§ Mrs. ShephardTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the cost to public funds is of educating and transporting the 25 eligible pupils who were not found places at Downham Market High School in the present academic year. [147866]
§ Ms Estelle Morris[holding answer 31 January 2001]: Of 26 pupils whose applications for admission to Downham Market High School were turned down in appeals between April 1999 and July 2000, seven have subsequently been admitted to the school. The alternative schools of 14 out of the remaining 19 pupils are known; there is no reason to suppose that the cost of educating 272W them at other schools is significantly different, and no extra teaching costs are known to have been directly incurred as a result of their going to other schools.
The education authority is providing support for transport for 12 out of the 26 pupils at a cost of £10,972 per annum. It is not possible to say how this compares with the costs which might have been incurred had all the pupils attended Downham Market High School, because that depends on individual pupil addresses and such hypothetical costs have not been calculated.