§ 24. Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the discretion which local authorities will have in the use of additional funding for education. [21736]
§ Mr. MacdonaldLocal authorities have indicated that they share the Government's priority for education and agree that the additional revenue funding included in the 1998–99 revenue settlement should be used to improve the quality of Scotland's schools. I therefore expect that authorities will use their discretion to do so. The additional capital grants of £8.9 million this year and £26.7 million in each of the next four years are being made available only for capital spending to improve the fabric of schools in Scotland for the installation of information and communications technology equipment. It has been made clear to authorities that this should be additional to the capital they would otherwise have spent on schools.