§ Mr. MaxtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total expenditure on(a) books and (b) equipment in schools in Scotland in each year since 1978 in real terms.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information available is given in the table, which has been compiled from local authority financial returns. Expenditure on equipment was not separately identified in these returns until 1982–83. There have been some variations from year to year in the recording of expenditure under these two headings. In particular some of the figures for expenditure on library books may include some expenditure on equipment and vice versa.
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Expenditure on text and library books and on educational tools, equipment and materials adjusted to 1988–89 prices using the GDP deflator Year Books Equipment (£ million) (£ million) 1978–79 13.401 n.a. 1979–80 13.347 n.a. 1980–81 11.090 n.a. 1981–82 10.605 n.a. 1982–83 10.088 20.888 1983–84 12.285 17.801
Year Books Equipment (£ million) (£ million) 1984–85 11.803 19.631 1985–86 10.492 17.892 1986–87 12.120 18.528 1987–88 8.994 22.051 1988–89 10.982 22.522 NoteThe figures include expenditure on local authority nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.