HC Deb 25 January 1999 vol 324 c64W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will set out the basis on which it was decided that National Lottery funding for ICT for teachers should not be made available to(a) the independent sector, (b) special schools, (c) assistant teachers and (d) teachers on maternity leave. [65941]

Mr. Banks

[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The basis on which the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) funds the ICT initiative for teachers was set out in their Policy Directions, copies of which are available in the Libraries of both Houses.

National Lottery funding for ICT training for teachers is available for teachers of maintained special schools; for teachers on maternity leave, if they are currently registered with a school; and for assistant teachers, as opposed to teacher assistants who are not normally teachers, if they are registered at a school. Independent schools and teachers assistants are not funded under this initiative because of the need to maintain a viable programme within the limited Lottery money available. However, there is nothing to prevent independent schools from using their own resources to take advantage of available training once the Lottery funded scheme is in place.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when it was decided that vouchers for ICT training for teachers in schools funded by the National Lottery should be paid to local education authorities and not headteachers. [65942]

Mr. Banks

[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The process by which the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) will fund ICT training for teachers was determined by the NOF Board, which will calculate training entitlements for individual schools across the United Kingdom.

Local education authorities in Wales, education authorities in Scotland, and education and library boards in Northern Ireland will have a delegated role in distributing entitlements to schools on behalf of NOF. In England, schools will be responsible for applying for their training entitlements.

Copies of the Policy Directions for NOF's ICT initiative for teachers are available in the Libraries of the House.