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Education Funding (Liverpool)

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much (a) capital and (b) revenue funding has been made available to schools and colleges in Liverpool in each year since 1997. [41124]

John Healey: Nationally, capital investment in school buildings has more than tripled from less than £700 million in 1996–97 to over £2.2 billion in 2001–02, and will rise to over £3.5 billion a year by 2003–04, totalling £8.5 billion from 2001–02 to 2003–04. Table A shows the total capital investment of over £168 million in school buildings in Liverpool from 1997–98 to 2001–02, including £74.3 million of PFI credits.

For revenue funding, between 1997–98 and 2001–02, Liverpool has seen a significant increase in its Education Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) and grants, as set out in Table B.

The overall settlement for 2002–03 is a good one, and Liverpool's pupils will further benefit. Its Education SSA will increase by £11.33 million or 4.48 per cent. over 2001–02. Liverpool will also benefit from an overall increase in Standards Fund grant of over £160 million; and an increase of 2.75 per cent. in the direct grant for schools. In addition, Liverpool will receive £8.04 million extra in revenue support grant (RSG) from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions to bring its overall increase in RSG up to 4 per cent.

The Learning and Skills Council will write to the hon. Member about resources provided to colleges, and a copy of its letter will be placed in the Library.

19 Mar 2002 : Column 249W

Table A
Schools Capital Allocations By Central Government Liverpool Local Education Authority

YearCapital Allocation £ million
1997–9815.306
1998–9920.104
1999–200013.967
2000–0197.961
2001–0220.785
Total168.123

Notes:

1. Allocations comprise capital grant and credit approvals including PFI credits for school buildings

2. The figure for 2000–01 includes £74.3 million of PFI credits


Table B
Grants and SSA Liverpool Local Education Authority

£ million
SSAGrantsTotal
1997–98210.1738.092218.265
1998–99229.9142.798232.712
1999–2000238.3047.773246.077
2000–01248.41426.076274.490
2001–02252.28644.743297.029
Change(16)42.11336.65178.764

(16) Change since 1997–98

Notes:

1. Figures reflect all sub-blocks of the Education SSA plus all revenue grants in DfES's Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to pupils aged 4–19. The Private Voluntary Independent element of the SSA that replaced Nursery Education Grant funding is not included in the funding figures.

2. Grant figures exclude funds that include ages before 4 years old, Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant and Education Maintenance Allowance.


University Funding

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to link funding for universities to the socio-economic background of students admitted to those universities; and if she will make a statement. [40798]

19 Mar 2002 : Column 250W

Margaret Hodge: [holding answer 6 March 2002]: The Government is promoting wider access to universities. As part of this, the Higher Education Funding Council for England provides funding to higher education institutions to reflect the additional costs of recruiting students from low participation postcodes.

School Buildings

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of capital investment in school buildings in (a) coalfield areas and (b) England has been since 1997. [41789]

John Healey: We do not hold information on the level of capital investment in school buildings in coalfield areas. The Department allocates most capital funding for schools to Local Education Authorities (LEAs), based on needs related formulae, and it is for the Authorities to assess and prioritise the capital needs of their school buildings in line with their local Asset Management Plans (AMPs). Individual LEAs will, therefore, hold information on how much capital investment has been allocated to schools within coalfield areas.

The table below shows the level of central government support for capital investment in school buildings in England for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2003–04.

YearCapital allocation £000s
1997–98755
1998–991,088
1999–20001,400
2000–012,100
2001–022,200
2002–032,800
2003–043,500
Total13,843

Pupil Numbers

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils there are in each local education authority in the South West of England. [41871]

Mr. Timms: The information requested is shown in the table below.

All Schools: Number (headcount) of Pupils By Type of School
January 2001

Nursery
LEA MntdDirect GrantTotalmaintained Primaryof which middle deemedMaintained secondaryof which middle deemed
South West2,00302,003399,9186,420314,65214,763
Bath and North East Somerset00012,924012,2730
Bournemouth00011,44909,7700
Bristol, City of1,65801,65831,597017,9070
Cornwall117011741,146032,0110
Devon7707756,5032,69039,8320
Dorset00025,374029,3198,096
Gloucestershire00046,407038,1650
Isles of Scilly00014001240
North Somerset00014,927012,2690
Plymouth151015121,285018,8290
Poole00011,2503,7308,197673
Somerset00038,894031,2144,782
South Gloucestershire00023,462016,4420
Swindon00017,901011,5610
Torbay00010,32808,7080
Wiltshire00036,331028,0311,212

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Special(17)
LEA MntdNon-MntdTotalPupil Referral Units(18)IndependentCity Technology CollegesAll Schools
South West7,3645087,87262061,4941,017787,576
Bath and North East Somerset317031704,264029,778
Bournemouth235023501,550023,004
Bristol, City of804080437,855059,824
Cornwall414041402,567076,255
Devon7733041,077238,9130106,425
Dorset5230523105,830061,056
Gloucestershire1,055681,123608,339094,094
Isles of Scilly000080272
North Somerset2420242561,273028,767
Plymouth7420742861,550042,643
Poole248102350241,134020,955
Somerset5990599759,532080,314
South Gloucestershire32203221197931,01742,155
Swindon41104112928029,930
Torbay311031125930020,302
Wiltshire368344021106,928071,802

(17) Excludes pupils who are also registered at a mainstream school.

(18) Excludes pupils who are also registered at a mainstream or special school.

Source:

Annual Schools Census


School Land Sales

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 231W, on school land sales, what rules govern whether a local education authority has to obtain permission to sell school land to developers; and if she will make a statement. [41912]

John Healey [holding answer 11 March 2002]: Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 requires local authorities to obtain the consent of the Secretary of State before selling any playing fields which:



Applications to dispose, or change the use, of school playing fields are assessed against the following criteria:




Only those applications that meet the criteria are approved. Since July 2001, all applications have been scrutinised by the Independent School Playing Fields

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Advisory Panel to make sure that they comply with the published criteria. The Panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the education organisation Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association.


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