HC Deb 19 November 1998 vol 319 cc1100-2
8. Mr. Andrew George (St. Ives)

If he will make a statement on (a) the administrative expenditure of and (b) peripatetic support provided by, local education authorities. [59109]

The Minister for School Standards (Ms Estelle Morris)

The Government's plans for the further development of financial delegation to schools will require local education authorities to keep their administrative expenditure under strict control while at the same time enabling them to maintain essential support services for their schools. A draft of the regulations giving effect to our proposals will be laid before Parliament shortly.

Mr. George

I am grateful to the Minister for that helpful reply. Bearing in mind the fact that in dispersed and rural areas, such as Cornwall, the cost can be great, will the Minister assure the House that the cost of providing education services peripatetically—such as services for visually impaired or hearing-impaired pupils—are fully reflected in the allocation formula for local education authorities across the country?

Ms Morris

I am aware of the position in the hon. Gentleman's county, where a large number of children have special educational needs statements and there is a strong peripatetic service. I can assure him that local authorities will be able to retain funding for low-incidence SEN disabilities, and that nothing we have decided on so far should disturb the arrangements to which he referred.

Mr. Barry Gardiner (Brent, North)

I am sure that my hon. Friend will be delighted to know that in my constituency, the central retention budget, at about £139 per head, is one of the lowest in the country. However, having such a low centrally retained budget creates certain problems for a local authority—for instance, when bidding for the private finance initiative for schools. Will my hon. Friend look into the problems that local authorities may experience when the centrally retained budget does not allow for enough in-house legal and design service expertise to produce a bid, which may disadvantage them? Will she study ways in which other money might be made available to such authorities?

Ms Morris

It is for Brent to decide how it conducts its business, but I have not noticed a lack of interest, enthusiasm or activity on the part of local education authorities in proposing PFIs to the Department. Those are coming in in great numbers and we welcome that. Of course, Brent can buy expertise from elsewhere to prepare its PFI bid if it has not retained sufficient staff to do so itself. I will be happy to discuss that matter further with my hon. Friend outside the Chamber, if that would be helpful.

Mr. Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath)

When the Minister studies local authority expenditure on education, will she take careful account of the answer given by the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Barking (Ms Hodge) to the previous question, in which she recognised that otherwise affluent areas contain pockets of deprivation. At a school such as Watchetts county primary in my constituency, which is a pioneer in, for example, after-school clubs, 60 per cent. of pupils are statemented or have special educational needs. Will she take account of that and lobby her ministerial colleagues in the Treasury and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to ensure that no further cuts are made in provision for shire counties? The only effect of such cuts would be further damage to schools. While the Minister is on her feet, will she say how she can possibly justify the discourtesy that we were shown in an earlier answer, when it was announced that the Secretary of State would not make a statement to the House but would once again bypass it and make one elsewhere?

Ms Morris

The hon. Gentleman has a cheek, as a Conservative Member, talking about reductions in education funding. Having said that, I entirely accept that there are constituencies in shire and city areas which contain pockets of deprivation, but they are small pockets compared with some other local authorities, or indeed, constituencies within them. Of course, when we allocate money to local authorities we take into account the needs of all children in all constituencies and local authorities. The way in which local authorities allocate that money to schools is their decision. From my experience I know that the right thing for local Members of Parliament to do is to campaign and lobby at local authority level to ensure that the needs of their constituency are met. The greatest advantage under this Government is that there is a larger pot of money to go at.