§ Mr. ReedTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that Leicestershire LEA meets his target that no infant is taught in a class size of 30 or more by September 2001. [137058]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisFor the huge majority of infants, the Government have secured early delivery of their pledge to limit infant class sizes to 30 pupils. In September 2000, as few as 30,000 five, six and seven-year-olds remained in infant classes of 31 or more. The figure in January 1998 was 485,000. The pledge is supported by over £600 million, and allocations so far to Leicestershire LEA amount to nearly £4 million—enough to support 71 additional teachers this year, and 24 additional classrooms. This has enabled the authority to make steady progress towards meeting the pledge: in September 2000, over 94 per cent. of five, six and seven-year-olds in Leicestershire were in infant classes of 30 or below, compared with 89 per cent. in September 1999. The figure in January 1998 was 78 per cent.