What contribution it makes to local authority school clothing grants.

The Scottish Governmentcontributes to local authority school clothing grants through the “School Hostelsand Clothing” GAE assessment which forms part of the calculation of the local governmentfinance settlement. In 2007-08, £27 million was distributed under this heading.However, this is not a spending target, only a means of distributing the availablegrant. GAE is then met by central government through Revenue Support Grant and ashare of the overall non-domestic rates total, as well as local authority sourcesof funding. Local authorities are under a duty to provide clothing grants, but howmuch they spend on them is left to their discretion.