HC Deb 17 March 1989 vol 149 cc358-9W
Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will publish a table showing, for each year 1981–82 to 1987–88 the amount of grant-related expenditure assessment in respect of the additional educational needs of under-fives as a percentage of the total recurrent spending by local authorities on under-fives; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what has been the difference in cash terms, for each year 1981–82 to 1987–88, between the control total for recurrent spending by local authorities on under-fives and the outturn total spending in this category; if he will estimate the amount of any such difference for 1988–89 and 1989–90; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold

The information is not available in the form requested. Grant-related expenditure for the education of under-fives falls under two separate control totals of the grant-related expenditure assessment for education. The nursery control total has 49 per cent. distributed by reference to the additional educational needs index, while the primary total, which includes an allowance for under-fives in primary classes, has 11 per cent. distributed by reference to the additional educational needs index. The under-fives element of the primary control total is not separable from the rest of the total and it is not therefore possible to make the comparison requested.

Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether the grant-related expenditure assessment in respect of primary schools takes account of the numbers of under-fives(a) in nursery classes of primary schools or (b) in ordinary classes of primary schools; what adjustments were made to the grant-related expenditure assessments in respect of primary schools in the years 1981–82 to 1987–88 in connection with the numbers of under-fives in primary schools; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold

The grant-related expenditure assessment for primary education takes account of expenditure on under-fives in primary classes. Nursery classes in primary schools fall within the grant-related expenditure assessment for nursery education. The relevant control totals for these GREAs have been increased by 9.7 per cent. and 6 per cent. respectively in real terms between 1981–82 and 1987–88; movements in pupil numbers have been one of the factors taken into account.

Mrs. Ann Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the proportions, for each year 1988–89 and 1989–90 of the present grant-related expenditure assessments in respect of the additional educational needs of under-fives in relation to the control totals for recurrent spending by the local authorities on under-fives; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Rumbold

Of the grant-related expenditure assessment for nursery education in 1988–89 and 1989–90, 49 per cent. is distributed by reference to the additional educational needs index for each authority. Under-fives being educated in primary classes fall within the primary total for grant-related expenditure, of which 11 per cent. is distributed by reference to the additional educational needs index for each authority.