§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of funding is distributed under the AEN for(a) deprivation, (b) ethnicity and (c) area cost adjustment; what criteria are used to access the need for increased funding for ethnicity in secondary and primary schools; and what plans she has to reduce the funding gap between schools. [76274]
§ Mr. MilibandUnder the current system of education standard spending assessments, 19 per cent. of funding is distributed according to additional educational needs, of which 17 per cent. is for deprivation and 2 per cent. is related to ethnicity (as measured by country of birth data taken from the 1991 national census). A further 4 per cent. is distributed through the area cost adjustment. The level of extra funding for ethnicity in the current system is determined by analysis of the spending patterns of local authorities from 1990–91. In the new system of education funding assessments, which will be introduced for 2003–04, the level of extra funding for additional educational needs will be decided on the basis of evidence about pupil characteristics and cost of provision. This will determine the distribution of funding between authorities and will be announced with the local authority finance settlement by early December.