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Spending (Secondary Pupils)

12. Matthew Taylor (Truro and St. Austell) (LD): What the average standard spending assessment per secondary pupil is for (a) England and (b) Cornwall; and what the equivalent figures were in 1996–97. [194103]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Stephen Twigg): In 2004–05 the average formula spending share for secondary pupils in England is £3,106 per pupil. In Cornwall, it is £2,935 per pupil. Because of changes to the funding system, I cannot provide the equivalent figures for 1996–97, but the total recurrent funding for pupils aged 3 to 19 has increased in Cornwall in real terms by £830 per pupil since 1997–98, compared with £940 per pupil nationally.

Matthew Taylor: The Minister will be aware that part of the reason why the spend per pupil is so much lower in Cornwall than the national average is the area cost adjustment, which gives more money to what are regarded as higher income areas in London and the surrounding area. Would he rule out taking that even further and basing the system on a direct relationship to local wages, which would leave Cornwall, which has the lowest wages in the country, with the lowest funding in the country? That is precisely the system that his colleagues in the Department of Health are bringing in for hospital funding.

Mr. Twigg: I am not aware of any suggestion to move to such a system for the funding of local education authorities. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about the ACA. He will be aware that the existence of a threshold is a provision that actually benefits Cornwall. Without that threshold, the position would be worse than the one that he described. The ACA is updated each year to reflect some of the changes that are taking place in local labour market patterns and we have undertaken, as part of our five-year strategy, to look again at the funding formula, and consultation on it will begin early next year.

Mr. Eric Illsley (Barnsley, Central) (Lab): Any analysis of standard spending assessments on secondary school pupils would show that my area of Barnsley is consistently below the national average. That discrepancy is hampering the efforts that we making in Barnsley to improve standards and results. I ask the
 
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Minister to look yet again into spending on Barnsley to establish whether we could be brought up at least to somewhere around the national average.

Mr. Twigg: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. What we are seeking to do through the national formula is to have a system under which a pupil receives the identical level of funding wherever he or she goes to school. That has brought about significant improvement in the system, but clearly there is always room for discussion about whether we are getting it quite right. That is why, as I said in my previous answer, consultation will start in early spring 2005 on how the formula should work in the medium and longer term.

Student Grants

14. Dr. John Pugh (Southport) (LD): What problems have been reported to his Department concerning the new software available to local education authorities for the administration of student grants. [194105]

The Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education (Dr. Kim Howells): I am informed that, following early teething problems, the new Protocol system for administering student support has now stabilised and is doing the job as intended, processing and paying out funds to higher education students from England and Wales. Most LEAs are now processing applications within the standard six weeks. We have also invoked contingency action to release interim payments to existing students who applied by the deadline but whose assessment could not be completed by the start of term.

Dr. Pugh: I appreciate that acknowledgement of relative failure, but does the Minister agree with officers in my authority who say that the main problem relates to the need to interact with a centralised system by telephone lines across the country more or less simultaneously everywhere, causing the system to be slow, to go offline and to leave valuable staff twiddling their thumbs? Does he recognise the problem, and has he consulted my authority on how to rectify it?

Dr. Howells: There were problems, but they have now been largely ironed out. The root of the trouble has often been LEA systems not being correctly configured to accommodate Protocol. Having spent many happy hours back in the early 1990s on the Public Accounts Committee, looking at how lots of agencies and Government bodies did not quite get their computer systems right, I am very much aware that they are very delicate beings and we are often over-ambitious in the way in which we use them. I have been assured, however, that this is up and running and working relatively well.

Adult Residential Colleges

15. Mr. David Kidney (Stafford) (Lab): What assessment he has made of the contribution made by adult residential colleges to lifelong learning. [194106]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Ivan Lewis): These colleges provide valuable opportunities for those who get
 
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pleasure and personal fulfilment from learning, particularly older people. The publicly funded provision of individual Adult Residential Colleges Association colleges has to be planned and agreed between the college and the local learning and skills councils. At a national level, discussions are taking place between ARCA and the Learning and Skills Council on the future position of the colleges.

Mr. Kidney: I share my hon. Friend's high regard for the colleges. Members of the Adult Residential Colleges Association tell me that they are very keen to contribute to the Government's agenda on lifelong learning. Commendably, they are concerned about their fees structure excluding some people who would wish to take part. Is he willing to meet members of ARCA to discuss a national strategic approach to creating social inclusion in the work that they do?

Mr. Lewis: I pay tribute to my hon. Friend's effective advocacy on behalf of the colleges. I agree absolutely that there is a case for looking at them in a national context to recognise the contribution that they make to the lifelong learning agenda. I will be absolutely delighted to meet him and members of the association in the very near future.

Student Loans

17. Norman Lamb (North Norfolk) (LD): How many higher education students are waiting to receive their student loans for the current academic year. [194108]

The Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education (Dr. Kim Howells): Of the 807,000 applications received so far, only 73,000 are still being processed, all of which were received after the published deadlines. Local authorities and the Student Loans Company have never been able to guarantee payment at the start of term to late applicants. Where necessary, we have invoked contingency action to release interim payments to existing students who applied by the deadline but whose assessment could not be completed by the start of term. As in previous years, the Department has written to higher education institutions asking them to be supportive of students who do not have loans in place at the start of term.

Norman Lamb: The Minister says that students who applied on time will have got their money, and indeed the latest news on the Department's website, dated 8 September, still says that those who applied on time should get their money by the start of term; yet my constituent, Jackie Benny, has written to me to say that her daughter is still waiting—although she has at last received the interim payment of £1,000 this week—does not know how much she will get overall, and is being pressured by the college to make the payments. Will he increase pressure on colleges to ensure that they treat students sympathetically, and will he also do more work with the LEAs that are having problems—there are lots in Norfolk—in getting the applications processed on time?
 
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Dr. Howells: As I understand it, Norfolk county council is one of the LEAs that has been experiencing particular difficulties with processing. Interim payments have been made—I am glad that the hon. Gentleman's constituent's daughter has received hers—but I undertake to find out precisely where the difficulty has arisen.

Small Schools

18. Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD): What his policy is on the funding of small schools on more than one site. [194109]

The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband): The funding of split-site schools is a matter for the local education authority to determine. Authorities have considerable freedom to decide on the detail of their school funding formulae and they are able to include factors that provide additional funding for small schools, including those that operate on split sites.

Mr. Heath: There are undoubtedly difficulties with federated small schools with single management but two completely separate sites, although that is often the right answer for very small village schools. One of the problems is the funds that are now supplied directly from Whitehall to schools, because they do not take into account the higher running costs and higher capital costs for schools that operate on two separate sites. Will the Minister look at the situation again? I accept the fact that some responsibility lies with the LEA: I can take that up with Somerset LEA, but I ask him to take the issue up with his officials.

Mr. Miliband: Our responsibility is to ensure that the funding system provides sufficient flexibility and funding to all local authorities to take account of the particular needs in their area. Our intelligence was that the hon. Gentleman intended to raise a particular issue in his question. I thought that he was going to congratulate the Government on the help that they have given to Somerset county council in respect of St. Mary and St. Peter's first school. Since he has not, I am very happy to do so. I am sure that the House will be pleased to hear about the split-site allowance of £11,180, and the curriculum protection for a school with sites in two villages of £44,081 that have been allocated to the school. Those figures suggest to me that the system is working, at least in some respect.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

The Solicitor-General was asked—


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