HC Deb 02 February 1956 vol 548 cc128-9W
Mr. Woodburn

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the grants given by the Government for university education for 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, and the latest year for which figures are available, respectively, and the total Government expenditure on research for the same years, including the cost of research establishments.

Mr. H. Macmillan

Grants for university education in the years in question were as follows:

Financial Years £
1937–38 Actual payment 2,116,300
1938–39 Actual payment 2,209,527
1945–46 Actual payment 4,265,224
1946–47 Actual payment 6,485,513
1947–48 Actual payment 10,045,050
1948–19 Actual payment 12,642,180
1949–50 Actual payment 17,562,322
1950–51 Actual payment 21,473,415
1955–56 Estimate 32,225,000

Figures for estimated expenditure on research are given in a table which, from 1948–49 to 1954–55 inclusive, was appended to the Estimate for Grants for Science and the Arts (Class IV, 10), and in 1955–56 appeared as Appendix A to the Memorandum by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on the Civil Estimates. No figures are available for the years before 1948–49; nor is actual, as distinct from estimated, expenditure available for any year. The relevant figures for the years asked for, from 1948–49, are set out below. These figures do not include any part of the grants to universities listed above, because although part of those grants is spent on research it is not practicable to distinguish it from the total amounts involved.

Research and Development—Estimated Expenditure
Financial Years £
1948–49 75,469,951
1949–50 96,072,533
1950–51 114,647,441
1955–56 196,354,683