What measures he proposes to assist schools in deprived areas to secure the private sector funding required to achieve specialist status. [109128]

The sponsorship requirement for specialist schools has been reduced from £100,000 to £50,000. In addition, we provide grant in aid to the technology colleges trust and the youth sport trust in their work to help potential applicants raise sponsorship and to raise funds directly themselves. We have agreed with the trusts that emphasis will be placed on areas of deprivation and that they will assist nationally in encouraging sponsors to do that. So far, £45 million has been raised through that mechanism; £25 million since May 1997. I pay tribute to the technology colleges trust and the youth sport trust for the enormous effort that they have put in to make the partnership successful.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that helpful answer, but I am sure that he understands the immense difficulties faced by schools in towns such as Skelmersdale—deprived, low-wage towns, which do not have many or any large firms, and where those firms are heavily involved in other partnerships. Such schools do not get the attention that inner-city schools manage to achieve from time to time. Does my right hon. Friend realise that £50,000 is still a great deal of money for a school to find, and can result in the school leadership having to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to rustle up money from a large number of sources? Can he go even further with areas such as Skelmersdale?

We are aware of the enormity of the challenge of raising £50,000 for schools in some areas. That is why, with Sir Cyril Taylor and the technology colleges trust in particular, we have been working to get major companies to put up resources specifically targeted at areas such as Skelmersdale, in a way that assists schools to continue the task of linking up with those companies, raising the resources and acting as a mentor and boost to the school.

May I draw the Secretary of State's attention to the problems experienced by schools making bids in rural areas? Stowmarket high school in my Constituency made a bid for specialist status this past year and was turned down. One reason was that it could not raise the full £50,000. In a rural area such as Stowmarket, there are simply not enough local private sector companies and bodies to make the necessary donations. Will the Secretary of State therefore consider making allowances when schools such as Stowmarket high, in rural areas such as mine in mid-Suffolk, make bids for specialist school status?

I do not think that it would be possible to change the regulations specifically for schools in areas such as mid-Suffolk, given the level of inherent wealth and employment in East Anglia. However, we would be prepared to look more closely, with the TCT, at ways in which we could link schools in areas of deprivation within areas of greater wealth and privilege, so that we can link companies that are prepared to reach out to them. [Interruption.] There are murmurings from the Opposition front bench, but East Anglia has virtually reached full employment. Encouraging companies to reach out to deprived areas in such regions is an important part of the trust's work.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that, although the specialist schools initiative has been widely welcomed, there is a problem with the amount of money available for co-operating with other local schools for community projects? During the Select Committee's visits, we found that there was often a lack of co-operation between schools. We want schools to open doors and co-operate, but perhaps too little money is available for that.

I am pleased to respond positively to my hon. Friend. We changed the regulations to ensure that co-operation is essential, first in developing the bids, then in implementing specialist status, so that the schools must reach out to feeder schools, other neighbouring schools and the wider community. We place considerable emphasis on that, because we want the near-500 specialist schools that now exist to cascade their resources and their work outwards. Part of the resources that they receive from the Government depends on the work that they do with the wider community.

Is the Secretary of State aware that, on a recent visit to Gateshead, the Select Committee on Education and Employment learned that none of the local Labour Members of Parliament had ever, in 10 years, visited their highly successful city technology college? Does he agree that, if those Labour Members were to visit their local city technology college, they would learn about attracting private sector funds to schools in deprived areas?

I am delighted to tell the hon. Gentleman that I have visited several of the original technology colleges, and I am certain that, as those schools reach out, as they are doing, voluntarily coming into the programme that we have laid out and working closely with their neighbouring schools, Members of Parliament of all persuasions will be delighted to welcome that and to engage with their activities.