Schools Maintenance Programmes: Funding (Hansard, 17 February 1993)

§ The Minister of State, Department of Education (Baroness Blatch)
My Lords, there is no bidding process for repairs and maintenance as such. The resources made available to local education authorities for their revenue costs and their borrowing approvals to support capital programmes are not hypothecated to individual services or to areas within services. It is for local authorities and schools with delegated management to determine their expenditure priorities from the resources available to them.

§ Lord Judd
My Lords, how do the Government intend to build their brave new world of education if they allow the fabric in which it is to be housed to disintegrate? Why have the Government still not implemented the 1981 school premises regulations? For example, when Cambridgeshire asked for £22.7 million for essential work, why was it allowed only £7.6 million? That is £83 per head for each child in LEA schools. How does that compare with the money being made available to grant-maintained schools?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, the noble Lord appears to be confusing capital bids with moneys for maintenance and repairs, which is the subject of the Question. As the noble Lord is aware, the school premises regulations are under review and we are considering the conclusions of that review. The details will be made available in due course.

§ Lord Parry
My Lords, is the Minister able to tell the House what proportion of the aggregate total or the total costs allocated to local government, will be allocated to the modification of existing schools that will become hosts for schools of specially-disadvantaged children?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I am not able to help the noble Lord. We do not aggregate the funds in that way. In addition to receiving the annual capital moneys referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Judd, local authorities also supplement that by using their receipts. As we know, this year the rules have been relaxed to enable local authorities to use 100 per cent. of those receipts. They can supplement that with revenue expenditure and within that, within local authorities and their departments, they can re-order their priorities. The money spent particularly on special needs and special schools as opposed to mainstream schools is a matter for each individual local authority.

§ Lord Parry
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that full answer to my question. Can the noble Baroness give me a further assurance that an adequate sum of money will be allocated to provide the facilities that the host schools need? The headmasters will then not need to provide additional funds from boot sales.

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, I hope that the noble Lord will accept that, given a finite sum of money, it is important that the best possible value for money is achieved for any money spent by a local authority. Local authorities should order their priorities where there is a need. Should special schools have a particular need, then that is where the money should be targeted. Local authorities must meet their legal requirements and the requirements under the national curriculum.

§ Lord Judd
My Lords, is the Minister aware that there is real anxiety that the grants being made available to grant-maintained schools are running at a level around four times higher than those to local education authority schools? Where is the evidence of 1127 the Government's commitment to fair play and equal-handed treatment for LEA and grant-maintained schools?

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, the number of grant-maintained schools is growing all the time. The noble Lord, Lord Judd, is continuing to confuse repairs and maintenance with capital spending. If the noble Lord wishes to table a Question in regard to capital moneys, I shall address it specifically.
From the coming financial year local education authorities will have to delegate from the centre to their schools money for maintenance and money for school cleaning, which is an extra extension of the local financial management system. However, with regard to grant-maintained schools, as of today there were 712 yes ballots and 337 schools up and running. That number increases substantially on 1st April, again on 1st September and again on 1st January next year. The number is rising all the time. There will be a shift from one sector to the other to recognise that movement, and extra money to bid for this year, which is unsecured from the Treasury, to recognise the growth of the grant-maintained sector.