Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 26 June 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 July 2001. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 9 July 2001 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 the average annual standard spending assessment is for each (a) primary school and (b) secondary school pupil in England; what the comparable figures for pupils in Somerset are for the latest available year; what her estimate is of the additional expenditure which would be necessary to bring the per pupil SSA in Somerset up to the average for England; and if she will make a statement. - Inc table. (Holding answer 4 July 2001).

Answer: Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual standard spending assessment is for each (a) primary school and (b) secondary school pupil in England; what the comparable figures for pupils in Somerset are for the latest available year; what her estimate is of the additional expenditure which would be necessary to bring the per pupil SSA in Somerset up to the average for England; and if she will make a statement. [1380] Mr. Timms: [holding answer 4 July 2001]: The table shows for 2001-02 the education SSA per primary and secondary pupil for England and Somerset. £ _________________________________________________________________________________________________. SSA England Somerset Primary per pupil 2,588 2,405 Secondary per pupil 3,313 3,098 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. These differences amount to £12.6 million in 2001-02. Since 1997-98 Somerset's recurrent funding, including specific and special grants, has been estimated to have increased in real terms (2000-01 prices) by £570 per 5 to 15-year-old pupil. Total funding for pupils aged 5 to 15 in Somerset LEA has been provisionally estimated to amount to £198.4 million in 2001-02.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 1380; 371 c384W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Primary education Schools Secondary education Somerset Standard spending assessments Per capita costs
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk