§ Mr. Watsonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is yet in a position to announce the advanced further education capped pool allocations for 1983–84.
§ Sir Keith JosephLetters are being sent to local education authorities today notifying them of their ATE capped pool allocations for 1983–84. Copies of a note which sets out the allocations and summarises the methodology used in deciding on the allocations—together with a more technical supplement—have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
After consultation with the local authority associations, I have determined the AFE quantum for 1983–84 to be £560.5 million. This includes an addition of £2 million for the expansion of provision for information technology, details of which I announced yesterday.
The principles and methodology I have adopted in distributing the capped AFE pool for 1983–84 are those recommended by the committee of the national advisory body. These include most notably the provision of a common level of funding for equivalent areas of work and adjustments to take account of the level of expenditure on AFE 1981–82 and the capped pool distribution for 1982–83. The resulting allocations should place the 525W greatest pressure for economies on those institutions with the highest unit costs and afford a measure of protection to the more economical institutions.
The national advisory body will be considering further refinements in the method of distributing the quantum in the context of its 1984–85 planning exercise.