§ Adam Price:To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the levels of educational attainment in the UK coalfields, and on Government action to improve them. [142946]
§ Mr. Ivan Lewis:In England, the increase in levels of educational attainment in coalfield areas since 1998, reflects that of England as a whole. In addition we are
Table (a) St. Helens South Revenue (£) 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 Capital (£) Round Sure Start local programme Year of approval Allocation Spend Allocation Spend Allocation Spend to date Allocation Claim to date 4 Fourways 5/9/2001 102,691 102,691 382,400 332,170 594,200 253,115 1,000,000 0 5 Happy Elephant 27/6/2002 0 83,652 365,069 281,417 539,914 405,695 1,000.000 11,500 6 Phoenix 6/5/2003 n/a n/a n/a n/a 560,000 0 1,000,000 0 Total funding 102,691 186,343 747,469 613,587 1,694,114 658,810 3,000,000 11,500 Notes:
1. Local programmes are allocated funds at the beginning of each financial year based on their delivery plan.
2. Programmes claim grant quarterly using the Sure Start Unit's online claims system.
3. n/a denotes that the programme was not operational in that year.
660Walready seeing evidence that the gap between attainment in coalfield areas and non-coalfield areas is beginning to close.
DIES is committed to working closely with other Departments in order to develop a package of support for former coalfield areas. We know that coalfield areas have suffered from low levels of educational attainment and we have a range of targeted initiatives to raise attainment. We are succeeding in raising aspirations and attainment though policies that aim to ensure that all learners attain the highest standards, regardless of where they live.
DfES also works closely with all the key coalfield organisations such as Coalfield Communities Campaign (CCC), Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT), Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO) and Coalfield Learning Initiative Partnership (CLIP) to improve our targeting and tackle problems.
§ Mr. Woodward:To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department has allocated in each year to the Sure Start programme since its establishment; and how it has been spent in (a) St. Helens South, (b) St. Helens, (c) Merseyside and (d) the North West Region. [141475]
§ Margaret Hodge:The total annual budget (capital and revenue) allocated to Sure Start local programmes since the policy was established has been as follows:
£ million 1999–2000 84 2000–01 184 2002–02 184 2002–03 449 2003–04 1355 1 Grant has been re-profiled to take account of previous year's rate of spend Individual programmes have been established through six planning rounds. In each round, eligible local authority districts were invited to identify a catchment area and set up a programme. The resulting programme has been provided with an indicative annual revenue profile and a single capital allocation to develop necessary facilities. 524 local programmes are being developed across the country. Of these, 108 are in the north-west of England—26 in Merseyside. The St. Helens district has five programmes of which three are in St. Helens South.
The financial information requested for the northwest region is set out in the following table. Information is drawn from local programmes' grant letters and their audit certificates as well as the Sure Start Unit's finance and performance monitoring IT system. Explanatory notes are attached at the end of each table.
661W4. Where there is spend against a nil allocation, this indicates start up or advance payments, which are anticipated from the first financial year of operation.
5. Claims for the 2003–04 financial year are still on-going—£0 indicates that a claim has either not been made or is in the process of being made.
6. Capital funding for Sure Start local programmes is normally a single allocated sum from which programmes draw down funds for particular projects. As programmes do not make regular claims, this has been shown as spend (or claims) to date. Programmes are encouraged to use their capital allocation within 3–5 years of their delivery plan being approved.
Table (b) St. Helens Revenue (£) 2000–01 2000–02 2000–03 Round Sure Start local programme Year of approval Allocation Spend Allocation Spend Allocation Spend 1 Parr1 120/1/2000 519,000 300,600 547,000 405,079 694,950 624,509 4 Fourways 5/9/2001 n/a n/a 102,691 102,691 382,400 332,170 5 Happy Elephant 27/6/2002 n/a n/a 0 83,652 365,069 281,417 5 Central Link 6/9/2002 n/a n/a 0 98,660 323,129 189,236 6 Phoenix 6/5/2003 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Total funding 519,000 300,600 649,691 690,082 1,765,548 1,427,332
Revenue (£) 2003–04 Captial (£) Round Sure Start local programme Year of approval Allocation Spend to date Allocation Claim to date 1 Parr1 20/1/20001 755,170 413,914 1,250,000 15,700 4 Fourways 5/9/2001 594,200 253,115 1,000,000 0 5 Happy Elephant 27/6/2002 539,914 405,695 1,000,000 11,500 5 Central Link 6/9/2002 519,094 202,392 1,000,000 0 6 Phoenix 6/5/2003 560,000 0 1,000,000 0 Total funding 2,968,378 1,275,115 5,250,000 27,200 1 Sure Start Parr was approved in financial year 1999–2000 but because of late approval, spend was negligible in that financial year. Notes:
1. Local programmes are allocated funds at the beginning of each financial year based on their delivery plan.
2. Programmes claim grant quarterly using the Sure Start Unit's online claims system.
3. n/a denotes that the programme was not operational in that year.
4. Where there is spend against a nil allocation, this indicates start up or advance payments, which are anticipated from the first financial year of operation.
5. Claims for the 2003–04 financial year are still on-going—£0 indicates that a claim has either not been made or is in the process of being made.
6. Capital funding for Sure Start local programmes is normally a single allocated sum from which programmes draw down funds for particular projects. As programmes do not make regular claims, this has been shown as spend (or claims) to date. Programmes are encouraged to use their capital allocation within 3–5 years of their delivery plan being approved.
662W
Table (c) Merseyside, including St. Helens Total funding (£) Number of programmes—(26 across six rounds) Revenue 2000–01 Allocation 2,871,232 Spend 1,595,000 2001–02 Allocation 5,228,760 Spend 3,678,612 2002–03 Allocation 9,390,882 Spend 8,213,327 2003–04 Allocation 15,999,058 Spend to date 5,773,821 Capital Allocation 27,199,839 Spend to date 3,765,510 Note:
1. A few round 1 programmes were approved at the end of the financial year 1999–2000 but, given the late start, spend in that financial year was negligible.
663W
Table (d) North West Total landing (£) Number of programmes—(108 across six rounds) Revenue 2000–01 Allocation n/a Spend n/a 2001–02 Allocation 22,770,182 Spend 15,379,256 2002–03 Allocation 33,630,120 audits Spend pending
Table (d) North West Total funding (£) Number of programmes—(108 across six rounds) Revenue 2003–04 Allocation 72,175,410 Spend to date 14,417,816 Capital Total allocation 110,944,324 Spend to date 45,800,000 Notes:
1. We are unable to provide an accurate picture of the overall revenue spend for the North West region as a whole for financial year 2000–01 because data processes were not set up to collect this information on a regional basis until 2001–02.
2. Audit certificates for the financial year 2002–03 are still being submitted to the Sure Start Unit from some of the North West programmes and therefore spend figures for the region as a whole are unavailable at present.
3. The capital spend to date figure refers to the total value of capital projects approved to date, which programmes are able to draw down. The actual amount claimed to date is £15.3 million. The discrepancy is due to building work not being completed (and so not claimed for) or accountable bodies funding work and not yet claiming it back.