§ Mr. Arnold Shawasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he is satisfied that the details of expenditure and unit costs for pupils for individual local education authorities at present contained in the annual digests of education statistics published jointly by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Society of County Treasurers are sufficiently comprehensive or up to date.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonMy right hon. Friend has no responsibility for these statistics. Local education authorities are not required to submit expenditure returns to my right hon. Friend because determination of expenditure levels lies entirely within their discretion. It is in keeping with this constitutional discretion that the Department normally refers Members to these data which are compiled from information supplied direct to these bodies by local authorities.