To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what evaluation has been carried out of the effectiveness of his Department's policies to reduce levels of bullying in schools. (314536)

The Department is currently conducting research through Goldsmiths college into the effectiveness of all anti-bullying strategies used in schools and recommended by local authorities. This research will provide the necessary quantitative and qualitative data needed to draw robust conclusions about the efficacy of different anti-bullying strategies. The research will also evaluate the Department's pilot of innovative approaches to peer mentoring schemes. The Department will publish the research report in the autumn of 2010.

This research follows on from our previous evaluation conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) into the work of the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), one of the Department's key delivery partners in the field. PWC's report published in 2007 concluded that the ABA played a crucial role in helping schools and local authorities to access the broad range of available expertise on bullying and their programme of work was broadly aligned to the Department's stated policies and priorities.