§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the services to be provided to schools by KPMG which he announced on 29 October, including the number of schools to be visited and the expected average duration of that visit; and if he will make a statement on changes in the extent and scope of the work in the period since he first announced the programme. [145614]
§ Mr. Stephen Twigg[holding answer 5 January 2004]: KPMG and the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), in consultation with key stakeholders including local authority, teacher and governor associations, have jointly developed a range of budget management support for schools, including online materials, workshops and consultancy services. The programme of workshops, which will be rolled out from January to March 2004 will be available to 1,000 schools and follow-up surgeries will be available, on a regional basis, for up to 125 schools with pressing and complex problems. The website containing online support materials was launched on 15 December and is available to all schools, as will be the central helpdesk, run by NCSL and available from this month.