§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to ensure(a) parity of standards and (b) equality of opportunity between Service Children's Education and local authority provision in the UK. [88361]
§ Mr.Spellar[holding answer 28 June 1999]: Service Children's Education was established as a Defence Agency specifically to provide an education service to the children of Service and MOD personnel serving overseas, that conforms, as far as possible, to the scope and standards required by the Education Acts in England and Wales. Key Targets are set annually and those for 1999 were announced in the House on 9 June 1999, Official Report, column 329. Performance against Key Targets is reported in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts which are laid before the House each year prior to the summer recess. To date, the Agency's performance has been slightly ahead of the UK LEA average.
The Agency's ownership is delegated by the Secretary of State for Defence to the Adjutant General, who is assisted in this task by an Owner's Advisory Board, the membership of which includes senior representatives from the DfEE, Ofsted, and Wiltshire LEA. All the Agency's teachers are UK qualified and all the Agency's schools are subject to regular inspections by Ofsted. The Agency is implementing all the Government's latest education initiatives, in particular the literacy and numeracy strategies, in its schools worldwide. It has also successfully introduced the provision of free nursery education for 4 year olds in 48 nursery and pre-school locations worldwide.
Parents have the right to express a preference in their choice of SCE school, although there is clearly less opportunity for choice in the more isolated locations. Although the Agency does try to meet Special Education Needs in its schools, it is not always possible to accommodate children with certain, more specialised needs especially in those areas lacking appropriate inter-agency support.
We have also taken action, through the Families Task Force, to ensure that local education authorities are sensitive to the position of Service children returning from abroad. There is now specific guidance on this point in the DfEE Code of Practice on Schools Admission Policy.