Preface
1. This Report arises from the Committee's annual
examination of DfES expenditure and management of resources. It
is based principally on the Department's Annual Report, and meetings
with the Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Education
and Skills, and with David Bell, Permanent Secretary, and Jonathan
Thompson, Director General, Finance Department, of the Department
for Education and Skills.[1]
2. In this Report on expenditure we pick up a number
of the issues that we looked at in our report earlier this session,
such as the further changes to the schools' funding system and
the Department's plans for efficiency savings under the Gershon
process. We also comment on the Department's provision of information
in the Departmental Annual Report and its consultation with the
Committee, or lack of it, on a number of key issues. A significant
amount of extra information supplementary to that available in
the Department's report is published here, including the responses
to questions we raised in writing and during the two evidence
sessions. We also look at proposed changes to the system of funding
research in higher education.
3. We are grateful for assistance with this inquiry
from Tony Travers, Director of the Greater London Group at the
London School of Economics. We also wish to thank the Institute
for Fiscal Studies for providing a very helpful memorandum at
our request.
1 Department for Education and Skills, Departmental
Report 2006, Cm 6812, May 2006. Back
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