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21 Oct 2002 : Column 40W—continued
Funding
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what impact her Department's new funding options will have on redistributing funding to areas with high rates of poverty and low levels of educational achievement. [74959]
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Mr. Miliband: In introducing the new funding system we want it to reflect better authorities' differing circumstances and needs. All the options are based on evidence that suggests that authorities with significant deprivation, and in particular poverty, need to spend significantly more to achieve the same results for their children. There are two options in which the main indicator for deprivation—the number of children of parents on income support—is supplemented by the numbers of children of parents in receipt of Working Families' Tax Credit. This picks up those children whose parents are in low paid work, and its aim is to reflect a wider definition of poverty. The distributional impact of the options is set out in the consultation document issued on 8 July by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Top-up Fees
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what plans she has to introduce top-up fees; [75154]
- (2) what plans she has to increase the level of interest charged on student loans; [75159]
(3) what plans she has to consult students on the review of student support; [75160]
(4) if she will consider reintroducing targeted maintenance support for those students from the poorest backgrounds; [75161]
(5) what plans there are to increase the threshold at which students are required to begin repaying their student loans. [75162]
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Margaret Hodge: We have announced our intention to publish a strategy document setting out our 10-year vision for the development and reform of higher education, including the outcome of the review of student support. The document will be out shortly; it would not be right to pre-empt it here by saying what is or is not planned. Once the document is published there will be opportunity for all interested parties to comment.
Schools Distribution
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many English settlements with a population of 3,000 have (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four or more (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools by broken down by region. [75180]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested is not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Child Care Places
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places were created in (a) 2000–01, (b) 2001–02 and (c) 2002–03 to date broken down by county. [75181]
Mr. Miliband: Annex 1 shows the number of childcare places created in each local education authority area in 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03 to date. The available data has been collated from quarterly reports submitted by local authorities' Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships.
Notes:
(2) Figures for 2002–03 are for the period April to June 2002
(3) Bedfordshire—figures for 2002–03 have not been finalised
(4) Milton Keynes—figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03 have not been finalised
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Post-16 Education
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the study commissioned by the National Rates Advisory Group of the Learning and Skills Committee into the costs of disadvantage in post-16 education has been considered by the group. [75139]
Margaret Hodge: The work of the Learning and Skill Council's National Rates Advisory Group relates to the operational responsibilities of the Council. John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to
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the hon. Member providing the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
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