§ Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what extra funding, in addition to the education standard spending assessment, has been supplied to(a) schools and (b) local authorities in England as a result of successful bids since 1999 in each local authority. [71308]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 18 July 2002]: The information requested is not held centrally in the Department and could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Most additional education funding is allocated and paid to local education authorities through the Standards Fund and Special Grant. Since April 2001, Standards Fund grants have been distributed by formula not on the basis of bids. The Government expects LEAs to devolve Standards Fund grants to schools by a fair formula, in which case schools should not have to apply for grant. All Special Grants are allocated to LEAs via specified formula by which they must pass on grant on to their schools.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what contribution her Department made to determining the indices of deprivation to be used to allocate funds within the proposed new formula for the SSA for education. [71742]
§ Mr. MilibandThe Department for Education and Skills commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to carry out a research project into additional educational needs or deprivation. The project was steered through the Education Funding Strategy Group, the Department's group of external stakeholders. The project used a survey to determine the cost and incidence of additional educational needs in 42 local education authorities. covering all types of LEA. Data from the survey has been used to inform the choice of indicators and the weights assigned to them in the formulae which underlie the exemplifications issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 8 July. A copy of the report on the PwC project will be placed in the library of the House when it has been finalised.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment she made of alternatives to the former DTLR's Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 in determining funding for different levels of deprivation in the schools' formula budget; and for what reason the Index was not used; [71745]
(2) what assessment she made of alternatives to the former DTLR's Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 in determining funding for different levels of deprivation in the schools' formula budget; and for what reason the IMD was not used. [71746]
§ Mr. MilibandThe Department has considered deprivation indicators, including the Index of Multiple Deprivation, on a number of occasions over the past 15 months in its work with the Education Funding1354W Strategy Group on the new education funding formula. In the education options in the consultation paper issued on 8 July, the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation has not been used: it is not suitable as a basis for reflecting deprivation in the distribution of funding for additional education needs, since it incorporates many measures of deprivation not relevant to the educational needs of children. The options set out in the 8 July consultation document include at LEA level a number of the indicators that are part of the IMD: children in families on income support; low birth weight; and English as an Additional Language.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Department for Education and Skills has formulated a sum for basic allocation within the new SSA formula for education for(a) under fives, (b) primary schools and (c) secondary schools, as envisaged in the consultation paper on reforming the Formula Grant System issued on 8 July. [71744]
§ Mr. MilibandThe sum to be allocated for basic funding within the new SSA formula will depend on decisions taken following consultation on the structure of the formula, and on the overall sums available within education standard spending following the Spending Review 2002.