§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will make a statement on the future of the Standards Fund for Teaching Assistants and School Support Staff; [115560]
(2) if he will make a statement on the consultation that took place prior to the proposal for the withdrawal of the Standards Fund for Teaching Assistants and School Support Staff; and which organisations were consulted prior to the proposal. [115561]
§ Mr. MilibandFor 2003–04 the previous Teaching Assistants Grant and Small Schools Fund were merged to form the Support Staff Grant, which contributes towards the salary costs of support staff in schools. The Government will work in partnership with local authorities and schools to identify changes that need to be made to the education funding system for 2004 05, so that all schools can expect to receive a reasonable per pupil settlement in that year. This will include determining the right balance between support through general grant and through ring-fenced and targeted grant, including the grants currently within the Standards Fund, such as the School Support Staff Grant. The Government will ensure that changes are in place in good time to allow LEAs and schools to plan for 2004–05 and so provide increased predictability and stability in school funding.
229WThe Education Funding Strategy Group, which met between February 2001 and April 2002, included representatives from local government, the unions representing teachers and support staff, schools governors organisations and the churches. The Groups Report stated that there was general agreement that the scale of specific and special grants should be significantly reduced, including the Standards Fund. This conclusion informed decisions made about the future of specific grants following the 2002 Spending Review, which included a proposal to end the Standards Fund grants for School Support Staff from 2004–05.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the discontinuation of major Standards Funds. [115562]
§ Mr. MilibandThe Government has ended some Standards Fund grants in 2003–04 in order to allow other priorities to be supported from the Fund, without increasing the overall proportion of ring-fenced funding for local authorities and schools. The Government recognises that this has resulted in a greater variation of winners and losers between local education authorities and between individual schools than would be expected in a normal year.
The Government will continue work in partnership with local authorities and schools to identify changes that need to be made to the education funding system for 2004–05, so that all schools can expect to receive a reasonable per pupil settlement in that year. This will include determining the right balance between support through general grant and through ring-fenced and targeted grant, including the Standards Fund. The Government will ensure that changes are in place in good time to allow LEAs and schools to plan for 2004–05 and so provide increased predictability and stability in school funding.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to alter the boundaries in the School Standards Grant. [115563]
§ Mr. MilibandThe amounts of School Standards Grant for 2004–05 and 2005–06 were announced in December 2002. However, we review annually the basis on which grant is paid, including the various thresholds used to determine amounts payable to each school. Any changes to the levels already announced will be notified to local education authorities and schools later in 2003.
230W
1999/2000 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 Places Recruits Places Recruits Places Recruits Places Recruits Primary 12,000 12,096 13,100 13,173 12,500 13,109 14,000 14,451 Secondary Mathematics 1,680 1,302 1,850 1,290 1,940 1,553 1,940 1,673 English and drama 2,160 2,030 2,160 2,029 2,160 2,224 2.350 2,479 Science 2,390 2,362 2,690 2,413 2,810 2,594 2,850 2,701 Modern Foreign Languages 2,200 1,469 2,050 1,635 2,050 1,705 2,050 1,732 Technology1 2,860 1,702 2,000 1,855 2,150 2,160 2,500 2,404 History 790 816 900 913 900 922 950 985
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional resources are available to relieve the shortages of funding for education services in Coventry City Council. [116150]
§ Mr. MilibandCoventry City Council received a 6.5 per cent. increase in Education Formula Spending Share for 2003–04. It passed on 106 per cent. of the increase in schools funding to its schools budget resulting in an 8.3 per cent. increase. It is for the local education authority, in consultation with its schools forum to decide how to use this to meet the needs of Coventrys schools.