asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total cost to public funds of educating children in education authority, direct grant and independent schools, respectively, in the most recent year for which figures are available.

The information for 1976–77 is as follows:

	£ million at outturn prices
Education authority schools	…	554·0
Grant-aided secondary schools	…	2·8

The figures exclude expenditure in respect of special education. Local authorities' financial returns do not show separately their expenditure on bursaries for children attending independent schools, but the figure is believed to be relatively small.