§ Lord Kilclooneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
(a) what is the enrolment in the new integrated secondary school in Armagh City; (b) whether this enrolment is below or above the target required; (c) what percentage of these pupils are Protestant and what percentage are Roman Catholic; and (d) what public funding will be given to this secondary school in the present academic year. [HL4133]
§ Baroness AmosArmagh Integrated College opened on 1 September, in temporary premises on the second floor of the Old City Hospital Building in Armagh with an enrolment of 50. This fulfilled the minimum enrolment viability criteria for new grant-maintained post-primary schools (a minimum of 50 pupils taking up allocated places in year 8). Thirty-two per cent of the pupils are Protestant and 62 per cent are Roman Catholic. Schools in Northern Ireland are funded on a financial year basis and the school will receive recurrent (i.e. local management of schools (LMS)) funding of some £150,000 for the period September 2004 to March 2005. The school will not be eligible for capital grant until it has established its longer-term viability, usually over a three-year period.