Written question asked by Lord Watts (Labour) on Tuesday, 29 October 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 November 2002. It was answered by Stephen Twigg (Labour) on Monday, 4 November 2002 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 factors other than language are measured in the ethnicity factor; and what proportion of the ethnicity factor is based on additional language criteria.

Answer: Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what factors other than language are measured in the ethnicity factor; and what proportion of the ethnicity factor is based on additional language criteria. [78610] Mr. Stephen Twigg: The ethnicity factor in the existing Education Standard Spending Assessment is measured by country of birth data taken from the 1991 national census. Under the proposals issued for consultation on 8 July, two factors are proposed for ethnicity, both taken from the Annual Schools' Census: the first relates to the number of children with language needs; the second relates to the numbers of children in certain low achieving ethnic groups. Decisions on the proportion of funding to be distributed using each factor will be announced by the beginning of December.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 78610; 392 c23-4W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Education Languages Ethnic groups Pupils Schools Special educational needs Standard spending assessments
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk