§ Mr. Wardasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will announce the allocations for schools and for higher and further education from her Department's share of the additional expenditure on construction in 1978–79 announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 26th October.
420WComparable statistics for 1974 and 1975 are published in Table 31 of Volume 2, Statistics of Education, copies of which are in the Library.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsMy Department's share of the additional expenditure on the construction industry in 1978–79 is £26 million. I am allocating £9 million for capital projects in schools, £5.5 million for further education colleges and polytechnics and £4.5 million for universities.
The additional expenditure authorisation for schools will enable authorities to start new projects to the value of £21 million. About £17 million will be earmarked for a special programme to assist the reorganisation of secondary education on comprehensive lines, £2.5 million for special schools and the remainder for other improvements, including a further modest expansion of nursery education.
In further education, the extra expenditure authorisation will provide more help for authorities in meeting the demand for additional places in non-advanced further education in connection with the Government's programme for the young unemployed; and will also provide for a small increase in the resources allocated to polytechnics.
The £4.5 million allocated to the university sector will be used mainly for the modernisation and adaptation of existing buildings.