§ Mr. BettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what has been the real increase in education expenditure on matters within the responsibility of local education authorities since 1979, in money and percentage terms; and what is(a) the level by which LEAs in total and (b) the extent to which each individual LEA currently spends beyond its education standard spending assessment SSA, according to the latest expenditure figures available, in money and percentage terms.
§ Mr. ForthTotal local authority expenditure on education in England has increased by £3,197 million or 17.6 per cent., in real terms between 1979–80 and 1991–92, the latest year for which data are available. This comparison does not allow for the transfer or responsibility for about £900 million—in 1992–93 prices —of expenditure on local authority higher education to the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council from 1 April 1989.
Information on LEAs' budgeted expenditure is taken from returns to the Department of Environment. The figures for English LEAs' education budgets for 1992–93, both individually and in total, together with the figures for their overall education standard spending assessments and the differences in cash and percentage terms, are set out in the table.
For several reasons, it is necessary to be cautious about drawing conclusions from the figures. Education SSAs are not spending targets as LEAs are free to determine their own spending priorities. The budget figures were provided at the beginning of the 1992–93 financial year. Outturn expenditure may well be different. LEAs may also not recognise the budget figures because their budget returns have been adjusted by the Department of Environment to make them comparable with their education SSAs.
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Local education authority Budget Education SSA Difference Percentage difference Ealing 122.72 130.81 -8 -6 Enfield 115.86 113.70 2 2 Haringey 96.20 103.80 -8 -7 Harrow 80.81 79.91 1 1 Havering 89.57 89.17 0 0 Hillingdon 87.97 88.11 0 0 Hounslow 86.55 90.25 -4 -4 Kingston 50.16 46.18 4 9 Merton 61.47 59.31 2 4 Newham 111.28 133.21 -22 -16 Redbridge 90.02 92.45 -2 -3 Richmond 44.56 44.36 0 0 Sutton 55.39 61.32 -6 -10 Waltham Forest 100.55 104.85 -4 -4 Birmingham 428.05 485.14 -57 -12 Coventry 132.46 122.99 9 8 Dudley 117.67 108.75 9 8 Sandwell 128.19 125.30 3 2 Solihull 73.29 72.26 1 1 Walsall 106.39 107.18 -1 -1 Wolverhampton 112.80 110.65 2 2 Knowsley 74.56 78.89 -4 -5 Liverpool 206.93 214.97 -8 -4 St. Helens 76.65 73.34 3 0 Sefton 110.25 110.45 0 0 Wirral 132.23 135.67 -3 -3 Bolton 105.87 105.65 0 0 Bury 68.74 63.93 5 8 Manchester 198.76 203.67 -5 -2 Oldham 95.63 94.07 2 2 Rochdale 84.40 86.46 -2 -2 Salford 87.54 89.33 -2 -2 Stockport 105.97 99.82 6 6 Tameside 82.69 85.35 -3 -3 Trafford 78.55 77.58 1 1 Wigan 124.23 116.64 8 7 Barnsley 77.08 80.67 -4 -4 Doncaster 121.43 119.05 2 2 Rotherham 104.55 101.40 3 3 Sheffield 190.79 180.80 10 6 Bradford 213.28 221.85 -9 -4 Calderdale 77.61 77.24 0 0 Kirklees 153.04 157.65 -5 -3 Leeds 267.68 261.96 6 2 Wakefield 120.62 114.54 6 5 Gateshead 80.07 72.77 7 10 Newcastle 104.88 99.42 5 5 North Tyneside 75.25 73.66 2 2 South Tyneside 63.62 60.54 3 5 Sunderland 113.41 118.37 -5 -4 Isles of Scilly 1.36 1.30 0 4 Avon 350.59 315.24 35 11 Bedfordshire 220.25 222.71 -2 -1 Berkshire 272.03 287.14 -15 -5 Buckinghamshire 255.58 259.97 -4 -2 Cambridgeshire 249.28 242.20 7 3 Cheshire 370.99 359.37 12 3 Cleveland 253.42 247.82 6 2 Cornwall 170.01 175.42 -5 -3 Cumbria 183.70 173.35 10 6 Derbyshire 370.13 329.86 40 12 Devon 347.72 343.10 5 1 Dorset 203.35 200.12 3 2 Durham 234.13 223.95 10 5 East Sussex 224.66 216.96 8 4 Essex 557.99 580.81 -23 -4 Gloucestershire 192.54 183.41 9 5 Hampshire 576.19 562.64 14 2 Hereford and Worcester 241.87 241.88 0 0 Hertfordshire 383.25 370.18 13 4 Humberside 361.53 341.30 20 6 Isle of Wight 46.24 47.54 -1 -3 Kent 539.75 568.13 -28 -5 Lancashire 563.79 553.25 11 2 Leicestershire 361.69 344.49 17 5 Lincolnshire 219.32 221.98 -3 -1 Norfolk 261.97 260.61 1 1
Local education authority Budget Education SSA Difference Percentage difference North Yorkshire 252.93 243.84 9 4 Northamptonshire 225.98 223.80 2 1 Northumberland 119.79 111.40 8 8 Nottinghamshire 402.22 383.42 19 5 Oxfordshire 201.34 187.52 14 7 Shropshire 164.61 154.01 11 7 Somerset 172.71 159.23 13 8 Staffordshire 380.42 374.64 6 2 Suffolk 229.66 215.27 14 7 Surrey 327.78 326.54 1 0 Warwickshire 182.07 172.77 9 5 West Sussex 225.49 236.04 -11 -4 Wiltshire 210.12 202.44 8 4 Total 18,536.21 18,352.70 184 1 Notes:
1 Information on budgeted expenditure is taken from Local Authorities' returns to the Department of Environment on forms RA92/93 and RA(SG)92/93. Figures have been repriced to outturn.
2 The education budgets for Inner London authorities have been adjusted so as to exclude expenditure funded through education grant for Inner London authorities, and make them comparable with education SSAs. Inner London education grants are paid to provide, through the support of expenditure on education, transitional help to local tax-payers in Inner London boroughs and in the City of London where the authorities inherited responsibility for the education service from the Inner London Education Authority.
3 Figures on budgets and education SSAs have been rounded to 2 decimal places.