To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding he plans to allocate to Hertfordshire to assist young people with disadvantaged backgrounds; and if he will make a statement. (174465)

Funding for young people with disadvantaged backgrounds is a component of the Dedicated Schools Grant. On 12 November I announced to Parliament the three year school funding settlement for 2008-11. In addition to the existing funding for deprivation in DSG allocations, a new deprivation indicator is being used to fund the Pockets of Deprivation Ministerial Priority. In 2008-09 funding for Hertfordshire is £3,896 per pupil, of which 7.5 per cent., or £292, is for educational disadvantage.

Further information on the new indicator, the local authority allocations for pockets of deprivation and the overall proportion of each local authority’s DSG allocation for deprivation is on the Teachernet website at:

www.teachernet.gov.uk/dsg200811/