§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Newbury constituency, the effects on Newbury and west Berkshire of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154571]
§ Mr. Wills[holding answer 20 March 2001]: Outlined are details of the effects of a range of the Department's policies on the Newbury constituency and west Berkshire LEA.
Beacon Schools
There are three Beacon schools in west Berkshire:
Type Start John Rankin Infant 1 September 2000 Stockcross CE Junior and Infant 1 September 2000 Downs School Foundation Secondary 1 September 2000 Specialist Schools
There are six Specialist Schools in west Berkshire:
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School Specialism Start-September Trinity Arts 2001 Denefield Technology 1994 Kennet Technology 2000 Park House Sports 1998 Theale Green Community Arts 1997 Willink Language 1996
Infant class sizes-west Berkshire Revenue Capital 1998–99 0 0 1999–2000 196,000 984,226 2000–01 513,215 165,376 2001–02 464,419 0 The September 2000 figure shows that there are now only 31 (0.8 per cent.) pupils remaining in infant class sizes of 31 or more. The figure in January 1997 was 672 (16.4 per cent.).
Performance Indicators
Key Stage 2 rest Its-pupils achieving level 4 and above Percentage 2000 1999 1998 1997 English LEA 79 76 72 n/a England 75 71 65 63 Maths LEA 76 74 63 n/a England 72 69 59 62 Science LEA 87 85 77 n/a England 85 78 69 69
GCSE/GNVQ results Percentage 2000 1999 1998 1997 5+A*-C LEA average 56.0 56.8 54.5 n/a England average 49.2 47.9 46.3 45.1 5+/A*-G LEA average 93.8 95.0 94.8 n/a England average 88.9 88.5 87.5 86.4 No passes LEA average 3.8 3.4 3.0 n/a England average 5.6 6.0 6.6 7.7
A/AS level, Advanced GNVQ Percentage 2000 1999 1998 1997 Average points for 2 or more A/AS levels: LEA average 17.8 17.6 16.3 n/a England average 18.5 18.2 17.8 17.3 A/AS average per entry: LEA average 5.4 5.6 5.3 n/a England average 5.5 5.5 5.4 5.3 Average points score GNVQ: LEA average 11.0 10.0 9.5 n/a England average 10.1 9.9 9.6 n/a Pre-1998, west Berkshire was not a separate LEA, it was part of Berkshire LEA along with Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead. Reading, Slough and Wokingham.
Funding per pupil
In west Berkshire LEA, funding per pupil has increased by 340 in real terms between 1997–98 and 2000–01.
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Capital Funding £000 2001–02 2000–01 1999–2000 1998–99 1997–98 ACG 10 2,651 1,641 536 1,673 SCA — 1,657 2,212 5 231 NDS — 2,031 588 626 761 VA Grant 220 61 37 27 990 Seed — 126 — — — PPP — — — — — Formula Capital — 1,199 — — — NGFL — 558 260 307 — Science LABS 132 132 — — — SSLU 23 26 — — — Access at 85 per cent. 232 3 — — — Security 39 56 55 47 181 Class size — 766 189 — — Outside toilets — — — 89 — Energy efficiency — — — 34 — Assistance with AMP — — 25 — — Nursery provision — — — — — Further Education
Student numbers at all FEFC funded institutions where home postcode is in the local authority district of Newbury.
1996–97 to 1999–2000 16–18 Adult Full-time Part-time Full-time Part-time FEFC funded 1996–97 872 351 414 4,940 1997–98 790 437 333 5,554 1998–99 727 364 345 5,140 1999–2000 752 382 330 6,259 Non-FEFC funded 1996–97 48 210 93 506 1997–98 54 216 57 410 1998–99 40 166 65 415 1999–2000 48 295 125 3,943 Modern Apprenticeships
Since 2 May 1997, we know of 802 starts on Modern Apprenticeships in the Newbury and west Berkshire constituency (as at 31 December 2000). Broken down by financial year these are as follows:
Final Year Foundation Modern Apprenticeships1 Modern Advanced Apprenticeships2 Total 1997–98 0 131 131 1998–99 27 104 131 1999–2000 156 115 271 2000–013 148 121 269 Total 331 471 807 1 Foundation Modern Apprenticeships, formerly known as National Traineeships, were introduced nationally in September 1997. 2Advanced Modern Apprenticeships, formerly known as ModernApprenticeships, were introduced nationally in September 1995 3 To date Notes:
1. The Trainee Database System (TDS), from which these data are taken, is less complete than Management Information supplied to the Department by Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) (around 95 per cent.)
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3. TEC Management Information does not provide information at parliamentary constituency level.
Source:
WBTYP trainee database
New Deal for Young People
In the Newbury constituency, 172 young people have joined the New Deal to end December 2000. 93 have found jobs, 74 of which are sustained.
Labour Market Statistics
The working age employment rate in west Berkshire in autumn 2000 was 83.8 per cent., above the UK rate of 74.7 per cent. The rate in autumn 1997 was 79.9 per cent.
The claimant unemployment rate has fallen from 1.8 per cent. in February 1997 to 0.7 per cent. in February 2001 in the Newbury constituency.