To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the number of books procured for university libraries and polytechnics libraries in 1970, 1980 and 1990.

This information is not collected centrally. Book and other purchases are for individual institutions to determine within their total resources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what was the provision of Government funding for books at universities and polytechnics in 1979 and 1989, respectively (a) overall, at constant prices and (b) per student, at constant prices; and what has been the average increase in the cost of such text books in this period.

The higher education funding councils do not reserve part of their funding for book provision. It is for individual institutions to determine their expenditure within the total resources at their disposal.