§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to counter the effects of cuts in local authority expenditure on the provision of books and equipment, as described in Her Majesty's Inspectorate's report 1983.
§ Sir Keith JosephIn 1982–83 expenditure per pupil on books was slightly greater in real terms than in 1980–81. The recent report by HMI on the effects of local authority expenditure policies on education provision in England records some further improvement in the provision of books and equipment within schools and colleges in autumn 1983 compared with the previous year. I shall continue to emphasise the importance of this area of expenditure.
Books Expenditure Unit Costs (£ cash)* Primary Secondary Cambridgeshire £ †East Anglia £ Rest of England £ Cambridgeshire £ †East Anglia £ Rest of England £ 1978–79 4.4 3.7 4.3 7.5 6.3 7.2 1979–80 5.4 4.2 4.7 9.0 7.6 7.8 1980–81 5.7 4.3 5.4 10.2 8.2 8.1 1981–82 6.4 5.3 5.9 11.6 9.3 8.6 1982–83 6.3 5.7 7.3 9.8 9.3 9.9
Primary Secondary (at 1982–83 prices‡) Cambridgeshire £ †East Anglia £ Rest of England £ Cambridgeshire £ †East Anglia £ Rest of England £ 1978–79 6.6 5.6 6.5 11.3 9.5 10.8 1979–80 7.1 5.6 6.2 11.9 10.0 10.3 1980–81 6.8 5.1 6.4 12.1 9.8 9.6 1981–82 6.7 5.6 6.2 12.2 9.8 9.0 1982–83 6.3 5.7 7.3 9.8 9.3 9.9 * These figures are based on annual expenditure returns made by local authorities to DOE. † East Anglia is assumed for this purpose to consist of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. ‡ Repriced using Publishers' Association school book index.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish a table showing the expenditure on educational publications and equipment by each county in England after the 2 per cent. per capita increase in provision announced in the Government's 1984–85 expenditure plans.
§ Sir Keith JosephThe Government's plans for local authority recurrent expenditure in the current financial year allowed for the majority of authorities in aggregate