§ Sir Brandon Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local education authorities still pay school uniform grants and school maintenance allowances for children of low income families; and what is his estimate of the number who will still be paying them from next September; and what percentage of all local education authorities these figures represent.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information required to answer this question is not collected by my Department. The powers that local education authorities have to give assistance of these kinds are discretionary and it is for each authority to determine its own policy. Expenditure on school maintenance allowances in 1978–79 was about £3 million. The corresponding 407W figure for expenditure on school uniform grants is not available.