§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional support is given to local education authorities to meet the costs resulting from the requirement to educate the children of asylum seekers. [44488]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisLocal education authorities receive financial support, through the Education Standard Spending Assessment, for the cost of educating children of asylum seekers in the same way that it does for all pupils on school rolls. The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant, part of the Department's Standards Fund, is available to help schools address the needs of minority ethnic pupils at risk of underachievement and support pupils, including children of asylum seekers, for whom English is an additional language. All LEAs are eligible for this funding, which in this financial year is providing around £154 million of support.
In addition, in 2000–01, £1.5 million was made available to support the education costs of the children of asylum seekers dispersed to Home Office designated "cluster areas". This funding was rolled forward into this financial year and increased to £2,377,000.