§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the total value of balances held by state schools in England. [5066]
§ Mr. ByersBalances carried forward at the end of the financial year 1995–96 by county, voluntary and special schools maintained by LEAs in England are provisionally estimated by the Department to have amounted in total to about £580 million. These figures are derived from the LMS outturn statements published by LEAs under section 122 of the Education Act 1996—formerly section 42 of the Education Reform Act 1988£and represent surpluses net of any deficits.
The financial monitoring of schools in the grant-maintained sector is the responsibility of the Funding Agency for Schools, and I have asked the Chairman of the Funding Agency to arrange for a reply to be sent to the hon. Member in respect of the sector.