§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action she is taking to remedy the acute shortage of books being experienced by many schools both in the secondary and primary sectors.
519W
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsI am most concerned at the effect of recent local authority economy measures on the provision of books and other teaching materials in some schools. Partly for that reason, the rate support grant settlements for 1978–79 and 1979–80 each made allowance for a 2 per cent. growth in non-teaching costs per pupil in primary and secondary schools beyond what would in any case be necessary to maintain existing standards as school rolls fall. The Government made it clear in the circulars on those settlements that they recognised the need for local authorities to restore deferred expenditure on books.