§ 20. Mr. van Straubenzeeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why his Department figures of £35.8 million, £35.3 million and £42.2 million for the value of educational building work completed in England and 579 Wales in each of the first three quarters of 1967 differ from those contained in the Monthly Digest of Statistics issued by the Central Statistical Office.
§ Miss BaconThe figures in the Digest of Statistics give the value of those projects which were completed in the periods in question while the answers to the questions of the hon. Member gave the value of work carried out on all projects, whether or not they were finished during these periods.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeIn that case, can the right hon. Lady kindly explain why in every preceding year, certainly for the last five years, the two sets of figures to which I have drawn her attention have coincided?
§ Miss BaconI could not answer that question without notice. I should, however, like to thank the hon. Member for one thing and I feel that I should explain this to him The fact that he asked this Question meant that we looked more closely at the figures in the January Digest of Statistics. We found that they were not complete because they did not include minor works and Youth Service projects, which meant that we had done more work than the January figures suggested.