HC Deb 05 December 1988 vol 143 c25W
Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what assumptions he used about the pupil-teacher ratio in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd;

(2) what assumption he made about the sum to be allocated for the local element of educational supplementary grant for in-service training in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd;

(3) what assumptions he made about the sum to be allocated for special needs provision in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd;

(4) what assumption he made about the sum to be allocated for nursery provision in his calculation of grant-related expenditure for the county of Clwyd.

Mr. Wyn Roberts

Grant-related expenditure calculations for local authorities in Wales do not form a basis for calculating notional allocations of GRE to any particular service. The GRE determined for each county council is constructed using indicators of need such as numbers of pupils (including those in special schools) rather than indicators of provision such as pupil/teacher ratios. The portion of costs associated with the local education authority training grants scheme not met by specific grant is accounted for in counties' GREs, using pupil numbers as an indicator of need. Nursery provision is part of the component of GRE relating to all children aged one and over but under five, and the indicator used is the population in this age group. All GRE formulae are agreed in consultation with the local authority associations. Full details of the indicators used or the current year are given in the Welsh rate support grant report 1988–89.