§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Standards and Effectiveness Unit were satisfied by 1 October that the City of Newcastle Local Education Authority had a strategy for closing the gap between its GCSE target and the aggregated schools GCSE target; and if he will place the plans for targeting challenge and support for schools in the Library. [78766]
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§ Mr. MilibandNewcastle local education authority (LEA) has submitted information about their strategy for meeting the LEA's targets for pupil attainment in GCSE/GNVQ. Education advisers from the Department's Standards and Effectiveness Unit are meeting all local education authorities during the course of November and December to take stock of progress towards their 2004 targets. The authority's strategy for meeting its GCSE targets will be one of the issues discussed at the meeting with Newcastle.