§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on local education authority funding for 2001–02. [156859]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe overall increase in Education Standard Spending (ESS) in 2001–02 is over billion. In addition to the increase in ESS, the Government are also increasing Standards Fund grant by over £400 million; and following the recent budget announcement schools will also benefit from an increase of £350 million in direct grants. Taken together all these increases represent an 8 per cent. cash increase in revenue support for authorities and their schools next year, a real terms increase of £200 per pupil.
The schools' capital allocation for 2001–02 is £2.2 billion: this is part of an allocation of £8.5 billion over the three years covered by the Year 2000 Spending Review.
Since 1997, funding has increased by £540 per pupil in real terms. Under the last Government, funding per pupil fell by £80 in real terms between 1994–95 and 1997–98. The total increase following the Year 2000 Spending Review will be around £750 between 1997–98 and 2003–04.
While we have been increasing resources to education authorities, we have been reviewing the formula for allocating funds to local authorities. We are currently working on a reformed system, with the aim of moving towards it in 2002–03.