§ 20. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the cost of education, as a percentage of the Government's total expenditure, for 1873–74, 1913–14 and 1953–54, respectively.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterApproximately 3 per cent., 9.7 per cent. and 6.4 per cent., respectively.
§ Mr. JohnsonDoes the Financial Secretary attach any significance to statements by leaders of the teachers' unions that we are economising not merely this year on last year, but cutting a smaller slice of the national cake this year than we were 40 years ago?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI think that anyone who is impressed by that idea would be reassured by the fact that the expenditure in this year's education Estimates is £88 million in excess of the total national Budget expenditure in the years to which the hon. Member referred, and also by the fact that large new social services, which were non-existent or rudimentary in 1913–14, now affect the total.