HC Deb 04 February 1985 vol 72 cc441-3W
Mr. Hume

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what figures are available to him to indicate the total expenditure on books by each of the education and library boards in Northern Ireland for each of the past six years.

Mr. Scott

Figures available include expenditure on practice materials (such as rulers, compasses, clay, wood, chemicals etc), as well as on books at schools and institutions of further education and on books purchased for public libraries. They are as follows:

£000s
Area boards 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84
Belfast 1,717 1,708 1,857 1,694 1,437 1,512
North-Eastern 1,722 1,858 1,778 1,937 2,013 2,177
South-Eastern 1,277 1,363 1,227 1,362 1,352 1,560
Southern 1,399 1,463 1,472 1,501 1,527 1,549
Western 1,241 1,299 1,371 1,359 1,374 1,432
All boards 7,356 7,691 7,705 7,853 7,703 8,230