Question reference: S6W-00839
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 17 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 June 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated in (a) the South Scotland parliamentary region and (b) each local authority area for the purchase of scientific equipment for schools in each year since 2012-13.
Answer
Scientific equipment for use in lessons is purchased by schools and the amount schools spend on scientific equipment is not decided centrally by the Scottish Government.
Scottish Government's policy towards local authorities' spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of the revenue funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on Education, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.