§ Mrs. BrookeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2002,Official Report, columns 1293–96W, on the Standards Fund, what factors account for the difference between the allocations for the Standards Fund per pupil for Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset. [43567]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Standards Fund is not allocated on a simple per pupil basis, but in relation to the specific priorities it is designed to support in each local education authority. Significant variances in the per pupil figures for Standards Fund are due to: grants where one authority is acting as a co-ordinator for others in its area; or grants allocated to particular types of school; and grants that are allocated to respond to needs, which may not be reflected equally in all authorities. The per pupil figure for each of these types of grants for Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth are shown in the following table:
1281W
Main differences in Standards Fund per pupil Grant Dorset £ per pupil Poole £ per pupil Bournemouth £ per pupil Regional coordination LEA Music Services 6 0 0 Child Protection Co-ordinators 0 0 2 Allocated by specific types of school Specialist Schools 18 8 17 Small Schools Fund 17 2 2 Specific needs based initiatives Induction of Newly Qualified Teachers 7 11 6 Reducing Infant Class Sizes 42 21 94 Fresh Start 0 0 110
Main differences in Standards Fund per pupil Grant Dorset £ per pupil Poole £ per pupil Bournemouth £ per pupil Information Management Strategy 5 3 0 Classrooms of the Future 6 3 28 School Laboratories 4 4 0 Total 104 54 260 For other Standards Fund grants the total per pupil distribution is: £244, £251 and £247 for Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth respectively. The smaller differences are due to variances in the level of free school meal eligibility and the balance between primary and secondary pupils.