§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what the average amount of money allocated to each pupil from the music standards fund is in the current year; [159189]
(2) how much money per pupil was allocated to each unitary authority in Berkshire from the music standards fund in 2001–02; [159190]
(3) what formula was used to determine the allocation to local education authorities from the music standards fund for 2001–02; [159188]
§ Jacqui SmithUntil last year, the music standards fund was based on a system that allowed LEAs to bid for funding. From this year, LEAs will be allocated funding on a formula based on a free school meals deprivation factor. We expect £10 million of the Government's contribution to be matched equally by LEAs. The matched funding was frozen at 2000–01 levels so that no LEA should pay more in matched funding, and no LEA would receive less grant for music than in 2000–01.
The Government's grant of £50 million is broken down in two ways; £25 million was allocated based on the number of schools (primary, secondary, special and PRU) in each LEA, ie the £25 million was divided by the total number of schools in all the LEAs and distributed to each LEA pro rata. The remaining £25 million was allocated according to the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils in those schools multiplied by the mean free school meals FSM percentage for each LEA.
Based on this formula, if the allocation to an LEA is lower than previously, we would protect the allocation based on last year's figures. In the case of Berkshire, all the unitary authorities received protected funding, as their allocations calculated by need would have been lower than their previous bids.
The overall amount per full-time equivalent (FTE) pupil in England is £7.86. The table sets out the music standards fund allocations and the amount per FTE for the Berkshire unitary authorities:
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