§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the impact of the abolition of the Assisted Places Scheme on class sizes. [134942]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe annual cost of maintaining infant classes of 30 and below, around £160 million, will be met from savings made as a result of the phasing out of the Assisted Places Scheme. We are well on track to deliver our pledge to limit infant classes to 30 pupils. Allocations so far to Hampshire LEA amount to some £7 million. This has helped the LEA to reduce the size of the average Key Stage 1 class in the New Forest constituency to 26.7. In January 1997 the figure was 27.3.