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Works of Art
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been spent on (a) the upkeep and (b) the purchase of works of art in his Department for each financial year since 1992. [117467]
Mr. Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on 4 April 2000, Official Report, columns 392-93W, which sets out information relating to the Government Art Collection (GAC). Works of art from GAC are displayed in the London head office buildings of the Department for Education and Employment. The Department has also purchased paintings and prints to the value of £28,000 since 1992 (£18,000 in 1996-97 and £10,000 in 1997-98). These are displayed in areas of common use in Caxton House, one of the London head office buildings. No costs have been incurred on their upkeep.
Schools Funding
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what mechanism will be used to deliver the extra funds announced in the Budget to schools; when the schools will receive the money; and what the basis will be for determining the relevant sum for each school. [117514]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 3 April 2000]: My right hon. Friend laid a special report before the House on 6 April, under section 88B of the Local Government Act 1988. It will empower him to make payments to local authorities on condition that they pass those payments to schools, within a specified time period. It is expected that payments will be made to schools in May. Each school will receive the amount set out in the following table. The pupil numbers to be used will be those recorded for the schools' census on 20 January 2000.
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For the purposes of calculating grant, all middle schools deemed secondary schools, and all middle schools deemed primary schools which have a year 8 or 9, are to be treated as secondary schools. CTCs are to be funded on the same basis as secondary schools. Nursery schools are to be treated as primary schools. No grant is payable in respect of a school which is to close during the financial year 2000-01.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what requirements secondary schools have to meet to receive the extra funding announced in the Budget, as referred to in the Red Book. [117513]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 3 April 2000]: The additional funding will be part of secondary schools' delegated budgets, so they will be free to decide what to spend it on. It will give extra support to secondary schools in the raising of standards at Key Stage 3 programme, including the setting of challenging school-level targets, and preparation for new Year 7 tests for pupils who have not yet achieved level 4 in English and maths.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the allocation of the extra budget funding for each school in Shrewsbury and Atcham; and if he will make a statement. [118326]
Ms Estelle Morris: The provisional allocation of the extra budget funding for schools in Shropshire is £1.693 million. This is based on January 1999 number pupil data, and will be updated when January 2000 pupil number data become available. The funding to be paid to each school will be based on January 2000 pupil numbers. It is not therefore possible at the moment to list individual school allocations, but I will place in the Library a complete list by constituency when the data enabling me to do so become available.
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of (a) total funding for schools and (b) the additional funding allocated for schools (i) since May 1997 and (ii) in the recent Budget, have been allocated to (A) nursery, (B) primary and (C) secondary schools; what reasons underlie the disparity per head in the distribution of the funding between the three sectors; what plans he has to review that distribution; and if he will make a statement. [118273]
Ms Estelle Morris: The following table sets out: (a) total standard spending (TSS) for education for 2000-01; (b) the increase is TSS since May 1997; and (c) the recurrent funding announced in the Budget on 21 March 2000, together with the percentages of these amounts going to under-5s, primary, secondary and other education. The principal reason for the greater historic funding per head for secondary schools is their lower pupil teacher ratios. The table demonstrates that a greater percentage of the additional funding
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announced since May 1997 is going into under-5s and primary than the proportions for TSS in 2000-01; that reflects the extra funding the Government have made available to boost standards for pupils in the vital early years of their school career.
| (a) TSS for 2000-01 | (b) Increase in TSS since May 1997 | (c) Extra funding in Budget | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total (£ million) | 23,003.6 | 4,495.3 | 297 |
| Under-5s | 7.0% | 11.2% | -- |
| Nursery | -- | -- | 0.6% |
| Primary | 42.8% | 44.7% | 45.3% |
| Secondary | 47.6% | 45.4% | 47.5% |
| Other | 2.6% | -1.3% | 0% |
Note:
Column (c) does not total 100 per cent., since it does not include funding for special schools, CTCs or pupil referral units.
Foundation Degree Courses
Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to allow private companies to offer foundation degree courses; and if he will make a statement. [117347]
Mr. Wicks: In February, the Department issued a consultation paper setting out the Government's proposals on Foundation Degrees. It is our intention that these are degrees and therefore should be awarded only by institutions with degree awarding powers. However, employer involvement in both the design and delivery of Foundation Degree programmes will be critical. In particular, we expect prototype courses to be delivered by consortia which will include employer representation.
Employment Credit (Over-50s)
Mr. Beard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact the new employment credit for the over-50s will have in London. [116635]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 6 April 2000]: New Deal 50 plus will bring new hope to people over 50, including over 200,000 eligible Londoners. It includes a tax free employment credit, which guarantees a minimum take home income of £170 a week or £9,000 a year for those going into full-time work. It is a major new programme of personal advice, jobsearch support, in-work training grant and the employment credit to help people on benefits who are looking for work. The programme has been available nationally from 3 April 2000 after operating in nine selected areas since last October. In only five months over 1,000 people were helped off benefit and back into work.
Academic Freedom
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure academic freedom in (a) the conduct and publication of research and (b) university teaching. [118012]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 6 April 2000]: Higher education institutions are independent bodies, whose autonomy is enshrined in legislation. They conduct their own academic programmes, whether teaching or research,
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as they see fit. Research directly commissioned by this Department is published as a matter of course, either by the Department or by the research institution. Our research contracts place no restrictions on the right of researchers to draw independent and objective conclusions.
School Computers
Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools have appointed technicians to assist in the running of schools' computer systems; and what estimate he has made of the number of unfilled vacancies within schools. [118235]
Mr. Wills [holding answers 7 April 2000]: There are no figures available for the number of primary or secondary schools that have appointed technicians to assist in the running of school computer systems, nor are there figures available for the number of unfilled vacancies. However, the Government are supporting £657 million of investment in schools' ICT provision up to 2002 as part of the National Grid for Learning initiative. This funding is devolved to schools to help enable them to address the priorities identified in their ICT development plan, including securing appropriate technical support.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if all teachers are eligible for assistance with the purchase of a computer; and if he will make a statement. [114998]
Mr. Wills: Any serving, DfEE-registered teacher in current employment in a state maintained school in England or employed by a local education authority in a recognised teaching role who complies with the following conditions is eligible to apply for a subsidy of half the cost of specified computer packages, up to a maximum subsidy of £500, under the scheme. These conditions are:
- signed confirmation from the teacher, and his or her headteacher, or local education authority of this employment status;
- signed confirmation either that the teacher has been on, is currently attending, or is definitely scheduled to attend a New Opportunities Fund teacher training course or alternatively is a newly qualified teacher who entered initial teacher training on or after September 1998 and is therefore deemed to be competent in ICT in accordance with the ICT Subject Teacher Training National Curriculum;
- a signed commitment by the teacher that the computer is for his or her own use.
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