HC Deb 25 October 1994 vol 248 cc576-7W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the grant-maintained status schools had(a) deficits, (b) surpluses and (c) neither on the final date of accounts before transferring into grant-maintained status; and if he will list the subsequent transactions between the relevant schools and local authorities with respect to making the appropriate refunding arrangements.

Mr. Redwood

[holding answer 19 October 1994]: The financial position of the 16 grant-maintained schools in Wales on acquiring grant-maintained status was as follows:

  1. (a) Four schools had overspent their local management of schools allocation;
  2. (b) Nine schools were in credit; and
  3. (c) Three schools had neither a deficit nor a surplus.
Before the Education (Grant-maintained Schools) (Finance) (Wales) Regulations 1994 came into force on 1 April this year, it was left to local education authorities and schools to resolve any differences. Under the regulations, however, any deficit incurred or surplus accrued by a school while under any LEA control can be taken into account in calculating its annual maintenance grant for its first year as a grant-maintained school. This has applied in the case of only one school; the deficit is being repaid.

Mr. Murphy

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many(a) primary and (b) secondary schools there were in each local authority in Wales by 1 October; how many in each case had held ballots under section 61 of the Education Act 1988; how many ballots in each case resulted in votes in favour of seeking grant-maintained status; and how many ballots in each case resulted in votes against seeking grant-maintained status.

Mr. Richards

The number of LEA-maintained and grant-maintained primary and secondary schools in Wales as at 1 April 1994, the latest date for which details are available, is as follows:

Primary Secondary
Clwyd 245 32
Dyfed 313 31
Gwent 213 33
Gwynedd 191 23
Mid Glamorgan 305 42
Powys 108 13
South Glamorgan 159 26
West Glamorgan 164 27
Of these, 10 primary and 18* secondary schools have held ballots on whether they should apply for grant-maintained status under section 61 of the Education Reform Act 1988. In six primary and 12 secondary schools, the vote was in favour; in four primary and seven secondary schools the outcome of the ballot was against. * one secondary school balloted twice.