Grant-maintained Schools (Hansard, 2 May 1991)

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the cost so far of ballots of parents held under section 61 of the Education Act.

§ Mr. Eggar
The Electoral Reform Society conducts all parental ballots for grant-maintained status and claims its costs for each individual ballot from the Department of Education and Science. The total of these costs currently stands at some £175,000.

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science for each of the financial years 1989–90 and 1990–91, what have been the total levels of (i) liability for VAT, (ii) relief from liability for rates and (iii) special purpose grant (VAT) for grant-maintained schools.

§ Mr. Eggar
Details of grant-maintained schools' actual liability for VAT are not available. The total level of newly acquired rates relief for ex-county schools was some £141,000 in 1989–90 and some £1,103,000 in 1990–91. Total special purpose grant (VAT) paid to grant-maintained schools was £231,000 in 1989–90 and £639,000 in 1990–91.

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which grant-maintained schools have been visited by Her Majesty's inspectors, and in each case (i) by how many inspectors, (ii) for how long, (iii) at what cost and (iv) whether a report will be published.

§ Mr. Eggar
At the end of March 1991, there were 50 schools operating under grant-maintained status and HMI had visited 46 of them. Listed below are details of the visits made to each school.
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Visit Number of visits Total number of HMI involved in visits Length of each visit (days) Cost (£)

Brindley Hall 1 1 1 240

Ecclesbourne 1 2 1 480

Bournemouth GS 2 3 1 720

Stroud High 1 1 1 240

Marling 1 1 1 240

Pate's GS 1 2 1 480

Rickmansworth 1 2 1 480

Bishopshalt 1 1 1 240

Long Field High 2 2 1, 2 720

Carre's GS 1 3 1 720

Adams GS 1 1 1 240

Guildford 1 1 1 240

Wolverhampton High 1 1 2 480

Handsworth GS 1 1 1 240

Buller's Wood 1 1 1 240

Francis Bacon 1 2 1 480

In all cases the inspectors' findings were reported orally to the head and to the chairman of governors where he or she was able to attend. None of these inspections was planned to lead to a published report. My right hon. and learned Friend will therefore not be publishing the findings of these individual school inspectors.

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what would be the total full-year cost of grant payable to schools as (i) transitional grant, (ii) special purpose grant (development) and (iii) capital grant if all eligible schools became grant-maintained at the current levels of each(a) during 1991–92 and (b) over a five-year period.

§ Mr. Eggar
Given the statutory timetable it is not possible for all schools to become grant-maintained in the financial year 1991–92.
These levels of payment are reviewed annually in the light of the Government's spending priorities for

Publication Total printing cost (all editions) Number of copies distributed Postage costs

£000 (all editions)¹ £000

School Governors: How to become a grant-maintained school 46.9 80,000 ²n/a

Grant-maintained schools: Questions parents ask 51.6 140,000 ³n/a

Grant-maintained schools: What it means for staff 9.8 100,000 14.0

¹ The recorded figures are for initial block distributions. Figures for further distributions to individual schools following ad hoc requests are not available.

² Postage costs for the block distribution of the first edition were not recorded separately. It cost £870 to post an initial block distribution of the second edition. The third edition has not been block distributed as yet.

³ It cost £3,700 to post an initial block distribution of the first edition. It cost £8,400 to post a further block distribution of that edition for primary schools with less than 300 pupils when they became eligible for grant-maintained status. Included in that distribution were copies of the second edition of "School Governors: How to Become a Grant-Maintained School".

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science for each of the financial years 1990–91 and 1991–92, what have been the average total allocations of capital grant to grant-maintained schools(i) per school and (ii) per pupil.

§ Mr. Eggar
Total grant for capital expenditure by grant-maintained schools in 1990–91 was £6.5 million. The planned grant expenditure for 1991–92 is £10.5 million. The average per school for 1990–91 was £130,186 and per pupil £181 based on total school and pupil numbers in that year. Figures for 1991–92 will depend upon the total number of schools and pupils in the sector this year.

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science for each of the financial years 1989–90 and 1990–91, what was(i) the amount available and (ii) the amount paid to grant-maintained schools as special purpose grant (development).
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education and other services. It is therefore not possible to project a figure for the total cost if all schools became grant-maintained over a five-year period.

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many copies have been distributed and, in each case, at what cost of all the editions of the booklet (i) "School Governors—How to Become a Grant-Maintained School", (ii) "Grant-Maintained Schools—Questions Parents Ask" and (iii) "Grant-Maintained Schools—What it Means For Staff".

§ Mr. Eggar
The information requested is given in the table:

§ Mr. Eggar
Special purpose grant (development) of £177,573 was available to grant-maintained schools in 1989–90. The amount actually paid in that year was £171,190. In 1990–91, special purpose grant (development) of £705,126 was available. This amount will be adjusted during the course of the current financial year if financial returns from schools show that the full amount of grant was not required for the purposes for which it has been made available.

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what payments have been made from public funds to the Grant-Maintained Schools Trust in each year since its creation.

§ Mr. Eggar
Payments of central Government grant in each financial year have been as follows:
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£

1988–89 25,000

1989–90 250,000

1990–91 448,000

§ Mr. Fatchett
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science for each of the financial years 1989–90 and 1990–91, what has been(a) the total and (b) the average per pupil of (i) annual maintenance grant and (ii) all other grant aid paid to grant-maintained schools.

§ Mr. Eggar
Total annual maintenance grant—AMG—paid was £14.9 million in 1989–90 and £59.2 million in 1990–91. A simple average per pupil can be derived by dividing these figures by pupil numbers recorded in the previous January by all schools that were grant-maintained in that year. On this basis, average AMG paid per pupil was £1,083 in 1989–90 and £1,645 in 1990–91. These figures take no account of the fact that some schools were incorporated as grant-maintained at different times during the year in question.
The total of other grants paid was £2,466,000 in 1989–90 and £8,128,000 in 1990–91. These figures exclude transitional grant which in these years was paid to schools before incorporation as GM schools. It makes little sense to relate the totals of other grants to pupil numbers since these grants are paid on a number of different bases. However, these totals divided by the same pupil numbers produce per pupil figures of £179 in 1989–90 and £226 in 1990–91.

Visit	Number of visits	Total number of HMI involved in visits	Length of each visit (days)	Cost (£)
Brindley Hall	1	1	1	240
Ecclesbourne	1	2	1	480
Bournemouth GS	2	3	1	720
Stroud High	1	1	1	240
Marling	1	1	1	240
Pate's GS	1	2	1	480
Rickmansworth	1	2	1	480
Bishopshalt	1	1	1	240
Long Field High	2	2	1, 2	720
Carre's GS	1	3	1	720
Adams GS	1	1	1	240
Guildford	1	1	1	240
Wolverhampton High	1	1	2	480
Handsworth GS	1	1	1	240
Buller's Wood	1	1	1	240
Francis Bacon	1	2	1	480
In all cases the inspectors' findings were reported orally to the head and to the chairman of governors where he or she was able to attend. None of these inspections was planned to lead to a published report. My right hon. and learned Friend will therefore not be publishing the findings of these individual school inspectors.

Publication	Total printing cost (all editions)	Number of copies distributed	Postage costs
	£000	(all editions)¹	£000
School Governors: How to become a grant-maintained school	46.9	80,000	²n/a
Grant-maintained schools: Questions parents ask	51.6	140,000	³n/a
Grant-maintained schools: What it means for staff	9.8	100,000	14.0
¹ The recorded figures are for initial block distributions. Figures for further distributions to individual schools following ad hoc requests are not available.
² Postage costs for the block distribution of the first edition were not recorded separately. It cost £870 to post an initial block distribution of the second edition. The third edition has not been block distributed as yet.
³ It cost £3,700 to post an initial block distribution of the first edition. It cost £8,400 to post a further block distribution of that edition for primary schools with less than 300 pupils when they became eligible for grant-maintained status. Included in that distribution were copies of the second edition of "School Governors: How to Become a Grant-Maintained School".