asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many companies have been approached by his Department to fund city technology colleges; and how many companies have expressed a willingness to provide funding.

Preliminary approaches were made to over 1800 companies. Earlier this week, Hanson Trust PLC made public their decision to contribute £1 million in sponsorship of the first city technology college. Several other companies have expressed a willingness to provide funding, but some of these offers are conditional or subject to discussion and I am not prepared to confirm offers until sponsors are ready to make their decision public.