HC Deb 03 November 1994 vol 248 c1398W
Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the total value of the grants for education, support and training programme agreed for 1994–95, the value of items which will be wholly or partially delegated to schools, the value of items which must be retained centrally by local education authorities for the provision of services to schools and the value of her Department's grant contribution in each case.

Mr. Robin Squire

The GEST programme for 1994–95 supports LEA expenditure of £270.6 million. The Department pays grant on this expenditure at the rate of 60 per cent. for all grants, except one of £3 million for articled teachers' bursaries which is paid at the rate of 100 per cent. The total grant payable by the Department is £163.6 million.

Of this total, £100.5 million LEA expenditure—£60.3 million DFE grant—must be devolved to schools. LEAs are encouraged to devolve much of the remainder of the programme to school level where this is appropriate.

The only grants which may not be devolved to school level are those for special education needs parent partnership schemes—£3.7 million expenditure, £2.2 million grant—and part of the grant for national curriculum assessment arrangements.