To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what criteria are used to allocate funds for children with disadvantages and special needs in primary schools in Liverpool.

It is for Liverpool local education authority to decide what criteria to use in its local management of schools formula to allocate funds to schools.Liverpool uses a social disadvantage factor based on the number of pupils entitled to free school meals, and a special needs factor based on a system of monitoring reading standards at ages seven and 11. The tests currently used to assess reading standards are the primary reading test for seven-year-olds, and Young's Cloze procedure for 11-year-olds.