Grant-maintained Schools (Hansard, 21 February 1995)

§ 6. Mr. Peter Atkinson
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many grant-maintained schools there are in the north of England.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Mr. Robin Squire)
There are 137 grant-maintained schools in the north of England.

§ Mr. Atkinson
Will my hon. Friend confirm that, out of the 900 schools inspected so far, just 9 per cent. are grant-maintained schools, yet out of the 52 schools identified in the "best improvers" category, 14 were grant-maintained? Does that not show that, above all, the argument is about quality? Is it not a pity that more parents in the north have not had an opportunity to vote on the issue?

§ Mr. Squire
My hon. Friend has stumbled across an interesting statistic. It is fairly well known that many of our best schools have become self-governing. What is less well known is that many of our most improving schools have also become self-governing, and the figures which my hon. Friend has given clearly underline that point. I would simply add that that will only increase the attraction of those schools to parents—including, of course, parents who are also Labour party activists.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
The reorganisation in my constituency involves Keswick school. With that in mind, will the Minister tell me whether grant-maintained schools have advantages in being able to raise money for capital projects over and above other similar schools which are not grant-maintained? If they do have advantages, why, in principle, should they?

§ Mr. Squire
The answer is a little complex. It is not true to say that grant-maintained schools may borrow formally. They can certainly look to outside interests which may be interested in making various arrangements 145 with them, as indeed can an LEA school. Of course, an LEA can borrow significantly greater sums. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) would sit quietly for a moment, he might hear something useful. In 1993–94, nearly half of all capital expenditure by local authorities on schools was funded other than by Government-approved borrowing. That is why grant-maintained schools must have access to other forms of funding, including a reasonable capital allocation.