asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether he will make a statement on the ninth project of the education support grants programme for 1986–87 support for parents of the under-fives with special needs, stating the number of tenders for the materials involved, the successful company, and what alternative proposals to supply the projects were considered and costed; and whether he is satisfied there is no British organisation which could have met the demands of the project;(2) whether he will list in the
Official Report those projects forming the second round of education support grant programmes which involve one specific set of learning materials; together with the country of origin of those learning materials; and whether he will give details of the process by which the materials were selected.
None of the activities constituting the 1986–87 education support grant programme assumes the use of one specific set of learning materials. It is for LEAs, in formulating bids, due to be submitted on 30 September 1985 for expenditure to be supported under the programme, to decide, within the framework of guidelines given in the 1985 education support grant circular, what materials to use. In the case of activity IX, the provision of services to support parents in the teaching of children under five with special educational needs, the multi-professional teams, whose establishment and development it is envisaged grant will support, may wish to design their own materials.