§ Dr. McDonaldasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science which local authorities bought places at independent schools and paid for pupils to attend them during 1977–78 and 1978–79; how many students were involved; and what were the costs of providing such schooling to local authorities.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonUsing their powers under the Education Acts, local education authorities supported a total of 21,346 non-handicapped pupils and 7,362 handicapped pupils at independent schools in the academic year 1977–78. Corresponding figures for 1978–79 are not yet available. Information as to the costs for independent school placements alone are not readily available. However, for all non-maintained schools, including former direct grant schools and non-maintained special schools, the total number of students was 74,888 and according to provisional outturn figures, the expenditure by local education authorities in the financial year 1977–78 on the support of pupils in all such non-maintained schools was at November 1977 prices £41.7 million for non-handicapped pupils, of which approximately £18.5 million was for pupils in former direct grant schools, and £47.5 million for handicapped pupils. The number of pupils supported by each local education authority was as follows:
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Number of pupils Local education authority Non-handicapped Handicapped GREATER LONDON Barking 4 59 Barnet 185 120 Bexley 110 28 Brent 512 104 Bromley 512 83 Croydon 639 115 Ealing 169 79 Enfield 155 62 Haringey 21 131 Harrow 241 73 Havering 23 26 Hillingdon 151 48 Hounslow 96 73 Kingston 277 67 Merton 61 26 Newham 40 30 Redbridge 47 69 Richmond 660 69 Sutton 81 74 Waltham Forest 2 17 ILEA 177 291
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Number of pupils Local education authority Non-handicapped Handicapped Birmingham 89 26 Coventry 20 14 Dudley 4 28 Sandwell 7 9 Solihull 121 26 Walsall 15 9 Wolverhampton 26 9 MERSEYSIDE Knowsley — 12 Liverpool 10 11 St. Helens 29 24 Sefton 41 44 Wirral 363 84 GREATER MANCHESTER Bolton 28 51 Bury 14 22 Manchester 126 65 Oldham 22 27 Rochdale 49 16 Salford 38 6 Stockport 572 — Tameside 61 35 Trafford 935 12 Wigan 23 8 SOUTH YORKSHIRE Barnsley 5 — Doncaster 11 5 Rotherham — 5 Sheffield 32 3 WEST YORKSHIRE Bradford 17 48 Calderdale 5 10 Kirklees 5 14 Leeds 52 74 Wakefield 3 12 TYNE AND WEAR Gateshead 124 15 Newcastle 315 30 North Tyneside 28 2 South Tyneside 6 9 Sunderland 3 — Isles of Scilly 3 — Avon 237 236 Bedfordshire 303 118 Berkshire 1,163 236 Buckinghamshire 106 152 Cambridgeshire 139 94 Cheshire 2,712 43 Cleveland 43 40 Cornwall 31 52 Cumbria 55 56 Derbyshire 291 32 Devon 133 272 Dorset 662 230 Durham 37 14 East Sussex 233 236 Essex 239 187 Gloucestershire 460 129 Hampshire 1,267 469 Hereford and Worcester 310 112 Hertfordshire 423 245 Humberside 71 101 Isle of Wight 12 16 Kent 890 339
Number of pupils Local education authority Non-handicapped Handicapped Lancashire 566 183 Leicestershire 84 72 Lincolnshire 50 49 Norfolk 320 34 North Yorkshire 219 20 Northamptonshire 14 39 Northumberland 37 12 Nottinghamshire 169 77 Oxfordshire 316 168 Salop 4 3 Somerset 688 107 Staffordshire 79 91 Suffolk 446 77 Surrey 559 246 Warwickshire 336 92 West Sussex 65 105 Wiltshire 212 169 TOTAL ENGLAND 21,346 7,362