Introduction
1. This report arises from the Committee's annual
examination of DfES public expenditure. It is based principally
on the Department's Annual Report,[1]
a memorandum from the Department,[2]
and meetings with the Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, Secretary of State
for Education and Skills, and with Mr David Normington, Permanent
Secretary, Mr Stephen Crowne, Director, Resources, Infrastructure
and Governance, and Dr Ruth Thompson, Director of Finance.
2. This annual inquiry has usually been an opportunity
to examine a number of issues relating to the Department, its
expenditure and policies. This year, however, one expenditure
issue has overshadowed all others: the funding of schools. Others
issues were discussed in the meetings we had with the Secretary
of State and his officials, in particular the Private Finance
Initiative and performance indicators, and those discussions are
printed in the evidence. In this Report, however, we comment solely
on schools' funding.
3. We are grateful for assistance with this inquiry
from Tony Travers, Director of the Greater London Group at the
London School of Economics.
1 Departmental Report 2003, Department for Education
and Skills, Cm 5902, May 2003. Back
2
Ev 1 Back
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