§ Mr. Bakerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) whether she will publish an index of public expenditure at constant prices on the education of those aged under 16 years, for each year since 1945;
(2) how many people aged under 16 years were in full-time education in each year since 1945;
(3) whether there is any rule-of-thumb formula relating public expenditure on education to the age structure of the population, assuming that levels of provision remain broadly as at present.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonNo index related specifically to public expenditure on the education of those under the age of 16 is available. However, the recurrent institutional expenditure on pupils of all ages at maintained schools, including nursery and special schools, was at constant prices:
£million Financial year (1976 survey prices) 1960–61 1,579 1961–62 1,643 1962–63 1,683 1963–64 1,730 1964–65 1,779 1965–66 1,844 1966–67 1,920 1967–68 1,975 1968–69 2,055 1969–70 2,126 1970–71 2,261 1971–72 2,441 1972–73 2,605 1973–74 2,841 1974–75 2,939 1975–76 3,154* * Provisional. Comparable information for the years before 1960–61 is not readily available.
The numbers of pupils and students under 16 in full-time education in England and Wales in each academic year since 1949–50, the earliest year for which comparable data are available, are:
130W
Academic Year (thousands) 1949–50 6,195 1950–51 6,285 1951–52 6,516 1952–53 6,749 1953–54 6,914
Academic Year (thousands) 1954–55 7,051 1955–56 7,181 1956–57 7,306 1957–58 7,370 1958–59 7,405 1959–60 7,412 1960–61 7,425 1961–62 7,433 1962–63 7,345 1963–64 7,398 1964–65 7,430 1965–66 7,509 1966–67 7,638 1967–68 7,823 1968–69 8,016 1969–70 8,204 1970–71 8,398 1971–72 8,616 1972–73 8,762 1973–74 9,017 1974–75 9,059 1975–76 9,095 There is no simple relationship between public expenditure on education and the age structure of the population.