§ Mr. JesselTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what effect the introduction of local management of schools has on the ability of local education authorities to fulfil undertakings given to provide extra funding for an additional teacher for a cohort of pupils which is more numerous than the other cohorts in the school, due to an original error by the local education authority in allocating children to the school in a particular year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FallonUnder LMS, funds are allocated to schools through a formula on a clear and objective basis. This means that the funding available is distributed fairly: similar schools receive similar budgets which will depend mainly on the numbers and ages of the pupils. As LMS funds pupils, a school with a cohort of pupils which is larger than its other cohorts will receive additional funding on the basis of those extra pupils.