§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason the time limit given to Cambridgeshire county council for an appeal against the Government's grant settlement is 27 January. [150134]
§ Mr. MilibandThe deadline for Cambridgeshire county council to give notice of any objection to the Secretary of State's notice dated 13 January 2004 determining a minimum schools budget for the Council for the financial year 2004–05 was actually 26 January because section 45C(1) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 provides that any such objection must be made within 14 days beginning with the date of the notice determining a minimum schools budget. The Council did give notice of objection on 26 January.
§ Mr. DjanoglyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons his Department rejected a request on 2 December 2003 from the leader of Cambridgeshire county council to discuss Cambridgeshire school's budgetary problems. [150835]
§ Mr. MilibandThe Leader of Cambridgeshire county council wrote to the Deputy Prime Minister on 2 December with a copy to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills requesting a meeting with local government and education Ministers to discuss the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2004–05 and the implications for school funding. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Phil Hope), replied declining a meeting in line with the Government's clear position of not holding face-to-face meetings with local authorities during consultation on the provisional settlement. The Government believe that it would not be equitable to meet some authorities and not others. I recently met the Leader of the Council to hear the authority's position on the level of its schools budget for next year.