§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the capital expenditure on local authority schools in each of the past 10 years in cash and constant price terms.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 5 February 1990]: The information is given in the following table, which has been compiled from local authority financial returns. The reduction in expenditure in real terms during the period reflects a substantial and progressive decline in pupil numbers which in turn reduced the requirement for new school building.
Capital expenditure by local authorities on schools ( £ million) Year At outturn prices At 1988–89 prices 1979–80 47.598 89.625 1980–81 52.301 83.214 1981–82 60.404 87.534 1982–83 52.378 70.793 1983–84 45.098 58.235 1984–85 46.099 56.711 1985–86 51.276 59.864 1986–87 46.506 52.524 1987–88 48.260 51.761 11988–89 59.392 59.392 1Provisional. The figures include expenditure on nursery, primary, secondary and special schools. Outturn figures have been converted to 1988–89 prices using the GDP deflator.