To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the statement of 30 June 2009, Official Report, columns 165-80, on 21st century schools, whether he plans to make additional funding allocations in respect of children with additional needs who are not dyslexic.

We want all children to have an equal chance to succeed, but children from disadvantaged backgrounds need extra support from their school to make that a reality. The current formula for the distribution of the dedicated schools grant includes an element to recognise the pressures faced by those local authorities with high deprivation. For 2009-10 the DSG included £3 billion for deprivation.

We are undertaking a review of the dedicated schools grant to develop a new funding formula which would be available for use from April 2011. The aim of the review is to develop a funding formula which distributes resources in line with relative need, recognising the different costs of educating particular groups of pupils and providing education in different areas. Our aim is to support schools and LAs in raising the educational achievement of all pupils and narrow achievement gaps, particularly those from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds.

As part of this review we are investigating how best to provide funding for additional educational needs (AEN) and have commissioned research to investigate such issues as the different types of AEN in terms of level of incidence and severity; the best measures for identifying pupils likely to under-achieve and the potential role of financial incentives in tackling deprivation.

The review is ongoing and it would not be appropriate at this stage to pre-empt its outcome. We expect to go out to consultation on proposals for a new funding formula in early 2010, after which proposals will be further developed in the light of the consultation responses.