§ Mr. Hillasked the Secretary of State for Education arid Science in which respects he anticipates that the forecast fall in school rolls will allow an improvement in the effectiveness of educational services at constant expenditure with regard to (a) pupil-teacher ratios, and (b) utilisation of fixed capital resources.
§ Mr. Mark CarlisleIf expenditure in real terms on teachers' salaries were to be held constant between 1980–81 and 1983–84, the overall pupil-teacher ratio would fall by the forecast percentage fall in pupil numbers—11 per cent. Within the resources that can he afforded, the Government's expenditure plans allow for the overall pupil-teacher ratio to remain broadly level— at 18.8: 1—over this period. After allowing for space standards to be brought up to those of a well-designed new school, there will be some three million surplus school places by 1986 as a result of falling pupil numbers. The Government's expenditure plans assume that by 1983–84 local authorities in England will have taken 700.000 of these three million surplus places out of use. This means that many schools will have the benefit of additional space.