§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the estimated amount of university expenditure per student on library acquisitions during 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82.
§ Mr. WaldegraveExpenditure per student on library acquisitions by universities in Great Britain in 1979–80 and 1980–81 was as follows:
Academic year Cost per student £ 1979–80 59 1980–81 65 The figure for 1981–82 is not yet available.
§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has as to the total amount of university expenditure on libraries in 1979, 1980, 1981 and to the nearest available date in 1982.
§ Mr. WaldegraveExpenditure by universities in Great Britain on libraries (including library acquisitions) during the period 1978–79 to 1980–81 was as follows:
Academic year £ million (cash) 1978–79 44.8 1979–80 52.1 1980–81 62.7 Details of expenditure in 1981–82 are not yet available.
§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what was the total amount of expenditure by polytechnics on books during 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82;
(2) what percentage of total expenditure by (a) polytechnics and (b) colleges of further and higher education is allocated to book purchases at the nearest available date;
(3) what was the total amount of expenditure on book provision by colleges of further and higher education during 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82.
§ Mr. WaldegraveLocal authorities' expenditure on books in polytechnics and other major establishments of further education in England during the period specified was as follows: 371W
£ million Financial years Polytechnics Other major further education establishments 1977–78 6.4 — 1978–79 6.9 — 1979–80 7.0 8.1 1980–81 7.6 8.6 1981–82* 9.1 8.7 1981–82 expenditure as percentage of total expenditure 2.7 0.9 * Provisional figures.
§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many polytechnics decreased their spending on books during 1981–82.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe available information suggests that no local authority reduced expenditure on books in polytechnics between 1980–81 and 1981–82 in cash terms; in real terms, 10 of the 25 local authorities maintaining polytechnics appear to have reduced their expenditure by varying amounts, whereas the other 15 maintained or increased it.