§ 10. Mr. John EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the standard spending assessment for education for each of the Merseyside metropolitan authorities for each of the last two years.
§ Mr. ForthThe figures for 1992–93 were as follows: Knowsley, £79 million; Liverpool, £215 million; St. Helens, £73 million; Sefton, £110 million; and Wirral, £136 million. For 1993–94 the figures will be: Knowsley, £71 million; Liverpool, £199 million; St. Helens, £62 million; Sefton, £96 million; and Wirral, £122 million.
§ Mr. EvansI thank the Minister for that reply. Does he acknowledge that the figures he has just given show that school children in St. Helens get a very raw deal from the Government's SSAs? Will he explain to the parents of St. Helens—preferably in plain and simple English—why Liverpool and Knowsley are allocated £500,000 more to run a 1,000 pupil secondary school than the neighbouring borough of St. Helens?
§ Mr. ForthYes. Education SSAs are based mainly on pupil numbers. Recently, pupil numbers in St. Helens have 824 been falling. That is one of the reasons. The other is that St. Helens comes out rather badly from the additional educational needs—AEN—index, which is part of the educational SSA mechanism. The good news for the hon. Gentleman and his constituents is that we are conducting a wide-ranging review of the methodology and mechanisms of SSAs and the AEN index. We will seek to update them and make them more relevant, fairer and more reflective of needs than in the past. I cannot predict what the outcome will be for St. Helens, or any other authority, but the hon. Gentleman and his constituents can be sure that, at the end of that process, all will be seen to be fair and even-handed.