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Schools Funding (Lincolnshire)

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding her Department has provided to (a) North East Lincolnshire local education authority and (b) North Lincolnshire local education authority in each year since 1997. [223467]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: Total funding includes funding via education formula spending/standard spending assessment and revenue grants allocated at an LEA level. It excludes the pensions transfer to EPS and the Learning and Skills Council, and is in real terms.

Education formula spending is part of the wider local government finance system and is supported by council tax as well as central Government grant.
Total funding (real terms), pupils aged 3–19 (£ million), North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire

	Real terms, excluding pensions transfer to EFS and LSC in 2003–04 and 2004–05
	North East Lincolnshire	North Lincolnshire
1997–98	77.8	68.3
1998–99	80.7	71.7
1999–2000	84.6	75.2
2000–01	93.0	82.1
2001–02	97.0	85.0
2002–03	98.0	86.4
2003–04	100.6	90.6
2004–05	102.8	93.8

Notes:
1. Price base: Real terms at 2003–04 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 30 September 2004
2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of education SSA/EFS settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EPS and LSC.
3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged 3–15 and exclude EMAs and grants not allocated at LEA level.
4. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC 3-year-old maintained pupils and estimated 3 to 4-year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.
5. Where responsibility for funding a school has transferred from an LEA, related funding no longer appears in the series.
6. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.
7. Status: 2003–04 and 2004–05 figures are provisional as some grants have not yet been finalised/audited.

Selective Education

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have (a) taken and (b) failed the 11-plus examination in each local education authority with a wholly selective secondary admissions system in each of the last eight years. [221362]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The 11-plus examinations are a matter for the LEA and the Department does not collect this data centrally.

Sure Start

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what activities Sure Start programmes in Sefton are engaging in to increase (a) literacy, (b) speech and (c) language developments; and what results these activities have had; [218864]
 
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(2) what services Sure Start programmes in Sefton are engaging in to care for new mothers, with particular reference to (a) post-natal depression clinics and (b) breast feeding groups and what results these services have produced. [218865]

Margaret Hodge: There are four Sure Start local programmes in Sefton; Sure Start Litherland, Bootle, Dell and Orvell was approved in 2000; Sure Start Seaforth and Bootle in 2001; Sure Start Southport in 2002 and Sure Start Netherton in 2003. Between them the four programmes provide services to 2,800 children under four and their families living within their catchment areas. The programmes deliver a wide range of services including: training in parenting skills; health services and outreach support to children and families in their own homes.

Three of the four programmes have evaluated their activities as follows:

Sure Start Litherland, Bootle and Orrell have a 'Start Right' group who encourage learning and education through play and group settings. This involves reading, writing, dialogic play and imaginative play. Parents with no concerns about their child's language development increased from 80 per cent. in 2001–02 to 88 per cent. in 2003–04.

The community midwife provides breast feeding support sessions at birth, six weeks and 17 weeks. The take up of these sessions has gone up from 20 per cent. in 2002–03 to 23 per cent. in 2003–04 at birth; 4 per cent. to 10 per cent. at six weeks and 2 per cent. to 7 per cent. at 17 weeks.

The number of women supported by the post-natal depression group rose from 12 in 2002–03 to 29 in 2003–04.

Sure Start Seaforth and Bootle has established a mobile toy library and the early years workers provide practical support around early learning and play. Parents with no concern in relation to language development increased from 77 per cent. in 2001–02 to 79 per cent. in 2003–04.

The community midwife provides breast feeding support sessions at birth, six weeks and 17 weeks. The take up of these sessions has gone up from 34.4 per cent. in 2002–03 to 37.9 per cent. in 2003–04 at birth; 8 per cent. to 13.9 per cent. at six weeks and 4 per cent. to 8.6 per cent. at 17 weeks.

The number of women supported by post-natal depression group increased from 13 in 2002–03 to 30 women in 2003–04.

Sure Start Southport appointed a children's library worker in April 2003 and between June and December 2003, 92 new members joined from the catchment area. Breast feeding and post-natal depression data is not available for this programme.

Sure Start Netherton will provide their first report in September 2005.

The programmes' funding for the current and future years is as follows:
 
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£

		Revenue
Programme name	Capital Approved	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07
Litherland, Bootle and Orrell	1,000,000	675,407	692,293	692,293
Seaforth and Bootle	825,21 1	770,140	789,393	789,393
Southport	36,500	643,982	660,039	660,039
Netherton	6,000	669,999	682,033	682,033

All four programmes are developing into children's centres and will contribute towards achieving our goal of a children's centre for every community by 2010.

There are eight neighbourhood nurseries in the most disadvantaged areas in Sefton providing 291 affordable childcare places to families living there.

Targets

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of whether the public service agreement target to narrow substantially the gap between education attainment and participation of children in care and that of their peers by 2006 will be met. [219264]

Margaret Hodge: The Department publishes progress against all its outstanding PSA targets in its annual departmental report and autumn performance report. Progress against our 2002 spending review targets, including the one referred to in this question, was reported most recently in the 2004 autumn report, published last November, together with commentary where appropriate.

The 2004 spending review set a new target to narrow the gap in educational achievement between looked after children and their peers and to improve their educational support and the stability of their lives. By 2008, 80 per cent. of children under 16 who have been looked after for 2.5 or more years will have been living in the same placement for at least two years, or placed for adoption. This emphasises the importance of stability as a prerequisite for raising educational achievement and is underpinned by educational performance indicators which mirror the three elements of the 2002 spending review target.

A copy of the Department's 2004 autumn performance report has been placed in the Library.

Teachers (Pay)

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pay of the (a) highest and (b) lowest paid (i) primary and (ii) secondary school teachers were in real terms (A) in 1997 and (B) in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [222510]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: In March 1997 the highest salary paid to a qualified teacher in a maintained primary school adjusted to 2002–03 real terms was £67,900. The highest in a secondary school was £87,100. By March 2003, the latest available, the figures were £84,900 and £108,600 respectively.
 
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The minimum salary paid to qualified teachers in both maintained primary and secondary schools in March 1997, adjusted to 2002–03 real terms, was £14,400. In March 2003 the figure was £17,600.

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