§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what formula will be used for the withdrawal of money from the standard spending assessment of local authorities to be allocated to Her Majesty's inspectorate for the inspection of schools under the terms of the Education (Schools) Act 1992.
§ Mr. ForthThe Government are considering the expenditure needs of local education authorities next year and are currently taking the views of the local authority associations on the range of factors bearing on local education authorities' spending, including the new arrangements for school inspection. We have estimated the funds to be transferred from local government finance for 1993–94 in respect of school inspections beginning in September 1993 at £19 million—1992–93 prices. Details of the local authority finance settlement for 1993–94, including education's share of total standard spending and individual authorities' standard spending assessments, will be announced in the autumn.
§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education how much money his Department has provided in its budget to raise awareness and advertise the new system of inspection of schools; and if he will list the actual expenditure items and any proposed expenditure.
§ Mr. ForthProfessor Sutherland will be responsible for the new inspection system from 1 September 1992. Budgeted expenditure in this financial year for which my Department is responsible up to that date is as follows:
- National advertising campaign—£105,000;
- Leaflets and related promotional material—£10,000.
The new system was announced in the citizens charter, and sample copies of the parents charter were sent to all schools in September 1991 at a cost of just under £2 million.