§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he is satisfied that there will be sufficient funds to carry out necessary major repairs to school buildings in the current and next financial years; if he will be prepared to make extra funds available if necessary; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. BoysonThe rate support grant (RSG) settlement for the current financial year, 1980–81, allowed for a 2 per cent. real improvement in standards of school building maintenance. The RSG report for England for 1981–82, which set out the Government's decisions on the total and distribution of grant to local authorities, has been approved by the House. It implies a volume cut of some 1½ percent., compared with previous plans, in schools current expenditure as a whole. It is for each local authority to determine the distribution of its expenditure between individual items.