§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East (Dr. Iddon) of 25 April 2002,Official Report, column 448, on the Learning and Skills Council, what the cost is of bringing funding for the education of 16 to 19 years olds in further education colleges in line with that of school sixth forms. [55276]
§ Mr. Ivan Lewis[holding answer 9 May 2002]: Given the different ways in which schools and colleges are funded and the very much broader remit of colleges, comparisons on the funding of the education of 16 to 19 year olds are far from straight forward. My Department is currently considering the best basis for making sound comparisons. The Government remains firmly committed to bring up the level of funding of colleges towards that of school sixth forms. However, as we have repeatedly made clear, this will take time and must be done as resources allow.