Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what purposes he has allocated funding from the public purse to (a) the Specialist Schools and Academic Trust and (b) the National College for School Leadership; and what tasks have been completed as a result of the provision of such funding. [40249]

Nick Gibb MP; Minister of State [holding answer 11 February 2011]: The information is as follows:

(a) The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) is an independent charity which derives its income from a range of sources. The Department has grant funded SSAT to support the Specialist Schools and Academies programmes. SSAT's work has included helping schools to meet the standards of the Specialist Schools programme and developing networks of specialist schools and academies. SSAT has also won a number of contracts from the Department in open competition. These relate mainly to the provision of school improvement services. Details of SSAT's income from all sources are available in SSAT's published accounts, which are available on the Charity Commission website.

(b) The National College website contains full details of their activities and funding in annual reports and accounts for current and previous years, see:

www.nationalcollege.org.uk

The college has three broad objectives: (i) to ensure a strong supply of school leaders; (ii) to improve the quality of school and children's centres leadership, and (iii) to identify and deploy the best leaders to support struggling schools. Evidence shows that:

150,000 leaders have participated in the college's programmes since 2000, and that

schools which engage in the college's programmes improve faster than those that do not, with the most engaged schools improving fastest.