§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the total public expenditure on education in 1978 and each successive year; and what was the rate of growth in both nominal and real terms over the period.
§ Sir Keith JosephTotal central and local government spending from 1978–79 to 1983–84 on those areas of education which are my responsibility was as follows:
£ million cash 1978–79 7,456 1979–80 8,606 1980–81 10,507 1981–82 11,390 1982–83 12,269 1983–84 12,881 Over this period the primary and secondary school population fell by 12 per cent. while spending on education as a whole increased by nearly 73 per cent. in cash terms, an increase of almost 2 per cent. in real terms.