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7 Mar 2006 : Column 1412W—continued
Child Protection
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether there is an equivalent to List 99 for school bus drivers. [47462]
Ruth Kelly: Children travelling to school by bus may travel on public service buses alongside the general public; buses provided under contract by the local authority; or buses owned and operated by the local authority. Drivers of school buses may be self-employed, employed by private bus companies, or directly by local authorities. The Department for Education and Skills currently advises that employers should carry out Criminal Records Bureau checks on anyone working with children, including drivers of contracted school buses and those operated by local authorities. These checks will disclose whether or not a bus driver is included in List 99.
Under the proposed new vetting and barring scheme which implements the Bichard inquiry report, bus drivers who work within school premises during hours when children are present must be checked to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. Bus drivers who do not work within school premises, but who care for or have a supervisory role over children, must also be checked. Checks will not be required for bus drivers where a vehicle is for general public use.
City Academy (Middlesbrough)
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Unity City Academy in Middlesbrough is taking to raise standards; and if she will make a statement. [55045]
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Jacqui Smith: In December 2005, a number of experienced new governors and a new chief executive officer were appointed to strengthen the leadership and management of Unity City Academy. The new chief executive officer has completed a review of the academy and now has overall responsibility for implementing an action plan to raise standards of attainment. The Department is working closely with the academy to support it in raising standards and providing the best possible education for young people in the local area.
Class Sizes
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size is in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in (i) England, (ii) Staffordshire and (iii) Tamworth constituency. [51414]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size is in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Gateshead, East and Washington, West constituency. [54581]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Data on class sizes at national, local authority and parliamentary constituency level can also be found at the following link: Schools and Pupils in England: January 2005 (Final) in the additional information" sections 4, 6 and 7.
Communication Aids Project
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) whether she plans to continue to support funding for communication equipment under the Communication Aids Project for (a) children and (b) adults; and if she will make a statement; [56229]
(2) what recent representations she has received about continued funding for the Communication Aids Project; [56230]
(3) what recent research she has (a) initiated and (b) evaluated on the need for communication aids equipment for (i) children and (ii) adults. [56231]
Maria Eagle: Funding for the Communication Aids Project comes to an end in March 2006. This DfES-funded initiative for school-age children has been successful but we have always made it clear, through the referral process and otherwise, that CAP was there to supplement, not replace, provision made locally. With other pressures on funding arising from the Government's ambitious agenda for education, it has not been possible to extend the funding for CAP.
The Department has received a number of representations about funding for CAP, mainly approaches from hon. Members on behalf of constituents. These have been prompted either by the SCOPE Speak for Yourself" campaign or a circular letter from the Manager of the ACE Centre North, one of the centres working within CAP.
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The Department has not recently initiated or evaluated any research on children who may require communication aids. We have, however, published an independent evaluation of the Communication Aids Project, work undertaken by University College London in conjunction with the University of York. The report was published in October 2004 as DfES Research Report 580 and it confirmed that CAP had positive benefits for the children being assisted and those working with them.
Local service providers have a central role in meeting needs, including the needs of individuals with severely impaired communication. Where children are concerned, we would be looking to children's services, through children's trusts, to provide appropriate support and equipment to all disabled children. Adult needs would be met by local authorities and primary care trusts working together through their integrated community equipment services.
Questions relating to research on adult needs, and funding associated with same, would be for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. I understand there has been no recent research on adults needing communication aids. However, guidance on communication aids is available on the Department of Health's Care Service Improvement Partnership Integrating Community Equipment Services (ICES) website. Getting Started" is intended to support local commissioning and provision of appropriate services.
Content Advisory Board
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the recommendations of the Content Advisory Board; and if she will make a statement. [56009]
Phil Hope: On the whole I have been supportive of the recommendations, with the exception of the recommendation to review the 'BBC' jam learning service for five-16 year-olds. I feel that it is too soon to review the service, given the limited amount of material available, and the fact that it has only recently been launched.
A published version of the Content Advisory Board's report and my response is available in hard copy as well as online at the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) website and I will therefore not be making any further statement.
Correspondence
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will reply to the letter sent to her by the hon. Member for Brent East dated 21 November 2005, regarding Mr. M. A. Meerabux. [54694]
Jacqui Smith: I responded to the hon. Member's letter on 27 February. Mr. Meerabux received a response in November 2005.
Day Nurseries
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many day nurseries have (a) closed and (b) opened since 2003. [56790]
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Beverley Hughes: The number of full day care child care places opening and closing in England since 2003, drawn from Ofsted registration data is shown in the following table:
| Full day care places: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | Closing | Net growth | |
| April 2003 to March 2004 | 113,249 | 38,502 | 74,747 |
| April 2004 to March 2005 | 127,256 | 65,577 | 61,679 |
| April 2005 to December 2005 | 71,200 | 36,095 | 35,105 |
Deaf Children
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of deaf 11-year-olds achieved level 4 at Key Stage 2 in (a) reading, (b) writing and (c) mathematics in each year since 1996. [54830]
Maria Eagle: We cannot provide information relating specifically to deaf children. However, in 2004 information on type of Special Educational Need (SEN) was collected for the first time via the Pupil Level Annual School Census for those pupils at School Action Plus" and with statements of SEN. The type of SEN" indicator includes a category for those pupils with Hearing Impairment and information for the pupils who have Hearing Impairment listed as their primary SEN is provided in the following table. Other statemented and School Action Plus" children who may have a hearing impairment but for whom this is not listed as their primary SEN are not included in this table.
(35) Number of KS2 eligible pupils with a valid result.
(36) Including attempts and achievement in previous academic years.
Note:
Attainment data for 2004/05 are based on revised figures, for 2003/04 are based on final figures.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of deaf 15 year-olds achieved five or more GCSEs or equivalent at grades (a) A* to C and (b) A* to G in each year since 1996. [54831]
Jacqui Smith:
We cannot provide information relating specifically to deaf children. However, in 2004 information on type of special educational need (SEN) was collected for the first time via the pupil level annual school census for those pupils at school action plus and with statements of SEN. The type of SEN" indicator includes a category for those pupils with hearing impairment and information for the pupils who have hearing impairment listed as their primary SEN is
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provided in the following table. Other statemented and school action plus children who may have a hearing impairment but for whom this is not listed as their primary SEN are not included in this table.
(37) Number of pupils on roll aged 15 at the start of the academic year.
(38) Including attempts and achievement in previous academic years.
Note:
Figures for 2004/05 are revised, figures for 2003/04 are revised as this is what was used in the Statistical First Release.
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