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Dept for Education and Skills

Answer

Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what funds he will make available to the boards of pre-schools to meet possible staff redundancies; [142509] (2) what additional financial resources he will provide to the pre-school sector to enable staff better to comply with Ofsted inspections; [142506] (3) what plans his Department has fully to fund (a) pre-schools and (b) the Appletree pre-school in Sidmouth. [142510] Margaret Hodge: Funding for pre-school settings is rightly a matter for local determination in the light of local needs and circumstances. From April 2003, we have increased local flexibility and autonomy by consolidating the resources to enable local authorities to meet their statutory responsibilities to provide free nursery education for three and four year olds through the under-fives sub-block of their Education Formula Spending Share (EFSS)--the main source of funding for education. In the current financial year, Devon's overall under fives sub-block is worth nearly £30 million. We calculate that more than £6 million of additional ring- fenced funding is available to providers in Devon- through a variety of Sure Start funding streams administered by the local authority.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

415 c1061-2W; 142509;142506;142510

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Finance Inspections Pre-school education Office for Standards in Education Redundancy Standards Teachers Apple Tree Pre-school Sidmouth

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk