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Class Sizes (Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many school classes of five to seven-year-olds with over 30 pupils there were in Shrewsbury and Atcham in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [160508]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 9 May 2001]: The available information is shown in the following table. Information on class sizes by parliamentary constituency is not available prior to 1997.
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| Number of: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Key stage 1 classes with 31 or more pupils | Pupils in key stage classes of 31 or more |
| 1997 | 20 | 648 |
| 1998 | 18 | 577 |
| 1999 | 9 | 285 |
| 2000 | 4 | 125 |
| 2001(7) | 0 | 0 |
(7) Provisional
Note:
Classes taught by one teacher
The Government pledged to limit infant classes to 30. We have already delivered that pledge early for the vast majority of infants, including in the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency. This has been achieved with the help of substantial funding made available under the class size initiative--allocations to Shropshire LEA alone amount to some £3.5 million.
Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the capital projects and their value at Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology since 1 May 1997; and if he will make a statement. [160506]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 9 May 2001]: The college has had two capital projects: the refurbishment of a building to provide a new performing arts centre by relocating the catering outlet at a cost of £468,000; and various accessibility works including a kitchen and toilet suitable for people who have disabilities, a new entrance and access ramps at a total cost of £64,999.
The Government have made available capital funding of £140 million in this financial year for the further education sector and a further £164 million and £256 million for the sector over the next two financial years respectively.
Individual Learning Accounts
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures have been introduced to promote individual learning accounts in the workplace. [160305]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 8 May 2001]: Everyone aged 19 or over is entitled to open an individual learning account (ILA), including those in the workplace, provided their choice of learning is not graduate or post-graduate level and is not sports or leisure related.
Our approach has been to work with and through influential employer bodies such as the TUC, Small Business Service (SBS), the national training organisation (NTO) network and Campaign for Learning in promoting ILAs to employees.
A number of innovative approaches have been developed. These include the small firm learning account (SFLA), a pilot scheme offering additional funding to employees in small businesses. There are also more than 40 union learning fund (ULF) projects run by trade unions, which involve the promotion of ILAs, and their use, as tools for engaging people in the workplace.
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Reconditioned Computers
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people on low incomes have (a) bought and (b) leased a reconditioned computer under the scheme announced in March 2000. [160216]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 3 May 2001]: No new schemes were specifically announced in March 2000, but the Department is running a number of relevant schemes, such as computers within reach, wired-up communities and other small-scale pilots. So far, 6,000 computers have been made available in the pilot areas in which the schemes are taking place. Contractors currently have lists totalling 19,000 clients, who have already been assessed for their eligibility for the schemes and who will receive their computers over the next few months.
There are also plans to allocate further PCs in addition to the number indicated above and we are currently reviewing the approach to distributing recycled computers in the light of experience so far of these schemes.
Refrigerants
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which London headquarters premises owned or leased by his Department use (a) chlorofluorocarbons and (b) hydrochlorofluorocarbons for refrigeration and other relevant energy needs. [160019]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 1 May 2001]: The information is as follows:
- (a) Chlorofluorocarbons are no longer used by the Department; and
- (b) Some hydrochlorofluorocarbons are still in use for refrigeration and air conditioning at both of the Department's London buildings.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what his Department's policy is regarding the purchase of (a) hydrocarbons and (b) other environmentally benign refrigerants to meet the refrigeration and other relevant energy needs of buildings and premises owned and leased by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [160017]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 1 May 2001]: It is the Department's policy to use environmentally preferable refrigerants wherever practicable, and to continue to explore other environmentally benign alternatives.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to what extent his Department's headquarters buildings use hydrofluorocarbons for (a) refrigeration and (b) air conditioning; what amounts of
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hydrofluorocarbons have been purchased in each year since 1995; and what plans he has to phase out the (i) purchase and (ii) use of hydrofluorocarbons. [160011]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 1 May 2001]: My Department's headquarters buildings use hydrofluorocarbons in (a) kitchen and tea point refrigerators and (b) air conditioning or air cooling systems at three buildings. Information on the amounts of hydrofluorocarbons purchased since 1995 is not collected in the form requested. It is the Department's policy to avoid the purchase and use of hydrofluorocarbons in favour of environmentally preferable substitutes wherever possible.
Music Standards Fund
Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what the average amount of money allocated to each pupil from the music standards fund is in the current year; [159189]
- (2) how much money per pupil was allocated to each unitary authority in Berkshire from the music standards fund in 2001-02; [159190]
(3) what formula was used to determine the allocation to local education authorities from the music standards fund for 2001-02. [159188]
Jacqui Smith: Until last year, the music standards fund was based on a system that allowed LEAs to bid for funding. From this year, LEAs will be allocated funding on a formula based on a free school meals deprivation factor. We expect £10 million of the Government's contribution to be matched equally by LEAs. The matched funding was frozen at 2000-01 levels so that no LEA should pay more in matched funding, and no LEA would receive less grant for music than in 2000-01.
The Government's grant of £50 million is broken down in two ways; £25 million was allocated based on the number of schools (primary, secondary, special and PRU) in each LEA, ie the £25 million was divided by the total number of schools in all the LEAs and distributed to each LEA pro rata. The remaining £25 million was allocated according to the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils in those schools multiplied by the mean free school meals FSM percentage for each LEA.
Based on this formula, if the allocation to an LEA is lower than previously, we would protect the allocation based on last year's figures. In the case of Berkshire, all the unitary authorities received protected funding, as their allocations calculated by need would have been lower than their previous bids.
The overall amount per full-time equivalent (FTE) pupil in England is £7.86. The table sets out the music standards fund allocations and the amount per FTE for the Berkshire unitary authorities:
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| LEA | FTE of pupils in all maintained schools | DfEE grant (£000) | LEA matched funding (£000) | Programme total (£000) | Programme total | Amount per FTE pupil (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 867 Bracknell Forest | 15,081 | 111.8 | 25.0 | 136.8 | 136,760 | 9.07 |
| 868 Windsor and Maidenhead | 18,631 | 178.0 | 0.0 | 178.0 | 178,000 | 9.55 |
| 869 Newbury (West Berkshire) | 23,736 | 201.1 | 6.1 | 207.1 | 207,100 | 8.73 |
| 870 Reading | 16,854 | 81.0 | 0.0 | 81.0 | 81,000 | 4.81 |
| 871 Slough | 18,546.5 | 129.0 | 92.0 | 221.0 | 221,000 | 11.92 |
| 872 Wokingham | 23,526 | 190.0 | 0.0 | 190.0 | 190,000 | 8.08 |
| England | 7,558,954.5 | 59,379 | -- | -- | 59,379,397 | 7.86 |
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