§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the amount spent on textbooks per pupil in primary and secondary schools for each year since 1982, in real terms.
§ Mr. ForthThe available information on expenditure per pupil on books and equipment for years up to 1990–91, the latest year for which information on actual spending is available, is given in the table.
Per pupil expenditure on books and equipment at 1992–93 prices Nursery and primary (£) Secondary(£) Combined nursery, primary and secondary(£) 1982–83 36 63 50 1983–84 38 65 51 1984–85 37 67 52 1985–86 37 67 52 1986–87 41 83 61 1987–88 42 86 62 1988–89 41 90 62 1989–90 46 95 67 1990–91 46 89 64 Notes to table:
1. Real terms figures are at 1992–93 prices, repriced using the GDP (market prices) deflator index.
2. Figures are derived from local education authorities' returns of their spending to the Department of the Environment, and of their pupil numbers to the Department of Education. The table shows combined figures for books and equipment because not all authorities' returns identify separately spending on books from that on equipment.
3. Expenditure on nursery and primary schools was not collected separately for years after 1986–87. A comparable combined nursery and primary figure is therefore given for each year.