§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many new posts of teaching assistant she plans to fund during the current financial year; how such funding will be distributed; and what Staffordshire's share will be. [1337]
§ Mr. TimmsThe appointment and deployment of teaching assistants are matters for individual schools and local education authorities to consider in the light of local needs and circumstances, so I cannot say how many posts will be created this financial year. But the numbers of36W full-time equivalent teaching assistants rose by over 25,000 between 1999 and 2001. During the period April 1999 to March 2004, we are making available around £750 million to local education authorities in England to meet the cost of recruiting, maintaining and training this level of new teaching assistants. The Department has allocated funds this year to LEAs on the basis of 80 per cent. to primary and nursery schools and 20 per cent. to secondary and special schools and Pupil Referral Units. Staffordshire's share for 2001–02 is £3,174,241.