Supplementary memorandum submitted by
Mr Stephen Twigg MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Schools, Department for Education and Skills (T19(a))
At the hearing on 8 April on the delivery of
education in rural areas, Rt Hon Alun Michael MP and I agreed
to write to the Sub-committee with information on a number of
issues.
RESEARCH INTO
STANDARDS
The Sub-committee asked if the DfES has undertaken
any research into the standards reached by pupils in rural schools
in comparison to their counterparts in urban schools. I can confirm
that my Department has not conducted any research on this area.
However, a Statistical Bulletin we published in June 2002, on
pupil progress by secondary school type in both urban and rural
areas, found that pupils in schools with year group cohorts of
under 100 pupils made less progress than those in larger cohorts.
SURE START
The Sub-committee also asked for figures on
the number of Sure Start programmes in rural areas. Of the 524
planned Sure Start local programmes 15 are based in identifiably
rural areas, although others may cover both urban and rural settings.
Local authority districts are invited by Ministers to put forward
proposals for a Sure Start local programme in their area. The
catchment areas chosen for Sure Start local programmes are locally
determined by the districts concerned and concentrate on the areas
of most need. The Sure Start guidance was revised two years ago
to allow a different approach for rural areas and areas with high
levels of rural poverty were invited to apply t he new criteria.
This allowed for longer planning time because of the inherent
difficulties in developing local consultation. It also allowed
a higher revenue cost per child, larger geographical catchment
areas, and some targeting of families based on referrals. Changing
the guidance in this way resulted in the 15 rural Sure Start local
programmes. It is highly likely that if the Unit had not allowed
for these modifications, the districts chosen for these programmes
would have put their Sure Start in a large town or city.
In addition, the Sure Start Unit is funding
a pilot project of 46 Mini Sure Start local programmes in rural
areas and areas of towns and cities with pockets of deprivation.
These programmes cover areas where the number of disadvantaged
children living in a defined area is less than the 800 required
for a full local programme and so would not be covered by the
traditional Sure Start local programmes model. The Mini Sure Start
local programmes are building on existing services like Neighbourhood
Nurseries or other facilities delivering children's services and
using Sure Start funding to deliver outreach and additional health
work. Of the forty-six Mini Sure Start pilots, twenty-nine are
in rural areas.
BROADBAND ACCESS
The Sub-committee also asked for figures on
the number of rural schools that have a Broadband connection.
This information is not available—LEAs do not report on
the urban/rural split of schools connected, rather they report
on the number of Secondary, Primary, Special and "quote Other"
schools connected.
The Regional Broadband Consortia (RBCs) have
been set up to ensure connectivity for schools in their region.
By taking a regional approach, the RBCs are best placed to tackle
local issues and agree a rollout plan that best suits their local
enviro nment. Every RBC has been tasked with ensuring all schools,
including all rural schools, are connected by 2006 and we are
currently engaging the RBCs in a planning exercise to ensure this
target is achieved.
At present, 87% of Secondary schools are connected,
which tend to be in more urban areas. In turn this means that
the majority of the new connections throughout 2003, 2004 and
2005 will be primary schools—in both rural and urben areas.
Feedback and anecdotal evidence from the RBCs indicates many rural
schools are already connected.
SCHOOL TRANSPORT
The Sub-committee also asked a range of questions
on school transport issues. Before responding to these, it may
be helpful if I briefly explain the law on home to school transport.
LEAs must provide free transport if they consider it necessary
to enable a pupil to attend school, and they may help other pupils
with their fares. LEAs must also publish annually their policy
on free and assisted transport.
An LEA must take account of pupils' ages and
the nature of possible routes to school in deciding whether or
not free transport is necessary. Free transport is always necessary
for a pupil of compulsory school age who attends the nearest suitable
school if it is beyond statutory walking distance, these are two
miles for pupils aged up to eight and three miles for those aged
eight and over. The Courts have held that a route to school is
available to 5-16 year-olds if, accompanied as necessary, they
can walk along it with reasonable safety; a route does not cease
to be available because of the dangers which would arise if the
child were unaccompanied.
Although we have heard occasional claims about
a link between truancy levels and availability of home to school
transport, I am not aware of any formal research being conducted
in that area.
Responsibility for negotiating and granting
contacts for home to school transport rests with LEAs rather than
individual schools. They are under a duty to secure Best Value
when doing so, and the economies of scale each LEA brings means
that contract prices are likely to be more competitive than if
it was left to individual schools to negotiate.
I enclose a table which details provisional
amounts of LEA expenditure in 2001-02 on home—school transport.
This shows expenditure totalling £561 million, a 6% increase
over the previous year.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
FINANCE SETTLEMENT
The Committee asked for an analysis of the effect
on rural authorities of resource equalisation within the local
government finance settlement. I am grateful to Alun Michael for
his contribution here.
Overall, the settlement was a fair one for rural
areas. We are satisfied that rural areas have done well overall
in the introduction of Formula Spending Share. Indeed, rural shire
districts received an average of 7.6% increase from last year,
compared to a 5.9% increase overall for England.
Resource equalisation has always been a feature
of the local government finance system, and generally benefits
rural areas, although no specific research has been done. However,
there have been no major changes to that element this year. The
main factor affecting the position of rural local authorities
relative to urban ones is the extent to which sparsity is taken
into account in the Formula Spending Shares. Sparsity is now factored
in at the level of individual services rather than overall which
gives a finer grained analysis. One particular new area where
itfeatures now is in the primary schools sub-block, the inclusion
for which has been based on detailed research.
The Countryside Agency is undertaking research
on the use of other indicators such as dispersion and settlement
patterns to influence future finance settlements and is working
closely with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on this.
The contents of this letter have been agreed
with Alun Michael.
30 April 2003
Annex
Expenditure on home to school/college1
transport by local education authority area and education sector
for the financial year 2001-02
Figures as reported by LEAs on their Section
52 Outturn statement (Table 3)
| LEA Number: |
LEA Name: |
Primary Education (c) |
Secondary Education (d) |
Special Education (e) |
TOTAL |
| 201 |
City of London |
95 |
4,151 |
46,322 |
50,568 |
| 202 |
Camden |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 203 |
Greenwich |
0 |
0 |
2,382,179 |
2,382,179 |
| 204 |
Hackney |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 205 |
Hammersmith and Fulham |
49,463 |
181,364 |
1,417,931 |
1,648,758 |
| 206 |
Islington |
18,898 |
15,816 |
0 |
34,714 |
| 207 |
Kensington and Chelsea |
75,775 |
55,672 |
48,601 |
180,048 |
| 208 |
Lambeth |
7,022 |
0 |
19,483 |
26,505 |
| 209 |
Lewisham |
55,231 |
181,631 |
2,310,313 |
2,547,175 |
| 210 |
Southwark |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 211 |
Tower Hamlets |
14,565 |
67,483 |
41,090 |
123,138 |
| 212 |
Wandsworth |
194,936 |
251,417 |
1,519,380 |
1,965,733 |
| 213 |
Westminster |
10,115 |
7,948 |
1,900,504 |
1,918,567 |
| 301 |
Barking and Dagenham |
476,486 |
202,449 |
1,304,666 |
1,983,601 |
| 302 |
Barnet |
218,101 |
640,345 |
1,831,322 |
2,689,768 |
| 303 |
Bexley |
285,000 |
126,000 |
766,000 |
1,177,000 |
| 304 |
Brent |
15,000 |
35,000 |
2,781,000 |
2,831,000 |
| 305 |
Bromley |
721,574 |
245,585 |
1,930,939 |
2,898,098 |
| 306 |
Croydon |
436,030 |
200,178 |
2,683,654 |
3,319,862 |
| 307 |
Ealing |
519,585 |
318,330 |
2,911,593 |
3,749,508 |
| 308 |
Enfield |
202,005 |
576,855 |
2,877,542 |
3,656,402 |
| 309 |
Haringey |
0 |
0 |
4,607,219 |
4,607,219 |
| 310 |
Harrow |
763,489 |
503,904 |
634,042 |
1,901,435 |
| 311 |
Havering |
69,314 |
213,891 |
728,620 |
1,011,825 |
| 312 |
Hillingdon |
865,350 |
347,505 |
2,017,156 |
3,230,011 |
| 313 |
Hounslow |
465,161 |
133,625 |
1,419,611 |
2,018,397 |
| 314 |
Kingston upon Thames |
50,183 |
79,232 |
1,337,949 |
1,467,364 |
| 315 |
Merton |
0 |
0 |
1,240,558 |
1,240,558 |
| 316 |
Newham |
1,045,304 |
524,320 |
773,762 |
2,343,386 |
| 317 |
Redbridge |
231,912 |
512,140 |
1,826,677 |
2,570,729 |
| 318 |
Richmond upon Thames |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 319 |
Sutton |
252,765 |
103,586 |
930,594 |
1,286,945 |
| 320 |
Waltham Forest |
590,993 |
404,824 |
1,234,671 |
2,230,488 |
| 330 |
Birmingham |
1,143,920 |
1,125,520 |
9,427,708 |
11,697,148 |
| 331 |
Coventry |
97,246 |
370,508 |
1,086,458 |
1,554,212 |
| 332 |
Dudley |
199,972 |
138,964 |
1,480,861 |
1,819,797 |
| 333 |
Sandwell |
363,005 |
482,716 |
1,632,495 |
2,478,216 |
| 334 |
Solihull |
528,758 |
653,256 |
619,316 |
1,801,330 |
| 335 |
Walsall |
96,714 |
225,744 |
1,291,617 |
1,614,075 |
| 336 |
Wolverhampton |
283,011 |
291,539 |
1,370,936 |
1,945,486 |
| 340 |
Knowsley |
5,316 |
221,915 |
1,270,257 |
1,497,488 |
| 341 |
Liverpool |
24,064 |
636,914 |
3,689,331 |
4,350,309 |
| 342 |
St. Helens |
23,573 |
418,574 |
1,237,919 |
1,680,066 |
| 343 |
Sefton |
102,037 |
291,574 |
1,621,436 |
2,015,047 |
| 350 |
Bolton |
86,594 |
183,484 |
705,340 |
975,418 |
| 344 |
Wirral |
349,813 |
667,945 |
1,396,769 |
2,414,527 |
| 351 |
Bury |
272,352 |
256,282 |
1,034,438 |
1,563,072 |
| 352 |
Manchester |
0 |
261,886 |
5,512,515 |
5,774,401 |
| 353 |
Oldham |
188,288 |
283,856 |
847,117 |
1,319,261 |
| 354 |
Rochdale |
3,392 |
247,118 |
1,290,903 |
1,541,413 |
| 355 |
Salford |
229,374 |
91,974 |
1,510,749 |
1,832,097 |
| 356 |
Stockport |
3,238 |
52,796 |
1,737,112 |
1,793,146 |
| 357 |
Tameside |
144,982 |
8,238 |
1,137,366 |
1,290,586 |
| 358 |
Trafford |
403,046 |
364,625 |
1,645,109 |
2,412,780 |
| 359 |
Wigan |
765,052 |
661,242 |
413,865 |
1,840,159 |
| 370 |
Barnsley |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 371 |
Doncaster |
0 |
0 |
15,253 |
15,253 |
| 372 |
Rotherham |
90,854 |
169,917 |
1,178,716 |
1,439,487 |
| 373 |
Sheffield |
11,833 |
10,659 |
2,878,774 |
2,901,266 |
| 380 |
Bradford |
709,100 |
2,622,805 |
2,329,307 |
5,661,212 |
| 381 |
Calderdale |
160,489 |
816,764 |
892,644 |
1,869,897 |
| 382 |
Kirklees |
471,700 |
288,300 |
1,860,600 |
2,620,600 |
| 383 |
Leeds |
379,440 |
1,048,584 |
4,641,798 |
6,069,822 |
| 384 |
Wakefield |
276,828 |
440,016 |
1,061,658 |
1,778,502 |
| 390 |
Gateshead |
19,587 |
84,946 |
1,061,535 |
1,166,068 |
| 391 |
Newcastle upon Tyne |
134,436 |
144,095 |
1,180,266 |
1,458,797 |
| 392 |
North Tyneside |
163,150 |
51,584 |
1,017,268 |
1,232,002 |
| 393 |
South Tyneside |
185,402 |
119,561 |
431,387 |
736,350 |
| 394 |
Sunderland |
576 |
6,388 |
1,117,235 |
1,124,199 |
| 420 |
Isles of Scilly |
12,649 |
7,572 |
0 |
20,221 |
| 800 |
Bath and North East Somerset |
480,233 |
1,081,973 |
736,972 |
2,299,178 |
| 801 |
Bristol City of |
106,421 |
73,604 |
799,580 |
979,605 |
| 802 |
North Somerset |
587,975 |
1,172,587 |
838,091 |
2,598,653 |
| 803 |
South Gloucestershire |
602,518 |
757,875 |
967,538 |
2,327,931 |
| 805 |
Hartlepool |
46,421 |
195,275 |
431,478 |
673,174 |
| 806 |
Middlesbrough |
212,940 |
209,538 |
452,609 |
875,087 |
| 807 |
Redcar and Cleveland |
41,550 |
97,433 |
7,762 |
146,745 |
| 808 |
Stockton-on-Tees |
467,669 |
388,613 |
708,169 |
1,564,451 |
| 810 |
Kingston upon Hull City of |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 811 |
East Riding of Yorkshire |
1,149,309 |
2,995,643 |
1,887,435 |
6,032,387 |
| 812 |
North East Lincolnshire |
212,481 |
325,722 |
1,028,643 |
1,566,846 |
| 813 |
North Lincolnshire |
0 |
1,130,625 |
788,566 |
1,919,191 |
| 815 |
North Yorkshire |
3,009,950 |
5,107,739 |
2,142,685 |
10,260,374 |
| 816 |
York |
96,710 |
709,742 |
818,106 |
1,624,558 |
| 820 |
Bedfordshire |
561,143 |
4,164,115 |
3,167,455 |
7,892,713 |
| 821 |
Luton |
0 |
243,275 |
1,159,506 |
1,402,781 |
| 825 |
Buckinghamshire |
1,788,296 |
5,865,171 |
3,288,915 |
10,942,382 |
| 826 |
Milton Keynes |
487,401 |
632,046 |
1,107,632 |
2,227,079 |
| 830 |
Derbyshire |
1,030,960 |
3,914,995 |
2,998,233 |
7,944,188 |
| 831 |
Derby |
376,082 |
454,709 |
1,178,109 |
2,008,900 |
| 835 |
Dorset |
1,537,532 |
3,919,371 |
2,606,301 |
8,063,204 |
| 836 |
Poole |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 837 |
Bournemouth |
138,942 |
121,473 |
587,939 |
848,354 |
| 840 |
Durham |
1,112,847 |
5,114,571 |
2,905,171 |
9,132,589 |
| 841 |
Darlington |
81,371 |
459,456 |
409,794 |
950,621 |
| 845 |
East Sussex |
413,943 |
2,345,679 |
2,759,624 |
5,519,246 |
| 846 |
Brighton and Hove |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 850 |
Hampshire |
2,576,000 |
5,098,000 |
6,044,000 |
13,718,000 |
| 851 |
Portsmouth |
127,427 |
531,889 |
518 |
659,834 |
| 852 |
Southampton |
51,748 |
64,856 |
802,448 |
919,052 |
| 856 |
Leicester |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 855 |
Leicestershire |
1,071,416 |
5,372,768 |
3,871,205 |
10,315,389 |
| 857 |
Rutland |
157,409 |
471,508 |
193,384 |
822,301 |
| 860 |
Staffordshire |
433,465 |
4,984,013 |
4,372,202 |
9,789,680 |
| 861 |
Stoke-on-Trent |
10,635 |
416,294 |
1,072,981 |
1,499,910 |
| 865 |
Wiltshire |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 866 |
Swindon |
550,351 |
359,617 |
1,235,120 |
2,145,088 |
| 867 |
Bracknell Forest |
35,083 |
450,114 |
1,127,988 |
1,613,185 |
| 868 |
Windsor and Maidenhead |
120,613 |
450,088 |
1,142,467 |
1,713,168 |
| 869 |
West Berkshire |
588,035 |
1,210,935 |
821,614 |
2,620,584 |
| 870 |
Reading |
1,593 |
4,281 |
429 |
6,303 |
| 871 |
Slough |
308,355 |
222,266 |
1,002,153 |
1,532,774 |
| 872 |
Wokingham |
87,718 |
887,439 |
1,178,129 |
2,153,286 |
| 873 |
Cambridgeshire |
1,795,060 |
4,324,605 |
2,860,961 |
8,980,626 |
| 874 |
Peterborough |
288,782 |
536,893 |
1,171,545 |
1,997,220 |
| 875 |
Cheshire |
1,707,087 |
4,813,937 |
3,145,798 |
9,666,822 |
| 876 |
Halton |
0 |
135,356 |
1,101,912 |
1,237,268 |
| 877 |
Warrington |
268,497 |
608,615 |
895,287 |
1,772,399 |
| 878 |
Devon |
3,433,397 |
7,640,512 |
2,867,481 |
13,941,390 |
| 879 |
Plymouth |
238,145 |
1,200,606 |
1,023,860 |
2,462,611 |
| 880 |
Torbay |
147,579 |
320,264 |
801,096 |
1,268,939 |
| 881 |
Essex |
5,390,708 |
8,117,737 |
7,959,405 |
21,467,850 |
| 882 |
Southend-on-Sea |
51,452 |
287,227 |
1,115,714 |
1,454,393 |
| 883 |
Thurrock |
826,742 |
331,258 |
317,054 |
1,475,054 |
| 884 |
Herefordshire |
1,468,139 |
1,917,952 |
439,792 |
3,825,883 |
| 885 |
Worcestershire |
885,227 |
3,654,584 |
3,334,879 |
7,874,690 |
| 886 |
Kent |
3,468,284 |
12,815,855 |
5,996,910 |
22,281,049 |
| 887 |
Medway |
1,212,500 |
997,500 |
723,500 |
2,933,500 |
| 888 |
Lancashire |
4,614,065 |
5,909,263 |
5,666,395 |
16,189,723 |
| 889 |
Blackburn with Darwen |
152,251 |
456,752 |
913,504 |
1,522,507 |
| 890 |
Blackpool |
712,080 |
595,122 |
62,087 |
1,369,289 |
| 891 |
Nottinghamshire |
2,162,542 |
3,232,993 |
2,609,401 |
8,004,936 |
| 892 |
Nottingham |
145,246 |
278,402 |
1,567,493 |
1,991,141 |
| 893 |
Shropshire |
1,545,382 |
1,611,151 |
2,456,832 |
5,613,365 |
| 894 |
Telford and Wrekin |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 908 |
Cornwall |
979,832 |
4,517,191 |
1,411,622 |
6,908,645 |
| 909 |
Cumbria |
2,112,877 |
4,422,674 |
2,092,394 |
8,627,945 |
| 916 |
Gloucestershire |
1,381,560 |
3,665,880 |
2,474,752 |
7,522,192 |
| 919 |
Hertfordshire |
2,474,129 |
4,857,745 |
6,672,741 |
14,004,615 |
| 921 |
Isle of Wight |
61,360 |
981,776 |
195,487 |
1,238,623 |
| 925 |
Lincolnshire |
2,577,458 |
6,518,675 |
4,481,591 |
13,577,724 |
| 926 |
Norfolk |
2,974,193 |
8,598,542 |
4,131,576 |
15,704,311 |
| 928 |
Northamptonshire |
3,018,230 |
2,801,831 |
2,252,167 |
8,072,228 |
| 929 |
Northumberland |
789,356 |
5,113,384 |
1,737,203 |
7,639,943 |
| 931 |
Oxfordshire |
2,500,260 |
4,129,069 |
3,691,317 |
10,320,646 |
| 933 |
Somerset |
3,332,121 |
3,451,881 |
260,652 |
7,044,654 |
| 935 |
Suffolk |
5,936,621 |
3,660,917 |
296,831 |
9,894,369 |
| 936 |
Surrey |
2,998,066 |
5,951,053 |
7,213,953 |
16,163,072 |
| 937 |
Warwickshire |
1,733,715 |
3,447,717 |
2,948,583 |
8,130,015 |
| 938 |
West Sussex |
457,634 |
3,332,344 |
4,867,252 |
8,657,230 |
| TOTAL |
100,067,262 |
206,923,673 |
253,549,414 |
560,540,349 |
1 Includes the cost of public transport, contract hire or the
use of authority vehicles in transporting pupils/ students to
school college, under section 509 of the Education Act 1996.
Where appropriate the salaries of drivers and escorts are included.@PARA@@PARA@Note@PARA@@PARA@The
data is as reported by LEAs on their Table 3 Outturn statements.
For some authorities eg Hackney, no transport spend in the
schools sectors has been recorded, yet record high figures elsewhere.
While not included in the above figures, these could reflect situations
where LEAs deal with transport centrally and have felt unable
to split their expenditure across the different sectors. There
are also LEAs eg Richmond-Upon-Thames and Wilshire who report
no home to school/college transport spend and in these situations
we cannot second guess what the LEA is reporting.@PARA@@PARA@
@PARA@
|
