HC Deb 21 July 2004 vol 424 cc271-2W
Alan Simpson

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many teachers and teaching assistants posts will be lost at the end of the current school year in Nottingham City maintained schools; [184654]

(2) how much money Nottingham local education authority lost from its formula allocation by the imposition of a funding ceiling; and how many of the lost teaching posts this could have saved; [184655]

(3) what assessment he has made of the change in teacher numbers in Nottingham on educational standards in city schools; [184656]

(4) if he will make a statement on the funding of primary and secondary schools in Nottingham in 2005–06. [184657]

Mr. Miliband

The Department collects statistics on numbers of teachers and support staff in January each year and will be publishing the figures for January 2004 by local education authority in the autumn. These show an increase in full-time equivalent regular teachers in Nottingham City between 1999 and 2003 of 210 (10 per cent.). Schools make changes in their staffing levels every year in response to a range of issues including changing pupil numbers, new school priorities and the resources available to them.

The calculation of the Education Formula Spending Share has a floor and ceiling component which ensures that all authorities see a minimum increase per pupil which is in part funded by having a ceiling which imposes a maximum increase per pupil. In 2004–05 Nottingham City local education authority received the ceiling increase (6.8 per cent. per pupil) which reduced its Education Formula Spending Share by £2.8 million.

The funding allocation for each local education authority for 2005–06 will be announced in the provisional local government finance settlement in the autumn. However, every authority will receive an increase in the Schools Formula Spending Share of at least 5.5 per cent. per pupil. [Primary and nursery schools will receive a minimum funding increase per pupil of 5 per cent. and secondary schools of 4 per cent. where pupil numbers do not change.]