HL Deb 17 March 1993 vol 543 cc90-1WA
Lord Skidelsky

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the average annual cost of educating a pupil of (a) primary school age, and (b) secondary school age in England and Wales, taking into account both maintenance and capital grants.

The Minister of State, Department for Education (Baroness Blatch)

The following table shows the information requested:

Unit costs of maintained school pupils in 1990–91
Nursery and Primary Secondary Overall
(£) (£) (£)
England 1,390 2,112 1,691
Wales 1,397 2,060 1,668
England and Wales 1,390 2,107 1,688

Notes:

1. 1990–91 is the latest year for which final outturn information is available. The figures relate to pupils in LEA maintained and grant maintained schools. City Technology Colleges, independent and special schools are excluded.

2. Figures for LEA maintained schools are derived from details of net institutional expenditure, which covers the direct costs in schools of salaries and wages, premises and certain supplies and services. They do not include the costs of school meals, home to school transport, LEA central administration, and financing costs of capital expenditure. Figures include unspent balances held by schools at the year end under local management of schools schemes. Figures also include gross capital expenditure by LEAs in addition to central government capital grants.

3. The figures include the annual maintenance grant, special and capital grants for grant maintained schools, but exclude the cost of school meals and their share of LEA central support services.

4. Figures for LEA schools in England are derived from local education authorities' returns of their spending to the Department of the Environment, and of their pupil numbers, including part-time pupils, to the Department for Education. The returns combine nursery and primary expenditure. Figures also derive from returns to the Department for Education by voluntary aided and grant maintained schools. Figures for Wales are based on returns to the Welsh Office.

5. The department does not maintain information separately detailing primary and secondary expenditure on capital projects in voluntary aided schools. It has been assumed that 60 per cent. of the expenditure was in primary schools and 40 per cent. in secondary schools.