asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much funding is in the transitional fund in Northern Ireland for the current year; on what basis it is allocated; and after what equality process. [HL3012]

Transitional funding support of just over £8 million was set aside in 2006-07 to help schools manage the movement from seven separate formulae to a common funding formula. Each school's share of the transition fund was determined at the time of introducing the new formula to reflect the difference between allocations under the separate funding formulae and allocations made via the common funding formula. The transition arrangements were put in place for two years, with all schools moving to full formula funding in the 2007-08 financial year.

Both the original proposals for a common funding formula (2001) and the consultation undertaken in 2004, prior to the introduction of common funding from April 2005, were subject to equality impact assessments.