HC Deb 18 January 1993 vol 217 cc28-9W
Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the provision that local education authorities make for their most difficult pupils; and how many local education authorities have been studied in this regard.

Mr. Forth

As part of its detailed enquiry into discipline in schools, the Elton committee asked LEAs about their provision for pupils whose behaviour teachers found most difficult to manage. Its report commented on both the nature and quality of the provision made. For the future inspecting teams appointed under the Schools Act 1992 will pay particular attention to schools' arrangements for securing good discipline and behaviour.

Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local education authorities in promoting better co-ordination between various local agencies dealing with pupils with behaviour or attendance problems and their families.

Mr. Forth

The importance of effective co-ordination with other agencies is stressed in much of the guidance produced by the Department of Health on the Children Act 1989 and in the guide to the Act for the education service which the Department of Education commissioned from the Open university. Where school attendance is concerned, the education welfare service has a long history of close collaboration with social services and other agencies. The importance of these contacts was stressed in the Department's circular 2/86 "School Attendance and Education Welfare Services".

Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many cases of bullying have been reported in each local education authority in the primary, secondary and special education sectors in each of the last three years; and what percentage of those cases were racially motivated.

Mr. Forth

This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what research his Department has sponsored in the last two years on the implications for pupil behaviour of arranging pupils in groups for teaching purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Forth

No such research has been commissioned in the last two years. The behavioural implications of grouping pupils for teaching purposes were however discussed in Her Majesty's inspectorate's 1987 publication "Good Behaviour and Discipline in Schools" and in "Discipline in Schools", the report of the committee of inquiry into discipline in schools chaired by Lord Elton, published in 1989.

Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money under the grants for education support and training scheme has been allocated since 1990–91 for programmes dealing with the management of pupil behaviour; and what percentage of overall funding this is.

Mr. Forth

Some £7.6 million of expenditure has been supported over the three years from 1990–91 to improve support services for the most difficult pupils through approved projects in 24 local education authorities (LEAs). A further £3.5 million was supported over the two years from 1990–91 to help improve teachers' practical skills in managing pupil behaviour. Together, these grants supported £4.2 million in 1990–91 (1.2 per cent. of the overall education support grants and LEA training grants programmes in that year); £4.2 million in 1991–92 (1.2 per cent. of the overall grants for education support and training—GEST—programme); and are supporting £2.7 million in 1992–93 (0.7 per cent. of the overall GEST programme).