HC Deb 15 December 1988 vol 143 cc651-3W
Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on expenditure to be supported by education support grants in 1989–90.

Mr. Kenneth Baker

The Department has written to all local education authorities in England to inform them of the level of expenditure which I have approved for the purpose of education support grants in 1989–90.

Expenditure under the programme in 1989–90 wilt total £125.5m. Some £49.5m of this will be for the continuing support of projects begun in earlier years, and £76m is for new and extended activities. The table sets out the programme and shows the number of LEAs receiving allocations for support of new expenditure.

I am pleased that all local education authorities will be participating in the 1989–90 ESG programme, which is the largest to date. I made clear during the passage of the Education Reform Act that I would use my grant programmes to help with the implementation of the reforms. The approvals I have just announced represent substantial assistance for LEAs with the introduction of local management of schools and colleges and the national curriculum. I am also particularly glad that we have been able to provide support for centres to help adults with literacy and numeracy problems, and that ESGs will be used to allow almost 200 young people to train as youth workers in their own communities.

I have approved £35m of new expenditure in the programme for activities relating to local management, including £25m specifically for its introduction into schools and £5m for governor training. £29m of new expenditure will go towards helping authorities with the various aspects of the introduction of the national curriculum, including £5m for English, £9.5m for the core subjects and technology, and a further £9.5m for the purchase of equipment for information technology in schools. Taking new and committed expenditure together there will be support for over £90m of spending in 1989–90 on activities relevant to the ERA reforms.

New Expenditure in 1989–90 (cash) £million Number of LEAs with new starts Total of new starts committed2 £million
13. Science and Technology in Primary Schools1 2.8 41 9.7
Social Responsibility and Inner Cities
14. Open Learning 1.4 48 2.7
15. Action to Combat Misuse of Drugs 2.1 94 2.3
Other
16. Computer Aided Engineering 2.0 21 2.0
Activities Continuing without New Starts
17. Maths in Schools1 — — 8.4
18. Improving the Quality of Education in Rural Primary Schools — — 1.5
19. Improving the Quality of Education in Urban Primary Schools — — 0.4
20. Education for a Multi-Ethnic Society — — 2.7
21. PICKUP — — 0.2
22. IT in Non-Advanced FE — — 4.9
23. Education for the Unemployed — — 0.3
24. Support for Parents of Children Under 5 with Severe Learning Difficulties — — 1.9
25. Pilot projects to develop the use of the spoken word — — 0.3
26. Promotion of social responsibility in young people — — 1.4
27. Pilot project to develop Records of Achievement — — 1.3
28. Diversification of First Foreign Language in Schools — — 0.5
29. Learning by Achievement for 14-21 year olds — — 2.2
30. School teacher and lecturer appraisal — — 0.5
Totals 76.0 97 125.5
1Activities of relevance to the implementation of the ERA reforms.
2Grant will be paid at 50 per cent. on the second tranche of expenditure and at 70 per cent. on commitments arising from 1988–89.