§ 77. Mr. Iremongerasked the Minister of Education what proportion of the gross national product was devoted to education in the years 1951 and 1961, respectively; how the resources involved were apportioned; and what changes he will make in these dispositions in the future.
§ Sir E. BoyleThe proportion of the gross national product spent by public authorities on education rose from 3.1 per cent. in the financial year 1951–52 to an estimated 4.4 per cent. in 1961–62. (Excluded from these percentages is expenditure on school milk and meals, public libraries and museums, the educational expenditure by the Service Departments and from private sources.)
The apportionment of the public expenditure on education has been published for each year since 1953–54 in the May issue of the Monthly Digest of Statistics (Tables B, D and E). Strictly comparable statistics for 1951–52 are not readily available. Government decisions so far announced will not lead in the immediate future to any major change in the pattern of expenditure within the total devoted to education, though the trend at the present time continues slightly upward.