HC Deb 10 April 2002 vol 383 cc156-9W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what new initiatives her Department has taken in 2001–02 to assist in achieving its Public Service Agreement targets. [47201]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

Information will be available in the departmental annual report, which is due to be published in May. This details progress against our PSA targets and reports on key initiatives undertaken by the Department in the last financial year.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target to increase the proportion of those aged 16 years who achieve one or more GCSEs at grade C, or equivalent, to 95 per cent. by 2002 will be met. [47891]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

The relevant national learning target for 16-year-olds is that 95 per cent. of 16-year-olds should achieve one or more GCSE or equivalent by 2002. The target does not specify that the grade should be C or above. In 2001, 94.5 per cent. of pupils achieved this target compared with 94.4 per cent. in 2000. Although the target is challenging we do not believe it is unattainable.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target to increase the proportion of those aged 16 years who achieve five or more GCSEs at grade A*-C to 50 per cent. by 2002 will be met. [47892]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

I am pleased to report that in 2001 exactly 50.0 per cent. achieved at least 5 A*-C grades at GCSE or the GNVQ equivalent compared with 49.2 per cent. in 2000. We were delighted that the target was achieved a year early.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the target of successful establishment of a system of inspection of the new Connexions strategy and framework for inspection by March has been met. [47898]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

This is a matter for the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and I have asked HM Chief Inspector for Schools, Mike Tomlinson, to write to the hon. Gentleman and to place a copy of his letter in the Library.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target on school truancies will be met by 2002. [47278]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

Information about progress on PSA targets will be published in the Department's 2002 Departmental Report, which should be published in May.

Analysis of last year's data shows that the level unauthorised absence in primary schools has decreased between 1998–99 and 2000–01 in 44 LEAs and remained steady in a further 71 LEAs. The level of unauthorised absence in secondary schools has decreased in 60 LEAs and remained steady in a further 31 LEAs.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the target of successful establishment of a system of joint inspections of further education institutions falling into the remit of Ofsted by March has been achieved. [47897]

Margaret Hodge

Yes. The Learning and Skills Act 2000 required there to be a common set of principles for the inspection of post-16 non-higher education and training. The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (the ALI) jointly published these principles in the Common Inspection Framework in February 2001. Since April 2001, Ofsted have directed the programme of joint inspections of further education institutions against this Common Inspection Framework.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target of an increase in the proportion of those aged 19 years who have achieved national vocational qualification level 2 or equivalent to 85 per cent. by 2002 will be met. [47893]

Mr. Timms

While we have made good progress in increasing the achievement of level 2 by 19-year-olds, it is apparent on current trends that the 2002 target will not be reached. We are working closely with the Learning and Skills Council to ensure maximum progress is being made by implementing specific local and innovative approaches to improving level 2 attainment. A number of measures proposed by the Government in our recently published Green Paper "14 to 19—Extending Opportunities; Raising Standards" will contribute to higher attainment at age 19 subsequently.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the target of 93 per cent. of inspection reports reviewed meeting HM Chief Inspector's standard by March will be achieved. [47895]

Mr. Timms

This is a matter for HM Chief Inspector of Schools. I have therefore asked Mike Tomlinson to write to the hon. Member and to place a copy of his letter in the Library.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target to increase the proportion of those aged 11 meeting the numeracy standard for that age from 62 per cent. to 75 per cent. by 2002 will be met. [47277]

Mr. Timms

In last year's Key Stage 2 mathematics tests 71 per cent. of pupils achieved the expected standard for their age. This represents a 10 per cent. points increase since 1997. The National Numeracy Strategy continues to raise standards in primary schools and we remain committed to achieving our 2002 target of 75 per cent. of 11-year-olds achieving the expected standard.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target to increase provision of nursery places for three-years-olds from 34 per cent. to 66 per cent. by 2002 will be met. [47275]

Margaret Hodge

On 27 February 2002, my noble Friend the Minister for Education and Skills in the Lords announced that two-thirds of all three-year-olds in England now have access to a free, part-time, early education place. The Government are committed to increasing this to all three-year-olds by September 2004.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the target to complete benchmarking work for schools by December will be met. [47894]

Mr. Timms

The target will be met. All schools will be able to enter their expenditure data on the Audit Commission benchmarking website and compare them with a range of similar schools. All schools have been given full details of the Consistent Financial Reporting framework so that they can ensure a standard classification of expenditure.

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the PSA target to increase the proportion of those aged 11 meeting the literacy standard for that age from 63 per cent. to 80 per cent. by 2002 will be met. [47276]

Mr. Timms

In last year's Key Stage 2 English tests 75 per cent. of pupils achieved the expected standard for their age. This represents a 12 per cent. increase since 1997. The National Literacy Strategy continues to raise standards in primary schools and we remain committed to achieving our 2002 target of 80 per cent. of 11-year-olds achieving the expected standard.