§ Mr. RichardsTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will make a statement on the additional finance intended for education in 1997–98; [14060]
(2) if he will make a statement on the consequences of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcement that additional funding would be made available for education in 1997–98; and how much additional money he plans to provide to each local education authority to allocate to education. [14059]
§ Mr. Jonathan EvansThe provision for education announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget statement on 26 November relates to England. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales announced his spending plans for 1997–98 on 12 December 1996. He announced direct provision of £566 million for education in Wales, including the highest-ever level of capital provision for schools at £68 million. This is additional to resources provided to local authorities for the running costs of their schools and other education services as part of their standard spending assessments. Overall, these SSAs are increased by 2.3 per cent. for 1997–98, in line with the increase in English total standard spending for local authorities. They are not hypothecated to particular services. It is for individual local authorities to decide what they wish to spend on education.