§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what plans he has to introduce quality assurance procedures within Section 11-funded adult education; [66608]
(2) what guidance he has issued to local education authorities relating to the means by which existing Section 11-funded adult education will be protected following the introduction of ethnic minority achievement grants; [66610]
(3) if he will ensure that, within the new administrative arrangements for ethnic minority achievement grants, the level of existing funding of adult education within each participating local education authority is ring-fenced before the retained and devolved proportions of the authority's allocations are set. [66609]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe Department's letter of 12 November 1998 to Chief Education Officers set out details of the new Standards Fund Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant. Subject to the receipt of good action plans, local education authorities will receive broadly the same allocations for the support of ethnic minority education in 1999–2000 as the Home Office provided under section 11 in 1998–99, including that element for adult education.
The Department's letter also set out the arrangements whereby up to 15 per cent. of allocations, or £150,000 whichever was the greater, might be held back to provide central services including adult education. This should be satisfactory for the vast majority of Authorities. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will consider carefully, and on their merits, any cases which an Authority might make reflecting historically heavy investment in adult education.
LEAs are required to ensure that all Standards Fund grants are spent for the purpose for which they are paid and to monitor the quality of provision. In addition, the Department monitors and evaluates all Standards Fund expenditure.
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