§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if the Government will make extra funds available to Scottish schools and education authorities to ensure that they are able to comply with the conditions of the Education (Scotland) Bill in respect of publishing information for parents on their respective policies on discipline, school uniforms, provision of homework and other matters; and, if so, how much the Government intend to make available.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe estimated additional expenditure to education authorities of implementing the provisions of the Education (Scotland) Bill in connection with publicity for school admission arrangements has been taken into account in the rate support grant settlement for 1981–82.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide an estimate of the cost, per year, to schools and education authorities of fulfilling the conditions of the Education (Scotland) Bill in respect of publishing details, for the scrutiny of parents, about their policies relating to enforcement of discipline, school uniforms, provision of homework and other matters.
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§ Mr. Alexander FletcherI have no details of the expenditure which education authorities incur at present on the considerable amount of information which schools already provide for parents, but, as indicated in the financial memorandum to the Education (Scotland) Bill, the estimated additional cost of bringing this information up to the standard required by the regulations to be made under the Bill, plus the cost of the new appeal committees, is £300,000 in a full year. No breakdown of this additional expenditure between the two heads is available, but I would expect the number of appeals and therefore the expenditure on appeal committees to be comparatively small.