§ Rev. Martin Smythasked the Minister for the Arts what available information he has as to the amount of expenditure per head of population on library books by local authorities in England and Wales in each of the five years 1975 to 1979 and 1979 to 1984; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LuceCentral Government do no collect statistics on public libraries, which are the responsibility of local government. Figures for all authorities are collated by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, and are available in the House of Commons Library. My duties in respect to public libraries do not extend to Wales but, with the agreement of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales, I have included that part of the United Kingdom in this answer.
The details on expenditure on books by public library authorities are not yet available for 1984–85, but those for 315W the 10 previous years are given in the following table. They are shown in terms of expenditure per 1,000 population, the form in which they are usually given.
Expenditure* on books by public library authorities in England and Wales* Financial year Actual expenditure £ Expenditure at 1983–84 prices £ 1974–75 419 1,278 1975–76 518 1,257 1976–77 568 1,218 1977–78 645 1,215 1978–79 758 1,293 1979–80 816 1,191 1980–81 871 1,071 1981–82 928 1,037 1982–83 1,054 1,037 1983–84 1,149 1,149 * Figures are in £ per 1,000 population.