§ Mr. Buchanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, if any local authority exercises the power contained in the Education (Scotland) Bill to change fees in local authority schools, it will mean a reduction in the amount of rate support grant given to each local authority in Scotland.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellSection 3 of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1971, gives the Secretary of State power in varying a rate support grant order made before the date of the coming into force of the 295W Act for a grant period ending after that date to take account of income from fees charged in education authority schools. Any reduction made by virtue of this Section would affect the amount of rate support grant available for each local authority in Scotland. Since expenditure estimated at £413.6 million was taken into account in fixing the amount for 1971–72, however, any effect on rate support grant of the 1971 Act would be extremely small.