§ Lord Gridleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How expenditure on higher education compares in 1984–85 in cash and real terms with that in 1978–79.
§ The Earl of SwintonCapital and current expenditure on higher education in the financial year 1978–79 was £1,780 million. The Government's Expenditure Plans for 1983–84 to 1985–86 (Cmnd. 9143) provide for capital and current expenditure totalling £3,230 million in the 1984–85 financial year. Actual expenditure figures will not be available until next year. In cost terms, using a 1983–84 base, expenditure was £3,023 million in 1978–79 and planned expenditure for 1984–85 is £3,084 million. To provide figures for higher education only it has been necessary to estimate the proportion of expenditure on higher education incurred in local authority institutions. The figures do not include expenditure on student support other than mandatory awards, and students' allowances (Scotland), or funds for research in universities and postgraduate awards met by the research councils. The figures reflect the withdrawal of the subsidy for overseas students and changes in the status of EC students, and include funds spent by institutions on reducing staff numbers. Between the 1978–79 and 1983–84 academic years home full-time and sandwich student numbers in higher education increased by 16 per cent.