§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the projected rate of expenditure on special education, expressed in (a) cost and (b) real terms for each year from 1984–85 to 1987–88.
§ Mr. DunnThe following are the figures requested in respect of education in special schools in England over the period 1984–85 to 1986–87; the sum provisionally allocated in the Government's Cmnd. 9428 plans to local authority current expenditure on education in 1987–88 has not been divided between sectors. Information is not available on expenditure on pupils with special needs outside special schools, or on students with special needs in further education.
513W
Expenditure on special schools £million Financial years 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 Cash 420 404 420 Real terms 439 404 402
Notes:
1. The 1984–85 cash figure is an estimate based on local authority budgets, and those for 1985–86 and 1986–87 are projections.
2. The 1984–85 figure is not directly comparable with that for 1985–86 because the former may include, and the latter excludes, expenditure from the unallocated margin of local authority expenditure. There is no unallocated margin for 1986–87, but the split between services of planned local authority current expenditure for that year is provisional.
3. To produce the real terms line the cash figures have been adjusted to 1985–86 prices for general inflation as measured by the GDP deflator. Cmnd. 9428 explains that this process is now referred to as an adjustment to "real terms" rather than "cost terms".
4. The number of pupils in special schools is projected to decline by around 2 per cent. between 1984–85 and 1986–87.