§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have been placed in special measures in each of the last three years for which figures are available, broken down by local education authority. [17178]
§ Mr. TimmsThe table indicates the numbers of schools placed in special measures in the last three academic years 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01.
776W
LEA 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 London Inner London Camden 0 0 1 Greenwich 0 2 1 Hackney 1 1 1 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 1 0 Islington 1 4 0 Kensington and Chelsea 0 0 0 Lambeth 0 2 0 Lewisham 1 5 0 London, City of 0 0 0 Southwark 2 2 1 Tower Hamlets 5 3 0 Wandsworth 0 0 1 Westminster 0 0 0 Outer London Barking and Dagenham 1 1 0 Barnet 2 1 1 Bexley 0 1 1 Brent 1 3 0 Bromley 1 1 0 Croydon 0 0 0 Ealing 0 3 2 Enfield 1 1 2 Haringey 1 0 1 Havering 0 0 0 Harrow 0 1 0 Hillingdon 2 1 1 Hounslow 0 0 2 Kingston upon Thames 0 1 0 Merton 0 0 0 Newham 3 3 0 Redbridge 0 0 0 Richmond upon Thames 0 0 0 Sutton 0 0 1 Waltham Forest 2 3 1 East of England Bedfordshire 0 2 2 Cambridgeshire 3 0 2 Essex 9 11 5 Hertfordshire 1 3 4 Luton 2 1 1 Norfolk 5 7 2 Peterborough 0 1 2 Southend 1 0 1 Suffolk 3 1 1 Thurrock 0 3 0 South East Bracknell Forest 0 0 0 Brighton and Hove 2 2 0 Buckinghamshire 0 6 2 East Sussex 1 2 0 Hampshire 3 6 0 Isle of Wight 0 1 0 777W
LEA 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Kent 6 4 7 Medway 1 2 1 Milton Keynes 0 0 1 Oxfordshire 2 4 2 Portsmouth 3 0 0 Reading 1 3 0 Southampton 1 1 0 Surrey 1 3 3 West Berkshire 0 1 0 West Sussex 3 1 1 Windsor and Maidenhead 1 0 0 Wokingham 0 0 1 South West Bath and North East Somerset 0 1 0 Bournemouth 0 1 0 Bristol 2 2 2 Cornwall 1 1 2 Devon 3 2 1 Dorset 1 2 0 Gloucestershire 3 4 0 Isles of Scilly 0 0 1 North Somerset 1 1 1 Plymouth 0 0 0 Poole 0 1 0 Somerset 1 1 0 South Gloucestershire 2 1 0 Swindon 1 3 1 Torbay 1 0 0 Wiltshire 3 2 3 East Midlands Derby City 0 1 0 Derbyshire 4 4 2 Leicester City 5 1 1 Leicestershire 0 0 3 Lincolnshire 3 5 2 Northamptonshire 3 5 0 North East Lincolnshire 1 0 0 North Lincolnshire 0 0 0 Nottingham City 2 3 3 Nottinghamshire 4 2 1 Rutland 0 0 1 North East Darlington 0 0 0 Durham 0 0 1 Gateshead 1 1 0 Hartlepool 0 0 0 Middlesbrough 0 0 0 Newcastle upon Tyne 0 1 0 North Tyneside 0 0 0 Northumberland 0 0 0 Redcar and Cleveland 0 0 0 South Tyneside 1 1 1 Stockton-on-Tees 1 1 0 Sunderland 1 0 9 North West Blackburn with Darwen 3 1 0 Blackpool 0 2 0 Bolton 1 2 1 Bury 0 1 1 Cheshire 0 2 2 Cumbria 3 0 2 Halton 0 0 0 Knowsley 0 0 0 Lancashire 4 4 2 Liverpool 3 1 1 Manchester 3 6 2 Oldham 0 1 1 Rochdale 2 1 0 Salford 0 1 1 Sefton 0 1 0
LEA 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 St. Helens 2 0 0 Stockport 0 1 0 Tameside 1 2 0 Trafford 0 1 0 Warrington 2 1 1 Wigan 1 2 0 Wirral 1 0 0 West Midlands Birmingham 8 2 1 Coventry 2 1 0 Dudley 2 1 0 Herefordshire 1 1 0 Sandwell 2 3 1 Shropshire 0 0 0 Staffordshire 1 4 2 Stoke-on-Trent 1 2 1 Telford and Wrekin 1 0 0 Walsall 5 3 1 Warwickshire 4 4 0 Wolverhampton 2 3 3 Worcestershire 1 4 3 Yorks and Humber Barnsley 2 0 0 Bradford 0 0 0 Calderdale 2 1 1 Doncaster 0 0 0 East Riding 3 2 0 Kingston upon Hull 0 2 3 Kirklees 1 2 1 Leeds 3 2 0 North Yorkshire 0 1 0 Rotherham 0 1 0 Sheffield 4 4 1 Wakefield 3 1 2 York 0 0 0
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of schools placed in special measures have been closed by the local education authority in each of the last three years. [17179]
§ Mr. TimmsIn 1998–99 38 schools in special measures were closed, representing 8 per cent. of the total number of schools in special measures at the end of that year. In 1999–2000 the equivalent figures were 40 and 9 per cent., and in 2000–01 16 and 5 per cent.
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what guidance she gives to local education authorities about consultation on closure before(a) an action plan to help a school in special measures is drawn up and (b) the local education authority's plan of support is known; [17181]
(2) what role the local education authority plays in helping schools out of special measures; [17180]
(3) what guidance she gives to local education authorities on the amount of time an action plan for recovery for a school in special measures should be accessed before closure of a school is considered; [17182]
(4) if she recommends closure of a school in special measures before an inspection of progress on an action plan is made: [17196]
778W(5) what guidance she gives to local education authorities on the control of school budgets for schools in special measures; and if control of the budget is automatically vested in the local education authority. [17187]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Government are committed to continuing to reduce the number of schools found to require special measures year-on-year, and to ensuring that no school is allowed to remain in special measures for longer than two years.
Where a school is found to require special measures, the Department writes to the governing body and the local education authority, and where appropriate the relevant Diocesan authority, to offer guidance on the action required. The governing body, in consultation with the LEA, must draw up an action plan to address the key issues identified.
The LEA must also submit its own commentary and statement of action, which should include an assessment of the scope for the school to be closed. If an LEA concludes that the school should be closed, it must consult on the proposal in the normal way.
Under Section 19 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may at any time direct an LEA that a school subject to special measures should be closed. The Secretary of State must consult the LEA and the governing body, and if appropriate the Diocese, before giving such a direction. It may do so at any stage of the process.
Under Section 17 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, LEAs may suspend a governing body's right to a delegated budget where the school is found to require special measures.
The Department's Circular 6/99, "Schools Causing Concern", offers schools, LEAs and Diocesan authorities guidance on all these issues. A copy is in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what is the minimum(a) number of lessons, (b) number of teachers and (c) percentage of lessons to be deemed unsatisfactory for a school to be placed in special measures. [17183]
§ Mr. TimmsA school requires special measures when it is judged to be failing or likely to fail to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education. The criteria used in reaching this decision are a matter for HM Chief Inspector of Schools. I have therefore asked Mike Tomlinson to write to the hon. Gentleman, and to place a copy of his letter in the Library.
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what the average score in(a) England and (b) Essex County Council was for Key Stage 2 in (i) mathematics, (ii) science and (iii) English in the last three years for which figures are available; [17186]
(2) what the average score is for a school placed in special measures for key stage 2 in (a) mathematics, (b) science and (c) English in the last three years for which figures are available. [17184]
§ Mr. TimmsInformation on average scores at Key Stage 2 will not be available until the publication of the primary school performance tables next month. I shall 779W write to the hon. Gentleman with the information requested as soon as possible thereafter. However, we do not collate this information separately for schools placed in special measures.
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average length of time a school stays in special measures is. [17185]
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what guidance she issues to local education authorities on the retention of staff while a school is in special measures; [17189]
(2) what powers local education authorities have for the control of personnel issues where a school is placed in special measures. [17188]
Headcount of pupils in schools 1 in England January 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 Aged under 2 3,883 3,295 2,832 2,433 2,353 2 years old 50,520 52,355 49,417 46,420 45,605 3 years old 326,828 324,541 326,164 327,582 316,008 4 years old 593,262 600,166 615,016 614,141 626,985 5 years old 613,863 628,723 628,864 652,330 656,607 6 years old 629,072 629,471 652,865 657,275 650,485 7 years old 630,628 653,860 658,063 650,305 640,571 8 years old 654,553 658,754 651,415 641,342 649,377 9 years old 659,642 652,153 642,157 649,990 630,204 10 years old 653,452 643,546 650,710 630,884 616,153 11 years old 643,368 650,688 630,812 616,283 613,457 12 years old 651,947 631,726 617,418 613,980 591,230 13 years old 632,577 618,386 614,612 591,595 592,799 14 years old 618,397 614,564 591,640 592,154 587,290 15 years old 605,344 581,902 581,256 575,766 587,114 16 years old 212,121 211,535 207,127 210,403 210,035 17 years old 172,282 167,541 167,622 166,169 158,458 18 years old 19,254 19,573 19,492 18,593 17,272 19 years old 3,126 3,036 2,994 2,937 2,961 Total all ages 8,374,119 8,345,815 8,310,476 8,260,582 8,194,964 1 Includes maintained and independent schools