§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate in percentage terms the difference between his Department's most recent standard spending assessment in education for the counties of(a) Cheshire and (b) Hertfordshire; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the difference. [116122]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe education standard spending assessments (SSA) for 2000–01 for Cheshire county council and Hertfordshire county council are £275,998,592 and £471,433,598 respectively, a difference of 71 per cent. This arises from applying the SSA formula to the numbers relevant to each county. The great majority of the difference is accounted for by the greater number of pupils in Hertfordshire.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate the value of his Department's most recent(a) standard spending assessment for education for the county of Cheshire and (b) average standard spending assessment for the shire counties. [116117]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe education standard spending assessment for 2000–01 for Cheshire county council is £275,998,592. The average education standard spending assessment for 2000–01 for shire county councils is £272,584,489.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate the value of his Department's most recent(a) standard spending assessment per pupil for the county of Cheshire, (b) average standard spending assessment per pupil for shire counties and (c) average standard spending assessment per pupil for the Metropolitan and London authorities; and if he will make a statement. [116118]
§ Ms Beverley HughesThe information requested is given in the table: