authority administration and the financing of capital expenditure. The pupil data are drawn from the DCSF Annual Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis.

2. Secondary school based expenditure includes any sixth form expenditure by local authority maintained secondary schools.

3. Combined local authority and school based expenditure includes all expenditure on the education of children in local authority maintained establishments and pupils educated by the authority other than in maintained establishments. This includes both school based expenditure and all elements of central LA expenditure except youth and community and capital expenditure from revenue (CERA). Certain elements of central local authority expenditure cannot be attributed to a particular phase of education and consequently a sector breakdown is not

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available. Pupil figures include all pre-primary pupils, including those under 5s funded by the authority and being educated in private settings, pupils educated in maintained mainstream schools and any other local authority maintained pupils. All pupil numbers are adjusted to be on a financial year basis.

4. The expenditure is drawn from local authorities Section 52 Outturn Statements (Table A) submitted to the DCSF. 2006-07 data are subject to change by the local authority.

5. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.

6. Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities as at 18 January 2008.

(c) Scotland—Gross revenue expenditure per primary and secondary pupil in Scotland
	2005-06 Scotland (£ per pupil)
Gross revenue expenditure per Primary pupil	4,138
Gross revenue expenditure per Secondary pupil	5,771

Notes:

1. 2005-06 is the most recent financial data available for Scotland.

2. The data are drawn from Expenditure on School Education 2005-06.

(d) Northern Ireland—Expenditure figures per primary and post-primary pupils in Northern Ireland
	2006-07 Northern Ireland (£ per pupil)1,2,3,4
Primary	3,047
Post Primary	4,456
Secondary	--------

Notes:

1. The figures relate to the latest available per capita expenditure figures for primary and post-primary schools in Northern Ireland.

2. The available figures relate to 2006-07 and include all expenditure within schools delegated budgets and expenditure by the Department and Education and Library Boards which is directly attributable to schools.

3. The range of services provided by funding authorities here and the levels of delegation to schools are quite different from those in other parts of the UK.

4. Education and Library Boards provide the school meals service centrally in Northern Ireland and therefore expenditure is not delegated to school level.

Schools: Staffing Ratios

Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the ratio of primary school teachers to pupils in (a) Wales; (b) England; (c) Scotland; and (d) Northern Ireland; and [HL1453]

What is the ratio of secondary school teachers to pupils in (a) Wales; (b) England; (c) Scotland; and (d) Northern Ireland. [HL1455]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): The information available is set out in the following table:

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Pupil: teacher ratios in maintained primary and secondary schools in the United Kingdom, by country, 2006-07
	Primary schools	Secondary schools
England	21.8	16.5
Wales	19.9	16.6
Scotland	16.3	12.0
Northern Ireland1	20.8	14.5
United Kingdom1	21.1	15.9
Source: Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom (Internet only) 2007 Edition
1. Includes preparatory departments attached to grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

Schools: Training

Baroness Walmsley asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether funding letters for (a) the Training and Development Agency for Schools; (b) the General Teaching Council for England; (c) the School Teachers Review Body; (d) the National College for School Leadership; and (e) the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority contained provisions specifically relating to increasing the knowledge base and skills of the children's workforce with regards to children's speech, language and communication needs; and whether they will set out for each what those provisions were. [HL1489]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Lord Adonis): There is no specific mention of children's speech, language and communication needs in the current remit letters for either the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), or the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). The TDA's remit letter does, however, require the agency to work with officials to improve coverage of SEN and disability issues in teacher training, and speech, language and communication needs come within that broad brief.

The NCSL has a remit to ensure that school leaders have the necessary skills to ensure that the needs of all pupils are met. The QCA is the national authority for qualifications, curriculum and assessment and standards in England. Its remit covers qualifications for both young people and adults. From April 2008, an interim regulator will be established that will be responsible for carrying out the regulatory functions of QCA. The DCSF does not issue funding letters to the School Teachers Review Body or the General Teaching Council for England.

In the light of the Children's Plan, which sets out the Government's ambitions for the educational attainment and wider well-being of children and young people, remit letters for 2008-09 are being developed for the QCA, NCSL and TDA.

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The Children's Plan acknowledges the need to provide additional support to speech and language services in tackling barriers to learning. It also includes a commitment to invest further in the inclusion development programme (IDP), which aims to increase the skills of the whole early years and school workforce in dealing with children with speech, language and communication needs.

The noble Baroness will be aware that on 11 September 2007 the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and the Secretary of State for Health launched a major review of the provision of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs, led by the honourable member for Buckingham, Mr John Bercow. As part of his review, Mr Bercow will examine how the children's workforce can best be organised and supported to meet the needs of children with speech, language and communication needs. He will submit an interim report in March, prior to his final report in July 2008.

Sudan: Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Baroness Northover asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to focus international attention on the comprehensive peace agreement for South Sudan. [HL1351]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): We have drawn international attention to the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) by: raising the issue at multilateral institutions such as the UN and the EU; through resolutions and statements, eg the EU's recent statement on the CPA's third anniversary and the UN's recent statement on the Sudan People's Liberation Movement's resumption of participation in the Government of National Unity; ministerial visits to and calls on key Sudanese leaders, for example, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development's July 2007 and my September 2007 visit to Sudan; and frequent contact with our closest international partners on matters related to CPA implementation.

Suspicious Activity Reports

Baroness Neville-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the total sum of money collected relating to the suspected financing of terrorism through the suspicious activity reports (SAR) regime since it was created; and [HL1145]

What is the total sum of money collected relating to the suspected financing of terrorism through the suspicious activity reports (SAR) regime in the past 12 months. [HL1146]

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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Statistics on the amount of money seized as a result of information received through suspicious activity reports (SARs) on the suspected financing of terrorism have been collected by the national terrorist financial investigation unit (NTFIU) of the Metropolitan Police since September 2006.

Since that date, £1,027,280 has been seized by the NTFIU for further investigation into the origins of the money and the intentions of the transacting parties following SARs of suspected terrorist financing passed on to them from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). It is not possible to provide further details of the transactions or a breakdown of this figure due to the need to protect ongoing operations.

Trade: NAFTA

Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:

What assessment they have made of the impact on the United Kingdom's standing in the United States of the United Kingdom joining the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. [HL1497]

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): No formal assessment has been carried out on how the UK's standing in the US might be altered by membership of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.

Transport: Heavy Goods Vehicles

Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have assessed the impact of the cuts in vehicle excise duty in the Finance Act 2001 on (a) accidents involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on rural roads; (b) the damage caused by HGVs on rural roads; and (c) noise pollution in rural areas. [HL1488]

Lord Davies of Oldham: Following a consultation exercise, vehicle excise duty for lorries was comprehensively reformed in 2001 better to reflect the environmental and road track costs of these vehicles. This reform simplified the number of bandings for lorries making vehicle excise duty less burdensome for hauliers to administer.

The Treasury factors in a variety of evidence in assessing the overall effectiveness of vehicle excise duty across all vehicle types in helping to achieve the

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Government's priorities, but has not singled out rural affects for a specific assessment of lorry rates.

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