HC Deb 26 January 1998 vol 305 cc88-9W
Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to expand the literacy hour scheme(a) nationally and (b) in Leicestershire. [23565]

Mr. Byers

We expect the norm for all primary schools to be the implementation of a daily literacy hour from this September, as part of the strategy to meet our national literacy target for 2002.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many literacy schools(a) were in operation in summer 1997 and (b) are planned to be in operation in summer 1998 (i) nationally, (ii) in the East Midlands and (iii) in Leicestershire. [23563]

Mr. Byers

A pilot of 50 Summer Literacy Schools supporting 1,500 pupils was in operation last year. The scheme will be expanded in 1998 to cover 500 schools and 16,000 pupils nationally. Decisions have not yet been taken on where Summer Literacy Schools will be run this year, but we expect there to be a broad geographical spread.

Mr. Vaz

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools(a) in the East Midlands, (b) in Leicestershire and (c) nationally currently participate in the literacy hour scheme. [23564]

Mr. Byers

Around 500 schools in 14 LEAs are in the National Literacy Project. Although none of the LEAs in the East Midlands is part of the project, we know some schools in that region are trailing the project's literacy hour.