§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many asylum seekers' children are being educated in UK schools; and what is the(a) local education authority, (b) country of origin and (c) age of the children. [16775]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 22 November 2001]: The Refugee Council recently estimated that there are approximately 70.000 children of asylum seekers and refugees in UK schools. However, it is not possible to specify the local education authorities, country of origin and age of these children as this Department does not require local education authorities or schools to keep this information.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money is allocated to UK schools for each asylum seeker child in their school. [16776]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 22 November 2001]: Schools receive funding for children of asylum seekers in the same way as they do for all other children on the school roll, through the education standard spending assessment. It is not possible to say how much each school receives through this funding mechanism. This is because this Department does not require schools and local education authorities to keep information about the numbers of children of asylum seekers on each school roll.
Children of asylum seekers can benefit from the ethnic minority achievement grant. Local education authorities decide which schools they will need to devolve funds to, or otherwise support, under the grant, taking into account each school's particular needs. For the current financial year funding stands at £154 million. In addition, for 2001–02, £1.5 million has been made available to support the education costs of children of asylum seekers. This funding is available to schools in the cluster areas to help settle these children into school and acquire English language skills.