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Lone Parents

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many lone parents aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 34, (c) 35 to 50, and (d) over 50 years have joined the New Deal since 1998 (i) nationally, (ii) in the constituency of Leyton and Wanstead and (iii) the boroughs of (I) Waltham Forest and (II) Redbridge. [146978]

Ms Jowell: Latest figures to the end of October 2000 are summarised in the following table:

Number agreeing to join NDLP to end October 2000

	Great Britain	Leyton and Wanstead constituency
Aged
Under 18	1,310	(3)--
18-34	112,170	177
35-50	56,400	79
Over 50	2,440	(3)--

⁽³⁾ Numbers too small to preserve client anonymity.

Note:

Information at borough level is not available.

Schools Expenditure

Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much revenue expenditure was available for schools in (a) Staffordshire and (b) Burton constituency for each year from 1990-91 to 2000-01. [146983]

Ms Estelle Morris: Information on education expenditure according to parliamentary constituency is not collected centrally. The following table shows the spending in Staffordshire for the years 1990-91 to 1998-99, the latest year for which this information is currently available. These figures are based on net institutional expenditure, and for 1997-98 and 1998-99 do not include expenditure in Stoke-on-Trent due to local government reorganisation in 1997.

	£ million
1990-91	257.4
1991-92	281.5
1992-93	295.3
1993-94	297.2
1994-95	302.8
1995-96	300.3
1996-97	312.8
1997-98	240.9
1998-99	255.2

The following table sets out the resources made available to Staffordshire local education authority for education of four to 19-year-olds since 1997-98, at 2000-01 prices. These figures are not directly comparable with net institutional expenditure set out above, but they do reflect real terms increases in funding per pupil over the last three years of £300.

29 Jan 2001 : Column: 29W

£ per pupil

	Standard spending assessment	Special and specific grants	SSA and special/ specific grants
1997-98	2,350	110	2,460
1998-99	2,470	40	2,510
1999-2000	2,530	80	2,610
2000-01	2,580	170	2,750

Under this Government, funding per pupil has already increased by over £300 nationally in real terms, and it will increase by a further £150 per pupil for 2001-02. Under the last Government, funding per pupil fell by £60 in real terms between 1994-95 and 1997-98. There will be further increases in funding following the year 2000 spending review: a further £370 per pupil over the three-year period, taking the total increase to nearly £700 between 1997-98 and 2003-04.

Standard Spending Assessment

Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the SSA per pupil was in (a) Staffordshire and (b) England for each year from 1990-91 to 2000-01. [146984]

Ms Estelle Morris: The information requested is in the following tables. They show that in the period 1993-94 to 1996-97 SSA per pupil in Staffordshire fell by £80 in real terms. Since 1997-98, total funding per pupil has increased by £330 per pupil in real terms.

Standard spending assessment per pupil

		£
	Staffordshire (before local government reorganisation) SSA	England SSA
Cash
1990-91	1,680	1,820
1991-92	1,920	2,100
1992-93	2,040	2,240
1993-94	2,080	2,290
1994-95	2,100	2,300
1995-96	2,070	2,270
1996-97	2,170	2,350
	Real Terms 2000-01 prices
1990-91	2,240	2,440
1991-92	2,430	2,650
1992-93	2,490	2,730
1993-94	2,480	2,720
1994-95	2,460	2,700
1995-96	2,360	2,580
1996-97	2,400	2,590

29 Jan 2001 : Column: 30W

Standard spending assessment and special and specific grants per pupil

						£
	Staffordshire (after local government reorganisation)			England
	SSA	Grant	Total	SSA	Grant	Total
	Cash
1997-98	2,200	30	2,230	2,410	30	2,440
1998-99	2,310	30	2,340	2,540	40	2,580
1999-2000	2.420	80	2.510	2.660	110	2,770
2000-01	2,530	190	2,720	2,780	240	3,020
	Real terms 2000-01 prices
1997-98	2,360	30	2,390	2,590	30	2,620
1998-99	2,410	40	2,450	2,650	40	2,690
1999-2000	2,470	90	2,560	2,710	120	2,830
2000-01	2,530	190	2,720	2,780	240	3,020

Teachers (Greater London)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent survey he has undertaken on the problems of the retention of teachers working in schools in the Greater London area. [146942]

Ms Estelle Morris: The Teacher Training Agency contributed to the costs of a study by the University of North London on teacher supply and retention in London. This included surveying those leaving teaching posts in six London boroughs in 1998-99, including those moving into other teaching jobs.

The most commonly cited reasons for leaving were school management, hours worked, pupil behaviour, lack of opportunities for promotion and school resources. The Government are addressing each of these concerns. A new leadership college for headteachers and improved pay for heads have been introduced. We are tackling needless bureaucracy by reducing duplication of data requests and cutting by half the materials sent automatically to schools by the DfEE. The expansion of ICT is assisting in this regard too.

The Government are spending 10 times more than in 1996-97 on tackling poor behaviour and truancy. £174 million in 2001-02 will be used to continue a big expansion in places and standards in pupil referral units and further to improve provision of in-school learning support units. The introduction of performance-related pay will improve opportunities of promotion for tens of thousands of teachers.

Resources that were cut between 1994-97 have been significantly increased since. Schools have more resources for teachers, classroom assistants, computers, books and other priorities than in 1997. Funding per pupil will have increased by over £450 in real terms between 1997-98 and 2001-02. Capital resources this year at £2 billion are three times the level of 1996-97. The Government have made clear that there will be further increases as a result of the 2000 Spending Review in both revenue and capital.

29 Jan 2001 : Column: 31W

Community Action Pilots

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the ILAs to be accessed through community action pilots as part of the regeneration strategy announced on 15 January will (a) be subject to the same criteria as other ILAs and (b) be of the same individual value; if the figure announced for take-up of 10,000 is in addition to existing credits; if this figure represents (i) an estimate and (ii) a target; and what arrangements he will put in place for evaluating pilot studies. [146057]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 22 January 2001]: Individual Learning Accounts accessed through community action pilots will be subject to the same criteria, and of the same value as, other Individual Learning Accounts. The 10,000 accounts announced will be part of the first one million Individual Learning Account holders to benefit from the £150 incentive. Already 560,000 people have opened Individual Learning Accounts.

We are making support costs available to the Community Groups to test out new ideas on reaching those who have not been engaged in learning rather than asking these groups to achieve set targets. The figure of 10,000 is therefore the estimate from the five participating community groups. Information from this pilot work will inform the full Individual Learning Accounts evaluation to be carried out from May 2001.

29 Jan 2001 : Column: 32W

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what directions overriding a note of dissent by an accounting officer have been given by the boards of non-departmental public bodies within his Department since May 1997. [147063]

Mr. Wills: There have been no such directions.

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