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Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Volume 503: debated on Wednesday 6 January 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding was provided per pupil in the maintained sector for (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in (i) England, (ii) the South West Region and (iii) each local authority within the South West Region in each year from 1997 to 2009. (307365)

Per pupil revenue funding figures for primary school pupils (ages three to 10) for England, the South West Region, and each local authority in the South West of England between 1997-98 and 2005-06 are shown in table 1. These figures are in real terms and are based on financial years.

Table 1

Real terms revenue funding per pupil(£)—SSA/EFS plus grants

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

England

2,680

2,790

2,980

3,230

3,430

3,520

3,740

3,860

4,100

South West

2,570

2,670

2,840

3,070

3,220

3,290

3,470

3,560

3,790

Bath and North East Somerset

2,400

2,540

2,710

2,940

3,090

3,140

3,330

3,420

3,660

Bournemouth

2,730

2,740

2,890

3,140

3,230

3,270

3,410

3,490

3,700

Bristol, City of

2,580

2,690

2,880

3,130

3,330

3,490

3,690

3,850

4,130

Cornwall

2,490

2,720

2,900

3,140

3,330

3,400

3,580

3,670

3,890

Devon

2,670

2,750

2,870

3,100

3,250

3,310

3,530

3,610

3,820

Dorset

2,610

2,650

2,810

3,030

3,180

3,230

3,370

3,480

3,670

Gloucestershire

2,520

2,630

2,820

3,050

3,210

3,270

3,430

3,500

3,730

North Somerset

2,460

2,600

2,790

3,010

3,140

3,190

3,400

3,490

3,740

Plymouth

2,700

2,780

2,920

3,140

3,270

3,360

3,490

3,580

3,810

Poole

2,620

2,620

2,750

2,950

3,100

3,140

3,260

3,290

3,550

Somerset

2,530

2,640

2,830

3,070

3,230

3,290

3,470

3,570

3,770

South Gloucestershire

2,380

2,520

2,710

2,900

3,040

3,090

3,270

3,360

3,600

Swindon

2,650

2,660

2,780

3,000

3,160

3,200

3,460

3,540

3,800

Torbay

2,720

2,750

2,880

3,120

3,260

3,280

3,450

3,540

3,760

Wiltshire

2,570

2,660

2,830

3,050

3,200

3,260

3,520

3,600

3,820

Notes:

1. Price Base: Real terms at 2008-09 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 9 December 2009.

2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of Standard Spending Assessment/Education Formula Spending (EFS) settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EFS.

3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DFES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to pupils aged three to 10 and exclude Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level. For those authorities in receipt of advance of grant under the transitional support arrangements for 2004-05, advance grant funding is included in the year of payment (2004-05). There will be a consequential reduction in DFES grant for these LEAs in future years (either 2006-07 and 2007-08 or 2006-07 to 2008-09, depending on the terms on which the advance was given to the LEA).

4. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to £ per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC three-year-old maintained pupils and estimated three to four-year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.

5. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.

6. Status: Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal.

7. 1997-98 figures for authorities subject to local government reorganisation in that year have been estimated, pro-rata to their post LGR figures.

Per pupil revenue funding figures for secondary school pupils (ages 11-15) for England, the South West Region, and each local authority in the South West of England between 1997-98 and 2005-06 are shown in table 2. These figures are in real terms and are based on financial years.

Table 2

Real terms revenue funding per pupil (£)—SSA/ EFS plus grants

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

England

3,660

3,760

3,900

4,230

4,460

4,560

4,640

4,840

5,040

South West

3,450

3,550

3,670

3,950

4,120

4,210

4,280

4,470

4,660

Bath and North East Somerset

3,250

3,350

3,530

3,790

3,920

3,980

4,120

4,300

4,490

Bournemouth

3,490

3,580

3,680

3,970

4,150

4,230

4,240

4,410

4,610

Bristol, City of

3,660

3,760

3,880

4,300

4,550

4,620

4,880

5,170

5,510

Cornwall

3,560

3,660

3,780

4,050

4,230

4,330

4,280

4,470

4,670

Devon

3,520

3,620

3,730

3,980

4,130

4,210

4,220

4,400

4,600

Dorset

3,370

3,460

3,590

3,870

4,050

4,130

4,150

4,360

4,520

Gloucestershire

3,390

3,480

3,630

3,920

4,070

4,150

4,220

4,380

4,570

North Somerset

3,350

3,480

3,630

3,900

4,040

4,130

4,250

4,440

4,670

Plymouth

3,490

3,590

3,720

4,020

4,180

4,290

4,350

4,560

4,770

Poole

3,320

3,410

3,510

3,740

3,940

4,040

4,160

4,380

4,490

Somerset

3,450

3,540

3,670

3,950

4,120

4,220

4,310

4,520

4,660

South Gloucestershire

3,290

3,380

3,510

3,740

3,880

3,960

4,130

4,340

4,530

Swindon

3,410

3,500

3,620

3,880

4,020

4,130

4,300

4,480

4,720

Torbay

3,540

3,610

3,730

4,020

4,180

4,290

4,340

4,500

4,700

Wiltshire

3,420

3,510

3,650

3,920

4,080

4,150

4,230

4,390

4,580

Notes:

1. Price Base: Real terms at 2008-09 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 9 December 2009.

2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of Standard Spending Assessment/Education Formula Spending (EFS) settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EFS.

3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DFES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to pupils aged 11-15 and exclude Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level. For those authorities in receipt of advance of grant under the transitional support arrangements for 2004-05, advance grant funding is included in the year of payment (2004-05). There will be a consequential reduction in DFES grant for these LEAs in future years (either 2006-07 and 2007-08 or 2006-07 to 2008-09, depending on the terms on which the advance was given to the LEA).

4. The pupil numbers used to convert £ million figures to £ per pupil are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC three-year-old maintained pupils and estimated three to four-year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.

5. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest £10.

6. Status: Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal.

7. 1997-98 figures for authorities subject to local government reorganisation in that year have been estimated, pro-rata to their post LGR figures.

The revenue per pupil figures shown in table 3 as follows are taken from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). They are not comparable with those for the years 1997-98 to 2005-06 (in tables 1 and 2 above) because the introduction of the DSG in 2006-07 fundamentally changed how local authorities are funded.

The 1997-98 to 2005-06 figures are based on Education Formula Spending (EFS) which formed the education part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, plus various grants. This was an assessment of what local authorities needed to fund education rather than what they spent. The DSG is based largely on an authority's previous spending. In addition, the DSG has a different coverage to EFS. EFS comprised a schools block and an LEA block (to cover LEA central functions) whereas DSG only covers the school block. LEA block items are still funded through DCLG’s Local Government Finance Settlement but education items cannot be separately identified. Consequently, there is a break in the Department’s time series as the two sets of data are not comparable.

To provide a comparison for 2008-09 DSG, the Department have isolated the schools block equivalent funding in 2005-06 (the baseline); as described above this does not represent the totality of ‘education’ funding in that year.

Per pupil revenue funding figures for pupils (ages three to 15) for England, the South West Region, and each local authority in the South West of England between 2005-06 and 2008-09 are shown in table 3. As the DSG is a mechanism for distributing funding, a split between primary and secondary schools is not available. These figures are in real terms and are based on financial years.

Table 3

Real terms revenue funding per pupil (£)—DSG plus grants

2005-06 (baseline)

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

England

4,340

4,470

4,640

4,690

South West

4,040

4,170

4,310

4,480

Bath and North East Somerset

4,120

4,240

4,370

4,430

Bournemouth

4,040

4,150

4,290

4,300

Bristol, City of

4,710

4,890

5,040

5,050

Cornwall

3,970

4,120

4,270

4,340

Devon

3,940

4,070

4,220

4,280

Dorset

4,070

4,160

4,300

4,350

Gloucestershire

3,980

4,110

4,260

4,370

North Somerset

4,030

4,120

4,250

4,310

Plymouth

4,200

4,340

4,500

4,540

Poole

3,990

4,090

4,230

4,250

Somerset

3,990

4,080

4,230

4,350

South Gloucestershire

3,880

3,970

4,110

4,150

Swindon

3,970

4,110

4,250

4,310

Torbay

4,170

4,280

4,440

4,460

Wiltshire

3,910

4,060

4,200

4,250

Notes:

1. This covers funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant, School Standards Grant, School Standards Grant (Personalisation) and Standards Fund as well as funding from the Learning and Skills Council; it excludes grants which are not allocated at LA level.

2. Price Base: Real terms at 2008-09 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 9 December 2009.

3. These figures are for all funded pupils aged three to 15.

4. Figures have been rounded to the nearest £10.

5. Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal.