§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many staff who have worked as professional statisticians in his Department and its predecessors have left on early retirement in each of the past 10 years. [81186]
§ Mr. MudieThe number of "professional statisticians" who have left on early retirement in the last 10 years is five, including one medical retirement.
Year Number 1994 2 1996 2 1997 1 "Professional statisticians" have been defined as those staff who were recruited as fast streamers to the Statistician Group via CSSB.
§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many staff by grade are employed as professional statisticians in his Department; how many of these staff have been accepted
714WSection 89 of the 1998 Act and its accompanying regulations place a new requirement on all admission authorities in an area to determine their admission arrangements in consultation with each other, taking account of local circumstances. Where an admission authority disagrees with another's proposed admission arrangements, it can object to the Adjudicator. We believe that school admissions arrangements are best determined at local level. Havering local education authority is responsible for consulting on and determining the arrangements for all county schools. The 1998 Act also requires my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to issue a code of practice on admissions. The School Admission Code of Practice, which came into force on 1 April 1999, offers guidance on all aspects of the school admissions process, including consultation.
Under the 1998 Act and the Code, it is for admission authorities to decide on their admission arrangements—including whether to operate catchment areas and what those areas should be—subject to consultation, and to the results of any complaint to the Adjudicator.