§ Harry CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what special assistance she716W proposes to provide to those local education authorities whose results in English and Mathematics for 11-yearolds in 2002 fell a long way short of the Government's 2004 target; and if she will make a statement. [77340]
§ Mr. MilibandFollowing this year's Key Stage 2 results the Department asked all LEAs to draw up specific plans to identify and provide targeted support to those schools which are underperforming— both low attaining schools and those which are not helping their children make as much progress as other similar schools. Over the next couple of months the Department is meeting with all LEAs individually to discuss these plans and the further support they need to meet the challenging targets for 2004. The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies will continue to help LEAs improve their results, in particular by focusing low attaining and underperforming schools, improving leadership and intervention programmes for pupils who are not achieving their potential. We are allocating an additional £11 million this year to support schools make improvements in 2003.