Written question asked by Ross Cranston (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 22 March 2005. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 March 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what assessment she has made of the financial implications for Dudley College of the funding gap with school sixth forms; and if she will make a statement on when she expects the funding gap to be narrowed.

Answer: Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the financial implications for Dudley college of the funding gap with school sixth forms; and if she will make a statement on when she expects the funding gap to be narrowed. [222731] Dr. Howells: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council. The Department does not collect or hold information at the level requested. Government recognise that there are differences in the funding allocated to school sixth forms and further education colleges and have taken action to address this. We have brought up funding levels for further education colleges as we said we would without penalising schools. Our policy has been to continue to bring up the level of funding for colleges, as and when we are able to secure the resources to do so.

Secondary information