§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in theOfficial Report, for each education authority in Scotland, the number of applications received for financial assistance for school clothing under the Education Acts, the number of grants
£'000 Financial year Education authority 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 Borders 13 18 30 37 48 Central 248 324 393 375 369 Dumfries and Galloway 26 32 44 — 1 Fife 18 33 116 128 190 Grampian 4 8 11 9 32 Highland 32 63 93 119 116 Lothian 122 180 248 126 168 Strathclyde 1,937 2,917 3,034 3,227 3,294 Tayside 90 139 188 224 229 Orkney 4 4 5 5 7 Shetland — — — — — Western Isles 19 37 18 20 20 Total 2,513 3,755 4,180 4,270 4,474
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list in theOfficial Report the amounts budgeted for expenditure in the next financial year by each local education authority in Scotland to meet the demand for clothing grants under the education grants, shown separately as an amount per eligible pupil at school in each region.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThis information is not held centrally.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will consider making a specific grant to each education authority in Scotland to cope with increases in applications for financial assistance for clothing grants under the Education Acts.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythMy right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to direct resources into a specific grant for the purpose of supporting expenditure by local authorities on clothing grants made under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. It is for authorities to determine the level of their spending for this purpose from within the resources available to them.