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3 May 2007 : Column 1868W—continued
Secondary Schools
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes have been made to the statistical basis for recording absences from secondary schools. [129641]
Jim Knight [holding answer 23 March 2007]: The absence data collection from secondary schools has changed from being an annual school level collection to a termly pupil level collection.
Statisticians within the Department believe that the collection of pupil level data will improve data quality and enhance the analysis we are able to conduct.
This new collection is the first opportunity to report nationally on the relationship between absence and pupil characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, special educational needs—and to highlight the concentrations of persistent absentees missing a fifth or more of lessons.
Social Workers
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many social workers in England are registered with the General Social Care Council. [118971]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
On 1 May 2007 there were 76,894 social workers registered in England with the General Social Care Council.
Special Educational Needs
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many statements of individual children’s special needs were compiled by local education authorities in 2006; how many recommended funding towards education at a special needs school; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the statement assessment system. [134871]
Mr. Dhanda: 22,600 new statements were issued for children with special educational needs in 2006.
Statements set out details of children’s special educational needs, the provision to meet those needs and the school the child should attend. Once a statement is finalised local authorities are under a duty to arrange the specified provision. Of the new statements issued in 2006, 5,330 were for children placed in special schools. 4,870 children were placed in maintained special schools (including foundation schools); 110 were placed in non-maintained special schools; and 360 were placed in independent special schools. (Figures are taken from the SEN 2 Survey 2007 and are provisional.)
The Department’s team of SEN advisers following visits to all 150 local authorities, report proactive dialogue with parents on statutory assessment matters. Excluding cases where it was impractical to comply with timescales, 95 per cent. of draft statements were produced in the 18 week statutory timescale in 2006.
The outcomes achieved by vulnerable groups of learners, including many children with SEN, are improving, for example, the proportion of children with SEN (with and without statements) achieving 5 A* to C grades at GCSE continues to rise.
Ofsted’s survey “Inclusion: does it matter where pupils are taught?” (July 2006) also reported significant improvements in SEN provision since the publication of their previous survey in 2004.
Teaching Methods
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) science and (d) all lessons (excluding PE lessons) inspected by Ofsted were recorded as (i) setted and (ii) banded in years (A) 7, (B) 8, (C) 9, (D) 10, (E) 11 and (F) overall in each year since 2002. [134179]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 27 April 2007:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.
You asked what proportion of (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) science and (d) all lessons (excluding PE lessons) inspected by Ofsted were recorded as (i) setted and (ii) banded in years (A) 7, (B) 8, (C) 9, (D) 10, (E) 11 and (F) overall in each year.
The tables attached show the percentage of lessons which were setted by ability, seen by inspectors during the academic years 1996/97 to 2002/03. Prior to 1996/97 inspectors were not required to record information about grouping and from 2002/03 records do not distinguish between setting and banding. Please note that the percentages do not add up to 100% as the data here do not include other categories that are counted. For example, groups formed by age and mixed ability have not been accounted for.
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.
Home Department
Antisocial Behaviour
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the funding given to participating local authorities will be (a) ring fenced and (b) via reimbursement for specific expenditure, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 February 2007, Official Report, column 1351W, on anti-social behaviour. [128664]
Mr. Dhanda: I have been asked to reply.
This question refers to the Department for Education and Skills grant of up to £125,000, that can be accessed by 40 Respect areas and seven London boroughs. The purpose of the grant is to help improve and strengthen the delivery of parenting support in those areas, especially around the prevention and tackling of antisocial behaviour. The funding to these local authorities is non ring-fenced.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will seek legal advice on the compatibility of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device with (a) Article 3 and (b) Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights; and if he will make a statement; [134369]
(2) if he will require police forces to notify him of their purchase of ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent devices; [134370]
(3) if he will issue guidelines to police forces on the use of the ultrasonic antisocial behaviour deterrent device Mosquito. [134368]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Office encourages local agencies to consider the full range of innovations, schemes and practices intended to reduce crime, the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour. It is for local agencies like the police and local authorities to decide on the most appropriate interventions to tackle antisocial behaviour based on their knowledge of what works best locally. We do encourage agencies to adopt a tiered approach with a blend of measures to provide a proportionate response. The Home Office does not promote or recommend any particular commercial product or venture above this, and as such has not sought legal advice on this device.
The Home Office has not produced guidance for police and local authorities on the use of the mosquito device, and has no plans to require the police to notify the Secretary of State if and when such a device is purchased.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances criminal antisocial behaviour orders are issued; in what ways they are different from antisocial behavioural orders; and what assessment he has made of the impact of each type of order on changing behaviour in young people. [135070]
Mr. McNulty: Antisocial behaviour orders on conviction were introduced by the Police Reform Act 2002 to allow the courts to deal with the antisocial behaviour of a convicted individual in an effective and timely manner by removing the need for a separate application to be made on complaint to the magistrates court. The order is in addition to the criminal sentence and is considered separately from the criminal part of the proceedings.
An order on conviction has the same effect as an antisocial behaviour order and lasts a minimum of two years. Breach of the terms of the order is a criminal offence, whether the order was obtained on conviction or by way of a stand alone application.
The effectiveness of the Government’s antisocial behaviour policies has been assessed in two key independent reports published last year, by the National Audit Office and by the Youth Justice Board. Both confirmed that our twin track approach of support and enforcement is effective in protecting communities from antisocial behaviour. This is bringing results—nationally, the percentage of people who perceive high levels of antisocial behaviour has fallen from 21 per cent. in 2002-03 to 17 per cent. in 2005-06.
We are due to commission an evaluation of various interventions (including ASBOs) designed to tackle antisocial behaviour. This proposed research is likely to explore what impact these interventions can have on tackling antisocial behaviour problems.
Arrests
Mr. Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests have been made and (b) charges have been brought by the police since 1997; and how many convictions arose from such charges, broken down by (i) category of offence and (ii) police authority. [128261]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 19 March 2007]: Information is not collected centrally on how cases progress from arrest to prosecution or otherwise. Data collected by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) on arrests are collected separately from data on prosecutions and their outcome. Data on numbers charged are not collected by either OCJR or the Home Office.
The available data by notifiable offence group are given in tables A1 to A10 for arrests and B1 to B9 for convictions respectively. Arrests data for years prior to 1999-2000 are not available while the data for 2005-06 on both arrests and convictions will be available later this year.
Care should be taken in interpreting the tables not least because the main offence for which a person is arrested may be different from the one which resulted in a conviction. Also people arrested within a given year will not necessarily have been convicted in the same year.
| Table A1: Number of persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) within the offence group “violence against the person” by pol ice force area, 1999-20 00 to 2004-05 | ||||||
| Number | ||||||
| Police force area | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 |
| n/a = not available (1) Revised since initial publication with HOSB. (2) Revised since publication of annual HOSB. DATA as issued in HO S95 publication “Statistics on Race & cjs, 2005”. (3) Excludes divisions on NSPIS Custody (Rayleigh, Southend and partly Basildon). (4) Covers a period of 46 weeks only—six weeks data were lost due to IT problems within the October/December quarter 2001. (5) Estimate. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used. | ||||||
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