To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school budgets in Greater London, were in deficit in each of the last seven years, broken down by local education authority.

The information requested is available from 1999–2000 onwards. Prior to this school level data was not collected by my Department. Data from 1999–2000 onwards are contained within the following table:

⁽²¹⁾ Financial data used to determine budget is taken to the nearest pound.

⁽²²⁾ Due to changes in data items recorded on Section 52, school level balance data is now reported as the combination of any unspent allocations (including unspent Standards Fund grants) and the cumulative balance of income less expenditure from revenue funding sources during the financial year and any balances carried forward from previous years. Previously unspent allocations were excluded from the calculation of school balances but from 2003–04 onwards we are not able to split these out and as a result these figures for 1999–2000 to 2002–03 may differ from figures released previously by the department.

⁽²³⁾ School level data has only been collected by the DfES since the inception of Section 52 in 1999–2000.

⁽²⁴⁾ Figures for 1999–2000 to 2002–03 are for LEA maintained primary, secondary and special schools. 2003–04 figures also include those LEA maintained nursery schools with delegated budgets.

⁽²⁵⁾ 2003–04 data is still undergoing data cleaning and is therefore subject to charges by the LEA which may after the results for that period.

Note:

As reported by LEAs as at 3 February 2005.