§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her oral statement of 6 July,Official Report, columns 517–19, if local education authority under-fives funding will be reduced as a result of local parents opting for voluntary or private sector provision. [36170]
§ Mr. Robin SquireThe proposed funding mechanism will remove only a part of what local education authorities spend on under-fives. The amount removed will be the product of the number of four-year-olds presently in maintained schools and the voucher value. To the extent376W that fewer parents choose to send their four-year-olds to LEA-maintained schools, the funding will decrease by the voucher value for each child. In contrast, if more parents so choose, the funding will increase correspondingly.