§ John MannTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what letters of concern his Department has received from the Home Office on the issue of personal advisers on drugs education;[156026]
(2) what assessment he has made of the provision of drugs education in schools in 2004 following the abolition of the standards fund; [156027]
(3) what meetings on drugs education Ministers in his Department have held with ministerial colleagues from the Department of Health and the Home Department since September 2003; [156028]
(4) how many personal advisers working on drugs education in secondary and primary schools are to be made redundant owing to the removal of the standards fund; and what plans there are to replace their specialist input;s [156029]
(5) how many personal advisers work in the classroom on drugs education; and what the figures were in 2002 [156030]
896W
§ Mr. Stephen Twigg[holding answer 25 February 2004]: In line with Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice, confidential communications between Departments is not made public. It is not normal practice of Governments to release details of specific meetings or their content as some of these discussions may have taken place on a confidential basis.
The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) will continue to be responsible for evaluating and reporting on the school's polices and practice in drug education within personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship provision as part of the school inspection process. In addition, Ofsted surveys the quantity and quality of drug education in schools on behalf of the Department. The next data collection exercise will take place during the Summer Term 2004 and report in the Autumn.
The Department does not collect data on the number of School Drug Adviser redundancies or how many school Drug Advisers work in the classroom on drug education. Their principal role is to support schools in planning and implementing effective policy and practice on drug issues rather than direct classroom delivery.
From April 2004, our main focus will be on supporting teachers' professional development. The PSHE certification programme, which sets standards for the teaching of PSHE and certificates those who meet the standards, will be rolled-out to 3,000 teachers.
Young people will continue to receive advice and support on drug issues from schools, the Connexions Service and a range of local agencies.