§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which items of expenditure incurred by the education and library boards and health and welfare boards are chiefly responsible for the increases which have taken place since 1975–76; and what is the size of the increases in respect of each item.
§ Mr. CarterThe information is:
Education and Library Boards.—Net recurrent payments in 1976–77 amounted to £88.1 million, which was an increase of 292W Some 19 per cent. on the 1975–76 total of £74 million. This increase occurred principally on the following service:
Service Increase (£m) Primary schools 1.6 Secondary Intermediate schools 2.3 Grammer school education 1.3 Milk and meals 2.3 University scholarships 1.3 Further education 1.3 Library services 1.0 Headquarters administration 1.0 Health and Social Services Boards.—The net revenue expenditure for 1976–77 was £2137 million which was an increase of 18.6 per cent. over the 1975–76 expenditure of £180.1 million. The main areas where the increases have taken place are:
Increase (£m) Hospital and specialist services 20.3 Pharmaceutical services 4.2 Community care services 4.7 These increases account for £29.3 million of the total increase of £33.5 million.