§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of education standards since May 1997 for the boroughs of(a) Middlesbrough, (b) Redcar and Cleveland, (c) Hartlepool and (d) Stockton. [74012]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisStatistics showing the standards of attainment by pupils in each local authority area are published in annual performance tables. A summary of recent results in the named areas are set out in the following tables. A sample of schools in each authority is inspected annually by OFSTED and reports published which include judgments about standards of attainment and the quality of education. A programme of inspections of all local education authorities is now being carried out by OFSTED, but none of the named authorities has yet been inspected. All authorities have just submitted for approval an Education Development Plan which includes a three-year programme for securing school improvement, and targets including those for pupil performance at ages 11 and 16 which will be monitored in future years.
and enterprise councils. Government Offices are currently working with all the organisations who have expressed an interest, to establish boundaries and bring together organisations in strategic partnerships which meet the needs of the localities. Therefore, numbers of partnerships and information about lead organisations are not available at this stage.