HC Deb 30 March 2004 vol 419 c1401W
Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding has been spent on computers for schools in(a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in each year since 1996. [164181]

Mr. Tom Clarke

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to his question on funding allocated to Lancashire for information and communications technology (ICT) in schools across the authority on 16 March,Official Report, column 226W. Our records show that Lancashire did not receive any specific funding for ICT in 1996–97 or 1997–98. Funding is not allocated or collected on a constituency basis.

Mr. Hoyle

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils per computer there were in schools in(a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in each year since 1996.[164182]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The information requested is not available centrally.

Figures for England, which were derived from a sample of schools, are shown in the table.

Average number of pupils1 per computer (used solely or mainly for teaching and learning purposes) by type of school
England—Year end March 1996–2003
Maintained primary Maintained secondary Maintained special
1996 19.0 9.0 4.0
1997 2 2 2
1998 17.6 8.7 4.5
1999 13.4 8.4 3.7
2000 12.6 7.9 3.7
2001 11.8 7.1 3.2
2002 10.1 6.5 3.4
2003 7.9 5.4 3.0
1 Full-time equivalent numbers of pupils.
2 Not available

The latest information on ICT in schools was published in Statistical Bulletin 'Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2003', which is available on the Department's web-site www. dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.