§ 41. Mr. POTTERasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education the average annual over-all cost per elementary pupil in schools under public control in England and Wales for the year 1913, and for the nearest available 12 months, 1930–31; and will he give the percentage increase of the three principal items of expenditure which have caused the rise in the annual charge on public funds for elementary education?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. Herwald Ramsbotham)The total cost per child to public funds of elementary education was £13 2s. 6d. in 1930–31, as compared with £4 15s. 2d. in 1913–14, being an increase of £8 7s. 4d. The three principal items which caused this increase are teachers' salaries, where the increased cost is £5 10s. 11d. per child, or 181 per cent.; miscellaneous expenditure (principally on the upkeep and equipment of schools), where the increase is £1 5s. 5d. per child, or 171 per cent.; and special services (i.e., school medical service, schools for defective children, etc.), where the increase is 13s. per child, or 390 per cent.