§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he proposes to ensure rights of traveller children to education in those areas where authorities have not applied for grant under section 210 of the Education Reform Act 1988.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthSection 6(1) of the Education Act 1980 places a duty on local education authorities to make arrangements to enable the parents of children in their area, including those of traveller children, to express a preference as to the school they wish their child to attend and to give reasons for their preference.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria have been established to determine allocation of grant under section 210 of the Education Reform Act 1988; and what plans he has to alter the level of funding for traveller education in future years.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthThe draft circular issued in July 1989 indicated that in the case of satisfactory bids exceeding the total grant available priority would be given, as far as possible, to the maintenance of existing special provision. My right hon. Friend will review the level of funding for future years in the light of experience of the 1990–91 programme.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the total amount of grant allocated for traveller education under section 210 of the Education Reform Act 1988 for the financial year 1990–91.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthExpenditure of £7.9 million on traveller education is due to be supported through grant in 1990–91. Grant will be paid at the rate of 75 per cent.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether grants for traveller education under section 210 of the Education Reform Act are affected by whether local authorities applying have been granted designation under the Caravan Act 1968.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthGrants are not affected by designation.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science which local authorities have applied, under section 210 of the Education Reform Act 1988 for grant to(a) finance existing traveller education provision and (b) to finance new provision; how many of (a) and (b) have received grant; and what is the amount of grant allocated to each local education authority.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthThe following local authorities have applied for grant to:322W
(a)finance existing Traveller education provision: Avon Lambeth Bedfordshire Lancashire Berkshire Leeds Bradford Leicestershire Brent Lewisham Bromley Lincolnshire Buckinghamshire Liverpool Bury Manchester Cambridgeshire Newcastle Cheshire Newham Cleveland Norfolk Croydon North Yorkshire Cumbria Northamptonshire Derbyshire Northumbria Devon Nottinghamshire Doncaster Oxfordshire Dorset Richmond Durham Rochdale Ealing Rotherham East Sussex Sefton Essex Sheffield Gateshead Solihull Gloucestershire Somerset Greenwich Southwark Hammersmith and Fulham Suffolk Haringey Surrey Harrow Tower Hamlets Havering Trafford Hertfordshire Wakefield Hillingdon West Sussex Hounslow Wigan Humberside Wiltshire Kensington and Chelsea Wolverhampton Kent (b) finance new provision: Barnsley Hampshire Bolton Salford Camden Waltham Forest Cornwall Wandsworth Hackney In addition a number of authorities with existing provision applied for grant to expand that provision.
Sixty-one authorities in group (a) have been informed of the level of expenditure which the Secretary of State expects to approve for their authority in 1990–91. This indicative approval is subject to confirmation on the coming into force of the Education (Grants) (Travellers and Displaced Persons) Regulations 1990.
The details for individual authorities are as follows:
323W
Indicative approvals for the financial year 1990–91 of expenditure to be supported by grant Authority £000's Avon 260.2 Bedfordshire 207.1 Berkshire 212.4 Bradford 165.8 Brent 26.7 Bromley 84.1 Buckinghamshire 245.5 Bury 9.1 Cambridgeshire 249.1 Cleveland 62.9 Cumbria 13.8 Derbyshire 145.2 Devon 139.5 Doncaster 58.1 Dorset 57.0 Durham 110.7 Ealing 12.0 East Sussex 54.7 Essex 509.5 Gateshead 35.8 Gloucestershire 59.8 Greenwich 75.4 Hammersmith/Fulham 9.6 Haringey 78.1
Authority £000's Harrow 40.7 Havering 8.8 Hertfordshire 600.2 Hounslow 96.1 Humberside 226.7 Kensington/Chelsea 8.0 Kent 173.0 Lambeth 16.5 Lancashire 293.6 Leeds 193.9 Leicestershire 85.0 Lewisham 49.0 Lincolnshire 162.8 Manchester 286.1 Newcastle 16.0 Newham 46.8 Norfolk 65.3 North Yorkshire 105.0 Northamptonshire 184.0 Northumbria 32.0 Nottinghamshire 28.8 Oxfordshire 282.0 Richmond 14.6 Sefton 39.9 Sheffield 156.4 Solihull 22.1 Somerset 58.6 Southwark 200.5 Suffolk 122.5 Surrey 322.9 Tower Hamlets 17.8 Trafford 19.2 Wakefield 86.4 West Sussex 114.8 Wigan 56.3 Wiltshire 76.0 Wolverhampton (West Midlands consortium) 739.1