To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many state schools will not receive the full £2,000 book allowance announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget statement on 9 March, because they have fewer than 100 pupils on roll; and what estimate he has made of the extra cost of granting such schools the fixed £2,000 rather than the £20 per pupil currently allocated. [79887]

[holding answer 13 April 1999]: Around 20,000 schools will receive £2,000. There are around 4,000 schools with fewer than 100 pupils which will receive £20 per pupil. It would cost a further £3.1 million to allocate £2,000 each to these schools.