HC Deb 30 January 1990 vol 166 c163W
105. Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the areas in which his Department is underspending.

Mr. MacGregor

DES public expenditure Votes in 1988–89 were underspent by 1.8 per cent. Three quarters of this arose on two programmes of specific grant where local authorities did not claim as high a proportion of grant within the financial year to which it related as had been projected. Action has been taken to ensure that in future outturn more closely matches Vote provision for these programmes.