§ Mr. Alisonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science which education authorities will receive additional resources to accommodate extra expenditure on nursery schools and provision for rising fives.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe expenditure forecasts underlying the 1978–79 rate support grant settlement are based on the expectation that the number of pupils in nursery schools and in nursery classes in primary schools will continue to rise nationally in line with the planned nursery building programme and as a result of the opening of nursery units which have already been built but are not yet in use. The fall in the size of the 3 and 4 year old age groups should make it possible for a number of local education authorities to admit a growing proportion of rising fives to infant classes, or to reintroduce the admission of rising fives where the practice has been discontinued. The rate support grant is a block grant in aid of local government expenditure as a whole, and it will be a matter for each local education authority to examine the640W implications of the settlement for its own plans and decisions.