HC Deb 01 November 2000 vol 355 cc507-8W
Mr. Boswell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the moratorium on specialist schools in cases where local education authorities are projected to have reached a level of 30 per cent. of pupils in such schools, with particular reference to its duration and conditions attached. [135924]

Ms Estelle Morris

We want as many pupils as possible to benefit from the network of technology, language, sports and arts colleges around the country and that is why we are expanding the programme to 1,000 schools by 2004. To ensure that all parts of the country, particularly where there are few specialist schools, get a fair distribution of specialist school resources, we do not at present want to receive further applications from schools in local education authorities where 30 per cent. or more of their pupils attend specialist schools. This is not a permanent measure. It will apply only until we achieve a fairer spread of specialist schools in other parts of the country and shall be reviewed after the spring 2001 specialist school competition. We have also said that we shall look sympathetically at exceptional circumstances where a school's application plans are already well advanced and where it has raised the required sponsorship. In two such cases, we have agreed to receive applications from Chenderit and Kingsbrook Schools in Northamptonshire. We will consider these applications in the same way as all other applications received against the published criteria, which include location factors such as distance to the nearest existing specialist school.

Mr. Boswell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many specialist schools have been designated in each year since the inception of the scheme; and what has been the cost to public funds in each of those years. [135936]

Ms Estelle Morris

The number of schools designated from each September since the specialist schools programme was introduced and the related cost in each of those years is given in the table:

Year Number of designations Financial year Programme cost (£ million)
1994 49 1994–95 8
1995 58 1995–96 16
1996 74 1996–97 23
1997 78 1997–98 33
1998 85 1998–99 41
1999 77 1999–2000 47
2000 137 2000–01 176
1Estimated outturn