To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proposals he has to review (a) the Further Education Funding Council's funding methodology and (b) its policy of funding convergence. [5325]
The report of a working group of the Further Education Funding Council on the funding methodology is due to be published shortly. The Council's announcement last month on funding convergence policy followed consultation with colleges earlier in the year.
The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Numbers of pupils in one teacher classes of 30 or more in maintained primary schools in Gloucestershire Local Education Authority Area: 1988–1997 | |
| Position as at January | Number |
| 1997 (provisional estimates) | 19,630 |
| 1996 | 17,936 |
| 1995 | 15,975 |
| 1994 | 14,693 |
| 1993 | 13,172 |
| 1992 | 12,483 |
| 1991 | 12,054 |
| 1990 | 13,588 |
| 1989 | 13,468 |
| 1988 | 15,298 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the average and maximum numbers of children in primary school classes in (i) Harrow, East and (ii) Harrow, West; and how many are educated in class sizes of over 30 pupils. [5352]
The available information is shown in the following table.The information in Table 2 puts into context the information on maximum class sizes in Table 1.
| Table 1: Average and maximum class size and number of pupils in classes of 31 or more pupils for classes taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools in the Harrow Parliamentary Constituencies in January 1997 (Provisional Estimates) | |||
| Average class size | Maximum size class | Pupils in classes of 31 or more | |
| Harrow West | 27.6 | 35 | 1,818 |
| Harrow East | 27.4 | 35 | 1,845 |