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Secondly, Sir Roger has recommended that the Government should continue to promote positive parenting strategies and effective behaviour management techniques directed towards eliminating the use of smacking. Parents who disapprove of smacking should make this clear to others who care for their children.
Thirdly, he has recommended that the development of appropriate safeguarding policies in informal education and learning organisations should continue to be promoted. Legal changes which flow from adoption of these recommendations will need to be communicated effectively.
The Government have accepted Sir Roger's recommendations in full and we are committed to implementing them as soon as possible.
I have placed copies of Sir Roger's report and the Government's response in the Libraries of both Houses.
School Teachers' Review Body
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:
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The 19th report of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) is being published today, covering a range of matters referred to them in October 2009. I am grateful for the careful consideration which the STRB has given to these matters. Copies of the report are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office, the Libraries of both Houses and at www. teachernet.gov.uk/pay.
The STRB has recommended that revised criteria for payment of allowances to teachers of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are introduced from September 2010. In addition, it recommends that the two discrete values in use currently should be replaced by a range.
I am grateful to the STRB for these recommendations, which will allow teachers of pupils with special educational needs to continue to receive appropriate reward, and subject to consultees' views, I intend to implement new criteria.
The STRB has also made recommendations concerning criteria for appointments to deputy head and assistant head roles as part of a programme of work on which the STRB has previously made recommendations.
I note the STRB's recommendations for criteria for these leadership posts and I agree that this work should be taken into account in developing leadership standards and professional responsibilities for all teachers. I would welcome consultees' views on the criteria.
My detailed response contains further information on these issues.
Annex to Written Ministerial Statement 6 30 March 2010
DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES
School Teachers' Review Body recommendations and response from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls)
[The following sets out the full set of recommendations from the School Teachers' Review Body published in the 19th Report (Cm 7836) on 30 March 2010, together with the response from the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. The STRB's recommendations below are in bold.]
The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls): The 19th report of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) is being published today. It covers the matters referred to the STRB in October 2009. Copies are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office and in the Libraries of the House and at http://www.ome.uk.com/STRB_Reports.aspx.
In making its recommendations, the STRB was required to have regard to items a-f set out in the remit letter of 8 October 2009. This report covers criteria for posts in the leadership group, and for special educational needs payments. I am grateful for the careful and detailed attention the STRB has given to these matters. I am inviting comments on the STRB's report and my response to its recommendations by 29 April 2010.
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Special Educational Needs Allowances
The STRB has recommended that:SEN allowances should continue to be paid to teachers working in specified SEN roles but that the present system of two separate and defined SEN allowances be replaced with spot value allowances that fall within a specified SEN range; The new SEN range start at £2,001 and the maximum be set at £3,954, to be uprated in line with any general uprating of teachers' pay. Schools and authorities should determine the spot values for individual posts, taking account of local context and specified factors; SEN allowances be paid to those teaching:in SEN posts that require a mandatory SEN qualification (all settings);in special schools, and in designated special classes or units in schools and local authorities;SEN allowances be paid to those teaching in non-designated settings, including PRUs, that are analogous to designated special classes or units where the post:involves a substantial element of working directly with children with special educational needs;requires the exercise of a teacher's professional skills and judgment in the teaching of children with special educational needs; and has a greater level of involvement in the teaching of children with special educational needs than is the normal requirement of teachers throughout the school or authority. In other exceptional cases, payment of SEN allowances be at the discretion of the school or local authority; andSchools and local authorities set out clearly in their teachers' pay policies the arrangements for rewarding teachers with SEN responsibilities.I am grateful to the STRB for its consideration of this issue and agree that the two current allowances should be replaced by a range, and the existing criteria revised. I consider that any new criteria should be linked to teaching and learning in all educational settings, and am not therefore convinced of the need for discretion. Subject to consultees' views, I intend to implement revised criteria and an SEN range from September 2010.
The STRB has recommended the following:
Subject to review in any future STRB consideration of school leadership issues, the STPCD be revised to include the following, with effect from September 2010:Before establishing or making an appointment to any deputy head teacher or assistant head teacher post, the relevant body must be satisfied that:(i) the post carries a substantial element of whole- school responsibility that is not required of all classroom teachers or TLR holders; and (ii) the holder of the post plays a major role, with full accountability, under the overall direction of the head teacher, in-30 Mar 2010 : Column WS219
I am grateful to the STRB for its detailed consideration of this issue and I welcome the recommendations for criteria for deputy and assistant head posts. I believe that this work should be taken into account in developing leadership standards and professional responsibilities for all teachers. I agree that pay arrangements for the leadership group should continue to be taken forward by the STRB in the course of a future remit. I would welcome consultees' views on the criteria, which I will consider when developing criteria for implementation in 2010.
Social Fund
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Helen Goodman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:
I am pleased to announce that the gross discretionary Social Fund Budget for 2010-11 will be £802 million.
With the net funding available, I have been able to allocate a gross national SF Loans Budget of £660 million and a national Community Care Grants Budget of £141 million from 1 April 2010.
The net funding available includes £141.5 million additional loans funding for 2010-11 only.
I will allocate a gross national SF Loans Budget in line with the provisions in the Welfare Reform Act 2007. The aim is to control and manage the national allocation whilst providing consistency of outcomes for Budgeting Loan applicants wherever they live. All loans budget expenditure will be made from the gross national loans budget of £660 million. Concerns have been raised by stakeholders about the current methodology of allocating Community Care Grants and these will be considered as part of the reform process that was announced on 15 March 2010 in the Social Fund Reform: Debt, Credit and Low-income Household consultation paper CM 7750.
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To provide help to Jobcentre Plus budgets facing unexpected and unplanned expenditure I will retain centrally £1 million as a contingency reserve.
Details of individual Community Care Grant allocations will be placed in the Library.
Background note about the discretionary Social Fund Budget:
The discretionary Social Fund budget is cash limited. Funding for Community Care Grants is allocated to each budget area for management by Jobcentre Plus Social Fund Benefit Delivery Centres on 1 April each year. The gross discretionary Social Fund budget allocated for 2010-11 is £802 million. This is made up of:
| New money (net AME) | £319.7m |
| Forecast loan recovery | £482.3m |
This is to be allocated as follows:
| Loans | £660m |
| Grants | £141m |
| Contingency reserve | £1m |
Sustainable Communities Act
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (John Denham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am publishing a consultation paper today, 30 March, on the arrangements for the production of the second local spending report. The aim of the local spending reports is to assist local authorities, their partners and local people in promoting the sustainability of local communities by providing more information about the public funding that is spent in their area. The Act requires me to make arrangements for the production of local spending reports and to consult such persons likely to be affected by the arrangements, as I think appropriate. This consultation document places work to develop local spending reports in the broader context of our efforts to make public data public. This approach was summarised in the report to Parliament Making Local Public Expenditure Data Public and the Development of Local Spending Reports in December 2009.
The document will be placed in the Library of the House and will be available on the Communities and Local Government website at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/consultationsecondspendrpt.
We have also presented the first local spending report on the places database today at http://www.localspending.communities.gov.uk/ and are seeking views on this as part of the consultation process. This will provide intuitive, user-friendly tools to explore, compare and contrast data via interactive maps, charts
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Following consultation, I propose to publish the second local spending report in summer 2010.
Transport Act 2008: Quality Contracts Schemes
Statement
The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Transport (Mr Sadiq Khan) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
The Local Transport Act 2008 includes provisions designed to make bus quality contracts schemes- the London-style model of bus contracts-a more realistic option for local transport authorities throughout England and Wales. The Government announced on the 10 December 2009 that these provisions will come into force, in England, on 11 January 2010.
The Government are today announcing the appointment of six individuals to a QCS board panel from which members of QCS boards will be appointed. QCS boards are independent boards with a remit to provide an opinion on whether proposed quality contracts schemes in England meet the statutory public interest criteria, and on whether due process has been followed.
It is also envisaged that QCS board panel members will be called upon to provide advice to traffic commissioners on Quality Partnership Scheme (QPS) "admissible objections".
A QPS is made by a local transport authority, under which the authority provides facilities (e.g. bus lanes) and any bus operator wishing to use those facilities must operate services to the standard specified in the scheme.
Following amendments made by the Local Transport Act 2008 to the 2000 Act, a QPS can include requirements about frequencies, timings and maximum fares as part of the "standard of service". But they can do so only if there are no "admissible objections" from relevant bus operators.
In the first instance, it is for the local authority to determine whether an operator has an "admissible objection" on either or both of the two grounds set out in regulations. But where there is a disagreement between operator and authority, the objecting operator may refer the matter to a traffic commissioner for an independent determination.
A number of local authorities either have, or are planning, Quality Partnership Schemes.
Currently an Appeals Decision Maker for the Department for Transport in respect of concessionary travel appeals from bus operators, Andrew has gained a wide range of skills including as a Government Economist, a Senior Civil Servant and member of Defra's management board. He sits on the Community
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Founding Director of Strata Consultants, Tim has over 35 years' experience of local transport planning, including providing advice to Passenger Transport Executive CEOs as the former Director of the Support Unit at PTE. He has worked to raise the profile of PTEs, highlighting their role in transport policy development.
A Project Director at JMP Consultants, Peter has 26-years' experience in transport planning starting in a local authority environment and specialising in areas including passenger transport development, policy and strategy for both the public and private sectors.
Currently Technical Director for Gifford UK, James has worked extensively in the transport sector both in the UK and abroad. Including a period as a Local Authority Officer, he has experience in transport economics and planning.
Former roles at Northumberland County Council include Head of Highways, Transport and Waste services; Head of Regeneration; and Principal Advisor to the Chief Executive. Alan has recently become an independent consultant specialising in sustainable economic, social and cultural regeneration.
Recently retired after 42 years in the public transport industry, David has held a number of senior roles in both the bus and tram sectors. A former President of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
A further two candidates will be held in reserve.
Transport: Severe Weather
Statement
The Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis): I am today announcing an independent review of the transport sector's response to the severe weather experienced this winter 2009-10 and lessons for the future.
The winter of 2009-10 has seen the most prolonged period of sub-zero temperatures for 30 years, creating extremely challenging conditions for the travelling public. For the most part, our transport networks coped well in the circumstances. However, there are lessons that can be learnt in order to improve our resilience for future winters.
This winter, the Salt Cell successfully achieved its objective of prioritising salt deliveries to highway authorities across the country to minimise disruption to transport networks. The Salt Cell held its final meeting on 16 March. Since it was first convened on 6 January, the Salt Cell met 20 times and advised salt suppliers on the distribution of approximately 530,000 tonnes of salt.
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Now that the severe weather has receded, we must focus our attention on learning the lessons presented by this winter. The aim of this exercise will be to identify practical measures to improve the response of transport systems to severe winter weather. The work will review and build upon the recommendations of the UK Roads Liaison Group "Lessons from the Severe Weather February 2009" and present a series of practical measures that authorities must consider for implementation to better prepare themselves for winter 2010-11 and beyond.
The review is part of a Government drive to ensure that local authorities are prepared for future severe weather. Last week the Government announced an additional £100 million for local authorities to help pay for repairs to potholes. This builds on the trebling of funding to local authorities over the last 10 years for road maintenance from £265 million in 2000-01 to £809 million in 2010-11.
The review will be led by a small panel of independent experts comprising:
David Quarmby CBE (Chair), currently Chair of the RAC Foundation and former Chief Executive of the Strategic Rail Authority;Brian Smith, retiring as Assistant Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire County Council on 31 March; and Chris Green, a Non-Executive Director of Network Rail, former Chief Executive of Virgin Trains and English Heritage.During the review, the panel will be seeking evidence and views from a range of stakeholders in order to develop the detailed scope and identify examples of best practice.
A copy of the terms of reference for the review has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Visas
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