HC Deb 03 November 1999 vol 337 cc201-2W
Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his letter of 27 October to the hon. Member for Hertsmere on infant class sizes, if the £620 million to which the letter refers has previously been announced. [96769]

Ms Estelle Morris

Yes. The money was announced to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in his oral statement of 15 July 1998,Official Report, columns 412-25. In his letter of 27 October, my right hon. Friend sought to remind the hon. Member that Local Education Authorities were being provided with the resources to meet the Government's pledge to reduce the size of infant classes to 30 or below.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his letter of 27 October to the hon. Member for Hertsmere, if he will provide a breakdown of classes taught by one teacher(a) in primary school classes other than infant classes and (b) in secondary schools in each local authority on the same basis as in his letter. [96768]

Ms Estelle Morris

The requested data were not collected in September 1999. National level data for January 1999 were published in the Statistical First Release SFR 2/1999 'Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England: January 1999 (provisional)'. New data will be collected in January 2000.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his letter to the hon. Member for Hertsmere of 27 October on infant class sizes, if he will publish the figures for infant class sizes for each local authority so as to include the number of pupils entering in the Autumn term under staggered entry. [96767]

Ms Estelle Morris

We have estimated nationally that the staggered intake will lead to an extra 6,000 pupils in classes of over 30 pupils, over and above those already reflected in the 1999 September Class Size Count. This figure has been included in the 181,000 total which was published on 27 October.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his letter of 27 October to the hon. Member for Hertsmere on infant class sizes, how many teachers were employed in maintained schools in each of the last five years; and how many he estimates will be employed in each of the next five years. [96770]

Ms Estelle Morris

The following shows teacher numbers (full-time equivalents) in maintained schools in England:

  • January 1995: 408,964
  • January 1996: 409,022
  • January 1997: 409,326
  • January 1998: 407,065
  • January 1999: 411,293.

Estimates of the number of teachers that will be employed in future years are not available. Figures to 1998 inclusive reflect the spending decisions of the previous administration.

Ms Perham

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of infant-age pupils in the London Borough of Redbridge were in classes of over 30 in each of the years 1990 to 1999. [96892]

Ms Estelle Morris

The available information is shown in the following table.

Percentage of Key Stage 1 pupils in classes of size 31 or more in Redbridge LEA
Date Percentage of pupils
September 1999 11.0
January 1999 25.2
January 1998 28.8
January 1997 32.5
January 1996 48.5

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his letter of 27 October to the hon. Member for Hertsmere on infant class sizes, how many pupils in Key Stage 2 in primary schools were in classes of(a) over 36 pupils and (b) over 40 pupils in (i) September 1998 and (ii) September 1999. [96915]

Ms Estelle Morris

The information available is shown in the following table.

Classes as taught: pupils in classes taught by one teacher January each year
Key Stage 2
1999 1998
Classes of size: over 36 pupils
Number of pupils 38,960 40,440
Percentage of pupils 1.8 1.9
Classes of size: over 40 pupils
Number of pupils 1,690 2,390
Percentage of pupils 0.08 0.11

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