§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to continue funding support for portage schemes; what assessment he has made of current schemes; and what assessment he has made of the consequences of ending Government financial support for the schemes.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthI have been asked to reply.
The Department will continue to fund those portage schemes to which it has committed expenditure up to 1990–91 through the education support grant (ESG). The ESG funds provided from 1986–87, and amounting to more than £8 million, were made available for pump-priming purposes. LEAs are free to continue funding portage schemes after the Department's three-year commitment ends, and to develop others from within their own resources, if they wish to do so. Many are doing just that. An HMI survey on portage projects funded by ESGs will be published on 9 February. I shall be placing a copy in the Library in the normal way.