§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the total expenditure on specialist schools in(a) England and (b) Somerset for each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 (planned); and if she will make a statement. [27043]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 17 January 2002]: Information on the actual and planned expenditure for specialist schools for (a) England and (b) Somerset for each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 is provided if the table.
Financial Year England (£ million) Somerset (£) 1997–98 33.1 247,175 1998–99 40.8 462,660 1999–2000 47.4 523,972 2000–01 71.9 815,716 2001–02 94.0 885,063 2002–03 1108.0 2957,063 2003–04 1127.0 2957,063 1 Estimates for 2002–03 and 2003–04 are baseline figures for those years based on targets of 1,000 specialist schools by 2003 and 1,500 by 2005. 2 Estimated expenditure on specialist schools in Somerset for 2002–03 and 2003–04 is based on current pupil numbers in schools already designated.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have applied for specialist school status in each quarter since May 1997; how many of these schools were granted specialist status in each of these quarters; how many cluster bids have been accepted; and if she will make a statement. [27051]
§ Mr. TimmsThe number of specialist school applications received in each competition since May 1997 and the number of schools designated in each round are shown in the table. A small number of "associated applications" have been discussed with officials but no applications which are part of these associated applications have yet been successful.
519W
Competitions Schools applying Number of schools designated May 1997 40 8 October 1997 107 32 March 1998 122 51 October 1998 67 43 March 1999 52 37 June 1999 95 44 October 1999 68 37 March 2000 117 59 June 2000 115 34 October 2000 106 39 March 2001 154 79 Note:
261 applications received in the October 2001 competition are currently being assessed.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools will be granted specialist school status in the bidding rounds during 2002; what proportion this is of the total number of expected bids; and if she will make a statement. [27052]
§ Mr. TimmsIt is difficult to estimate the number of bids we will receive this year but it is likely to be at least as many (both in March and October) as in the October 2001 competition, when 261 schools made applications. Our published target is to have at least 830 specialist schools by September 2002. There are 463 specialist schools at present.