HC Deb 25 January 1996 vol 270 cc339-40W
Mrs. Ann Winterton

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the total value of the standard spending assessment for the Cheshire county council; how much was passed on to local schools by the county council; what was retained by the county council to cover schools' administration and other services; what average figure per school in Cheshire this total represents; and what was the average cost of employing(a) a primary and (b) a secondary school teacher in Cheshire in 1995–96. [11836]

Mr. Robin Squire

The following table shows the education standard spending assessment for Cheshire in 1995–96, together with the size of the general schools budget—total local education authority spending on its schools—the aggregated schools budget—the sum delegated to schools—and the balance of the general schools budget not delegated to schools, with each figure also expressed as an average per school. The last three figures are taken from the budget statement published by the Cheshire LEA in accordance with section 42 of the Education Reform Act 1988.

£ million £ per school
Education SSA 332.027 639,744
General schools budget 340.071 655,243
Aggregated schools budget 261.938 504,697
Balance of general schools budget retained by LEA 78.133 150,545

The LEA also has to meet the cost of recoupment of annual maintenance grant paid to grant-maintained schools, and I have asked the chairman of the funding agency to write to the hon. Member about the level of recurrent grant paid to Cheshire GM schools in 1995–96.

Information about the cost of employing teachers individual LEAs in 1995–96 is not held centrally.