HC Deb 18 January 1990 vol 165 cc335-7W
Mr. Gill

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what allocations will be made to local education authorities under the education support grants programme for 1990–91; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. MacGregor

My Department is today writing to all local education authorities in England to inform them of the level of expenditure which I have approved for each activity in the education support grants (ESG) programme for 1990–91. The programme is summarised in the following table.

The expenditure supported by ESGs in 1990–91 will total £141 million. This is over £15 million higher than the 1989–90 programme. Of the £141 million total, £50 million will support new activities and the extension of existing activities, while £91 million will support the continuation of projects begun in earlier rounds.

As in previous years, there has been great interest in the education support grants programme, with LEAs submitting a wide range of bids. I am pleased to say that all LEAs in England will be participating in the 1990–91 programme, which is the largest so far.

The activities targeted on implementing the Education Reform Act include major programmes to support local management of schools (LMS) and the national curriculum. We will be supporting over £36 million of spending on LMS, helping local authorities to install management information systems in schools, to train staff for their new responsibilities, and to provide central support.

A range of other activities will help schools get the national curriculum into place, including those on information technology in schools, English language, primary science, and mathematics, as well as the activity on the basic curriculum and assessment. Together, these activities will support some £55 million of spending.

We shall also be allocating grant for a range of other priorities, including schemes to recruit former teachers and mature entrants into teaching, and to help schools cope better with their most difficult pupils.

This ESG programme represents a substantial package of assistance for schools, colleges and LEAs. It will help target resources where they are most needed, and particularly on the implementation of the Education Reform Act. In total, ESGs will support over £110 million of spending in 1990–91 on activities related to the ERA.

For the future, I want to see the ESG programme focus even more closely on our key priorities. I shall wish in particular to concentrate future support on the implementation of our main ERA reforms, especially in the areas relating to the national curriculum and local management of schools. I shall also wish to consider what more can be done to help authorities to recruit teachers in the light of experience of the programme I am announcing today. The bids for the teacher recruitment activity showed that many authorities have some way to go in developing strategies for stimulating recruitment.

Education support grants programme 1990–91
£1 million
New expenditure and extensions Committed and continuing expenditure Total
Activities related to the implementation of the Education Reform Act
1. Local management of schools 11.2 25.0 36.2
2. Management information systems for FE 4.0 7.1 11.1
3. Training for school governors 1.0 4.2 5.2
4. Training for FE college governors 1.9 — 1.9
5. Planning and delegation to colleges 10.1 1.2 1.3
6. Basic curriculum andassessment 9.3 10.0 19.3
7. LEA inspection2 — 3.0 3.0
8. IT in schools 9.0 4.8 13.8
9. English language in the curriculum — 8.2 8.2
New expenditure and extensions Committed and continuing expenditure Total
10. Primary science andtechnology — 7.4 7.4
11. Maths in schools — 3.2 3.2
Other priorities
12. Difficult pupils 2.3 — 2.3
13. Improving school attendance 2.3 — 2.3
14. Combating vandalism and arson 2.0 — 2.0
15. Health education 4.0 — 4.0
16. Teacher recruitment 2.0 — 2.0
17. Workers educational association3 1.0 — 1.0
18. Youth leaders in inner cities — 4.0 4.0
19. Learning by achievement — 2.3 2.3
20. Adult literacy — 1.7 1.7
21. Open learning — 2.0 2.0
22. Educational guidance — 1.2 1.2
23. Education for amulti-ethnic society — 2.2 2.2
24. Portage (support for SEN children under five) — 1.4 1.4
25. Social responsibility — 1.3 1.3
26. Rural primary schools — 0.7 0.7
Total 50.1 90.9 141.0
Grant4 83.6
1 New expenditure under this activity is being allocated to the inner London boroughs only.
2 The second tranche of support for LEA inspection is included in the basic curriculum and assessment activity.
3 The activity to support provision made by the Workers' Educational Association was a late addition to the 1990–91 ESG programme. The distribution between LEAs of the funds for this activity will be decided in due course.
4 Grant will be paid at 60 per cent. on all activities except: Science and technology in primary schools and maths in schools, where committed expenditure will continue to be paid at the 1989–90 rate of 50 per cent.; and the Workers Educational Association, which will bepaid at 70 per cent.