§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many communications were sent by his Department to(a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) local education authorities in each month of 1998 for which details are available; and if he will list them specifying the subjects they covered. [63961]
§ Mr. Charles Clarke[holding answer 16 December 1998]: The Department sent 70 communications to primary schools and 73 communications to secondary schools in 1998. Most items were for information only. Since June 1998, schools have received material in regular batches which clearly indicate the priority of items. From 1 December, batches contain only: guidance on legal changes, curriculum development material on key strategies such as literacy and numeracy, data collection and 2-page summaries of documents on key policy issues.
All communications to schools are also copied to the local education authority—in some cases there is action in these for both school and local education authority. In addition, local education authorities received 179 communications that were not sent also to schools. A list has been placed in the Library.