§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the new Formula Spending Share system on classroom assistant numbers in the South East; and if he will make a statement. [127285]
§ Mr. MilibandIn January 2003 there were more than 225,000 full-time equivalent support staff in schools in England including 122,000 teaching assistants, compared to 217,000 (including 106,000 teaching assistants) in January 2002. Statistics due to be released on 9 September will provide regional and LEA level breakdowns of these figures. It is for individual schools to decide on staffing levels in the light of their needs and priorities and the overall resources available to them. It is estimated that funding being made available to schools should enable them to recruit at least 50,000 additional full-time equivalent support staff over the lifetime of the current Parliament.