To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what factors determine the level of the dedicated schools grant per pupil in Plymouth is below the national average; and what the dedicated school grant per pupil is in (a) Plymouth and (b) England. (165585)

The distribution method for Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) starts from each authority’s budgeted spend for schools in 2005-06, which largely reflects the historical allocation of resources through the Schools Formula Spending Share (FSS) formula, which gave additional funding for additional educational needs, sparsity, and area costs. The DSG per pupil for Plymouth is below the national average because it attracts no additional funding for area costs or sparsity, and its proportion of funding for additional educational needs at 11.6 per cent. is only slightly above the national average of 11.3 per cent. for 2006-07. The DSG guaranteed unit of funding per pupil for Plymouth will be £3,889 in 2008-09, rising to £4,198 in 2010-11. The England averages are £4,066 and £4,398.