§ Mr. TruswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what use his Department and its agencies make of postcode areas for(a) the collection and publication of data, (b) devising formulae for the distribution of grants and awards and (c) the delivery of services; and when such usages were last reviewed. [87746]
§ Mr. MilibandWherever possible, the Department and its agencies collect information on an on-going basis on the postcode of usual residence of individual learners and/or place of learning to facilitate the compilation of statistics on education and skills at various geographical levels—for example, local education authorities and coalfield areas. Some of these statistics are then used with others as a basis for funding allocations—for example, postcodes are used to obtain a measure of resident pupils, one factor in calculating Education Formula Spending Shares. The Department is fully committed to working closely with the Office for Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and others to produce better information for small areas. This will allow DfES and972W other Government Departments to develop and evaluate locally targeted policies and interventions as well as helping to tackle Neighbourhood Renewal.