§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils were expelled or suspended from school in each of the London education authorities during the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [148898]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe latest available data on permanent exclusions are shown in the following table. Data on permanent exclusions in the school year 1999–2000 will be collected in January 2001 and published in May 2001 (provisional date). Further information on permanent exclusions was published in the Statistical Bulletin "Permanent Exclusions from Maintained Schools in England" on 29 November 2000, copies of which are available from the Library, or alternatively can be accessed from the Department for Education and Employment statistical website www.dfee.gov.uk/statistics.
We are providing £ 174 million this year to help schools and LEAs tackle exclusion—a third more than in 1999–2000 and 10 times more than in 1996–97. This is helping to pay for more than 1,000 on-site Learning Support Units which take disruptive pupils out of the classroom quickly, improve their behaviour and reduce the need for exclusion. Where an exclusion is necessary, provision for excluded pupils is being greatly increased. There are now 1,000 more places and 250 more teachers in Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) than in 1997. The quality of PRUs is improving and by 2002 all local education authorities will be required to provide a full timetable for excluded pupils.
587W
Number of permanent exclusions Maintained primary1 Maintained secondary1 Maintained special2 Total Greenwich 17 59 3 79 Harrow 8 33 1 42 Havering 2 39 0 41 Hillingdon 4 59 3 66 Hounslow 4 62 1 67 Kingston upon Thames 1 24 0 25 Merton 5 19 0 24 Redbridge 7 33 2 42 Richmond upon Thames 1 43 1 45 Sutton 8 29 2 39 Waltham Forest 8 74 4 86 1 Includes middle schools as deemed 1 Includes Maintained and Non-Maintained Special Schools