§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the minimum per capita spent from local authority revenue budgets on education in(a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools necessary for satisfactory delivery of the national curriculum and achievement of the Government's educational attainment targets. [34602]
§ Mr. ByersEducation Standard Spending for LEAs in England will be £19.4 billion in 1998–99, an increase of £1 billion over the equivalent figure for 1997–98. The priority given to school spending within our plans for 1998–99 reflects the importance of delivering our targets for educational attainment. The total is allocated to Local Education Authorities in Standard Spending Assessments, using a formula which takes account of pupil numbers, deprivation and population sparsity. It is for Local Education Authorities to reach final decisions on how to use the resources available to them. We do not seek to set a minimum level of expenditure, but we have made it clear that we expect the substantial additional provision for 1998–99 to go specifically to raising standards in schools.