§ Mr. LepperTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact on opportunities for teachers' professional development and in-service training in the Brighton and Hove, East and West Sussex and neighbouring local education authorities areas of the provisional allocation of Teacher Training Agency Inset Funds announced in February. [39883]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisI understand that the Teacher Training Agency reached its decisions on the allocation of the relevant funding on the basis of competitive bids from providers to deliver in-service training for teachers judged according to their quality in meeting identified national priorities. The Agency has issued contracts for the academic year 1998–99. It will be considering how to take account of regional impact in allocating funding for the interim bidding rounds in 1999–2000 and 2000–01. Final allocations for these and later years will be determined by the Agency in due course, taking account of the representations which have been received.