§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current annual expenditure for the Inner London Education Authority; if the authority is overspent and, if so, by how much; if as a consequence it has lost Government grant; how it may recover lost grant; and how the Inner London Education Authority expenditure compares with other large urban education authority areas.
§ Mr. William SheltonThe ILEA's net budget for 1981–82 is £697.5 million. This is 49 per cent. above the authority's grant-related expenditure—GRE—the Government's estimate of what each authority would need to spend to provide an average level of service, having regard to the particular circumstances. Because of its excessive level of expenditure the ILEA will not be eligible for any block grantin 1981–82. It could have recovered grant by cutting its expenditure. If the Authority had reduced its expenditure by only half the rate of fall in its pupil numbers since 1978–79, it would have received about £30 million grant. ILEA's budgeted expenditure on education is estimated to be 20 per cent. more in relation to its GRE than that of any other education authority—urban or rural—in 1981–82.
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the pupil to teacher ratio in the Inner London Education Authority in primary and secondary schools, respectively; how this compares with other comparable urban education authorities; what percentage of Inner London Education Authority expenditure goes on non-teaching staff and administration; and what are the comparisons with other education authorities.
§ Mr. William SheltonIn January 1981, the pupil-teacher ratios within maintained primary and secondary schools in the Inner London Education Authority were 17.5:1 and 14.3:1 respectively. Comparable ratios in respect of the six largest metropolitan district authorities in England were as follows:
224W
Pupil-teacher ratios in: Metropolitan district Primary schools Secondary schools Birmingham 23.2 16.4 Bradford 20.2 18.5 Leeds 23.0 17.5 Manchester 22.4 15.0 Sheffield 21.2 16.3 In the financial year 1980–81, 23 per cent. and 5.5 per cent. of the Inner London Education Authority's gross recurrent expenditure went in non-teaching staff and administration—including inspection—respectively. Comparable percentages in the authorities listed above were as follows:
Percentage of gross recurrent expenditure are: Non-teaching percentage Administration percentage Birmingham 16.1 3.4 Bradford 15.8 4.9 Leeds 15.0 3.0 Manchester 18.0 3.4 Sheffield 16.6 3.4
§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current average annual expenditure by the Inner London Education Authority per pupil in respect of primary, secondary and adult education and. in the provision of services for young people.
§ Mr. William SheltonThe figures are as follows:
Net institutional recurrent expenditure by Inner London Education Authority 1980–1981 Cost per head £ (outturn prices) Primary 929 Secondary 1,253 Adult Education Centres* 913 Youth Service† 57 Notes:
* The client group for adult education is taken to be the number of students enrolled at adult education centres.
† The client group for the youth service is taken to be the number of people aged 11 to 17 years.