§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what response he has made to the report on portage projects published by Her Majesty's inspectorate in January 1990;
(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that families which have benefited from the portage service funded under education suppport grants are enabled to have a continuity of support when the grant period ends.
§ Mr. FallonThe Secretary of State welcomed this HMI report on how a sample of 13 portage schemes worked in practice. The Department has reviewed the effectiveness of the £8.1 million of central Government expenditure on portage in the light of the report, and has concluded that this pump-priming initiative to help establish such a local service was a worthwhile investment.
Portage is a locally administered service. Central ESG support is limited to pump-priming purposes. LEAs are, however, free to continue funding portage schemes, and to develop others from within their own resources if they so wish. What if any continued provision is made is for each LEA to decide.