§ Mr. PurchaseTo ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 31, what information his Department has on the place of residence of pupils under the assisted places scheme at the time of their original application for an assisted place; what steps his Department takes to ensure that applicants for assisted places are genuinely entitled to a place under the scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ForthInformation about the place of residence of pupils at the time of their application for an assisted place is not held by the Department. It is for participating schools themselves to select pupils for assisted places, but the Department ensures that they target able children from families with low incomes, and also that a substantial majority of assisted pupils in any school have previously attended a maintained school.
To ensure that participating schools carry out assessments of income correctly, the Department also issues regular comprehensive guidance and carries out random audit surveys of income assessments. These surveys, together with the statistical information collected, show that schools are indeed administering the scheme properly and targeting the pupils for whom the scheme is intended.
§ Mr. PurchaseTo ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 6 December,Official Report, column 31, what was the total cost to public funds of the assisted places scheme at Wolverhampton grammar school in each year since 1981.
§ Mr. ForthThe information requested for the past five years is given in the table. Data for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Academic year DFE expenditure £000s 1988–89 485 1989–90 507 1990–91 600 1991–92 702 1992–93 1760 1 Estimate pending final claim.