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Financial Literacy
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if there are plans to require (a) further education colleges and (b) schools to include financial literacy courses in their curricula. [38791]
John Healey: There are no plans for financial literacy activity to be a mandatory part of further education provision. But we have developed and tested financial literacy learning materials and guidance for tutors and these will be available to further education colleges when they are launched later this year.
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Personal finance education is already covered in the national curriculum as part of the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) framework. The framework has been in place since September 2000 for pupils aged five to 16 and was introduced to support the personal and social development of young people, including the development of financial capability, in today's complex and changing world.
Guidance for teachers, "Financial Capability through Personal Financial Education", was published in April 2000.
Rapid Response Funding
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many bids there have been; what sums have been allocated; what the budget is for Rapid Response funding in 2001–02; and if she will make a statement. [39421]
John Healey: To date in 2001–02, 79 bids for Rapid Response funding have been approved providing a total of £5.1 million of additional support for people involved in large-scale redundancies. The following table sets out the sums allocated for each bid. The budget for the Rapid Response Fund in 2001–02 is £7 million. From April 2002, the administration of the Rapid Response Fund will transfer to Jobcentre Plus. I am making this change so that the fund can be run alongside the Job Transition Service. This should result in an effective and co-ordinated response to redundancies which will be in the interests of both employers and individuals.
Note:
The amounts represent RRF funding approved for 2001–02. Many of the projects will continue in 2002–03. Additional funds for these bids have already been secured but are not shown in the table.
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EMTA Labour Market Survey
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the proportion of engineering and manufacturing establishments examined in the 1999 EMTA labour market survey which reported a shortage of technical engineering skills. [39709]
John Healey [holding answer 4 March 2002]: per cent. of engineering and manufacturing establishments examined in the 1999 EMTA labour market survey reported a technical engineering skills gap. This figure is based on responses from 591 of the 2000 establishments surveyed.
School Playing Fields
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are used in determining an application for disposal of school playing fields, as to whether playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school and other schools in the area will be met. [40299]
John Healey: Applications to the Secretary of State to dispose of school playing fields are assessed against three main criteria. These are:
- (i) schools' needs: that playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school making the disposal, and at other schools in the local area, will be met;
- (ii) community needs: that community use of school playing fields is taken into account, with alternative facilities made available if necessary; and
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- (iii) finance: that any sale proceeds are re-invested to provide new or improved sports facilities at schools, or are used otherwise to help raise standards by providing better educational facilities.
The criteria are set out in the Department's Guidance 0580/2001: "The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for City Academies". The criteria enable the Secretary of State to take into account the team game playing field provision at other local schools. This is to ensure that where there are surplus fields at one school, other local schools are given the opportunity to use those surplus fields. As part of the schools' needs criterion, applicants are asked to say what impact the proposed disposal will have on the curriculum, and to demonstrate clearly how the curriculum will continue to be met if consent is given.
The School Playing Fields Advisory Panel provides advice on the extent to which applications meet the published criteria.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answers of 25 February 2002, Official Report, columns 730–34W and 27 February 2002, Official Report, column 1298w, what the proceeds of sale were for each playing field development application approved by the Secretary of State since 1998; and what (a) sports and (b) education facilities those proceeds were used to finance. [40382]
John Healey: The information requested in respect of the proceeds arising from the sale of school sports pitches is shown in the table.
Notes:
1. 'Sports pitch' means areas of open grassed land which are equal to, or larger than, the Football Association's recommended area for games played by under-10s, that is 2,000m
(4) , and which have a configuration making them suitable for sports pitches (whether they are so laid out or not).
2. The table excludes applications withdrawn by the applicant and applications where schools would retain the same, or a better, level of access to the same sports pitch or to an equivalent sports pitch.
3. The table includes applications in respect of foundation and voluntary schools considered under Schedule 22 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 since 1 September 1999.
4. Prior to July 2001, local authorities were not required to specify what sports or education facilities were to be financed from proceeds of sale. It was sufficient for them to give an undertaking that any proceeds of sale would be allocated to their schools' capital programme. A requirement to provide details of the sports or education projects to be funded from sale proceeds was introduced by the revised guidance published in July 2001.
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Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in respect of each application for disposal of a school sports pitch since July 2001, if the application was supported (a) by the representative of (i) the National Playing Fields Association, (ii) the Central Council of Physical Recreation, (iii) Learning Through Landscapes, (iv) the National Association of Head Teachers and
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(v) the Local Government Association on the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel and (b) by the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel as a whole. [40475]
John Healey [holding answer 5 March 2002]: The advice of the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel is presented as the collective view of the Panel. Of the applications to dispose of school sports pitches received
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by the Department since 16 July 2001, the Panel has expressed collective support for the eight applications that have been approved.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations her Department has received from the National Playing Fields Association relating to the sale of school playing fields. [40476]
John Healey [holding answer 5 March 2002]: The Department has not received any recent representations from the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) relating to the sale of school playing fields. The NPFA is, however, a member of the School Playing Fields Advisory Panel which advises the Department on the extent to which individual applications to dispose of school playing fields comply with the published criteria.
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