Written question asked by Henry Smith (Conservative) on Monday, 8 November 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 November 2010. It was answered by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Thursday, 20 January 2011 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Schools: Reading

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make it his policy to ensure that schools are able to exercise maximum choice in the way in which they support vulnerable primary school pupils to improve reading and numeracy skills.

Answer: We believe that schools are best placed to decide the most appropriate support for their pupils. Funding for Every Child a Reader and Every Child Counts forms part of the schools budget and it will be for local authorities, in consultation with their schools forum, to decide whether to take account of the previous level of this funding when making their 2011-12 allocations to schools.The Pupil Premium will allocate funding for deprived pupils, which head teachers can decide how best to spend. However, the Government will be making available to schools the latest and best evidence and information on the activities, interventions and strategies that can help raise the attainment of those pupils who will benefit from the Pupil Premium.There is evidence that the Every Child programmes have had a positive impact in raising the attainment of FSM pupils. All three programmes are currently undergoing independent evaluations, to report in late 2010-early 2011, which will give a substantive view of the impact of the programmes.We are currently working through proposals for literacy and numeracy intervention beyond September 2011, which is subject to final decisions following the spending review.

Secondary information