HC Deb 10 December 1979 vol 975 cc512-3W
Mr. Ernie Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the values of the subsidies to the educational budgets of Tayside and Scotland on (a) the school meals service, (b) school transport and (c) school milk; and what percentage of the total educational budgets these subsidies represent in each case.

Mr. Alexander Fletcher

Rate support grant is paid in aid of local authority services generally and is not hypothecated to individual services. The Government do not pay a direct subsidy towards the costs incurred by education authorities on school meals, school transport and school milk; in the case of school milk my Department transmits to authorities an EEC subsidy estimated for 1979–80 at £1.5 million. The following table shows the estimates of expenditure on these services within total relevant expenditure assumed in the rate support grant settlement for 1979–80:

£ million at November 1978 prices Percentage of education estimate Per cent.
School meals 39.3 5.5
School transport 15.0 2.1
School milk 3.3* 0.5
Total for education 715.1* 100.0
*Net of EEC subsidy.

I have asked Tayside regional council to let the hon. Member have comparable figures.

EXPENDITURE PER HEAD OF POPULATION
Health Board 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79
£ £ £
Argyll and Clyde 106.58 120.00 143.97
Ayrshire and Arran 85.84 99.57 115.26
Borders 100.13 113.95 130.25
Dumfries and Galloway 114.96 124.64 142.18
Fife 89.57 101.03 116.12
Forth Valley 106.49 119.97 139.24
Grampian 119.35 132.80 152.38
Greater Glasgow 156.68 177.81 209.20
Highland 127.68 143.50 168.68
Lanarkshire 93.81 105.91 120.31
Lothian 134.54 155.31 178.69
Orkney 93.38 106.14 132.23
Shetland 103.48 105.19 120.33
Tayside 155.14 171.47 196.54
Western Isles 99.61 114.75 150.18
Scotland 122.67 138.50 160.61