§ Mr. Farrasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much public money, in each of the past five available years, has been spent on archaelogy.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe following information relates to funding by the Department of the Environment, covering archaeological excavations in England only. Responsibilities in other parts of the United Kingdom lie with the respective Secretaries of State. Figures are compared at September 1982 prices.
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Grants to bodies outside DOE (local authorities, universities etc.) for "rescue archaeology" ie excavation and recording of sites about to be destroyed or developed Expenditure £ 1978–79 4,663,000 1979–80 4,654,000 1980–81 4,640,000 1981–82 4,757,000 *1982–83 4,833,000 * Provisional Over the years in question the Department has not separately maintained figures of archaeological costs relating to monuments in DOE care. However, the estimated costs for the years 1980–81 and 1981–82 are of the order of £½ million a year, including fees to consultants and salaries of DOE archaeological staff directly involved in excavations. They exclude DOE archaeologists engaged on inspection or advisory work, and administrative staff concerned with the above functions.