§ 35. Mr. Hal Millerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is her policy towards a change in the present rules governing the provision of free school transport as laid down in Sections 39 and 55 of the Education Act 1944.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonMy right hon. Friend would welcome changes in the present arrangements; but they would require more widespread support than any proposals so far put forward.
§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been spent in each of the last five years and what it is estimated will be spent in each of the next five years by local authorities on school travel, broken down into contract hire, travel on stage 132W service buses and travel on British Railways.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonDetails of the estimated future expenditure cannot be provided in the form requested because local authorities furnish no itemised return of forward estimates. The only available information is given in Appendix 2 of the report of the Working Party on School Transport, Table III.3 of which provides the following information for the financial year 1971–72 relating to pupils in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales:
EXPENDITURE BY MODE OF TRANSPORT AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL EXPENDITURE Mode Percentage Stage carriage buses … … 37.4 Contract vehicles … … 52.4 Rail and tube … … 5.2 LEA-owned vehicles … … 3.8 Parental cars … … 0.5 Other … … 0.7 Total net expenditure on transport between home and school by local authorities in England and Wales in the last five years was as follows:
Financial year £ million (outturn prices) 1971–72 … … … 32.0 1972–73 … … … 36.0 1973–74 … … … 44.6 1974–75 … … … 54.2 1975.76 … … … 74.1 Local authorities are not required to provide forward estimates of their expenditure.