§ 34. Mr. R. MORRISONasked the President of the Board of Education whether, seeing that the Board recently put considerable pressure upon the local education authority of Leyton to provide a special school for defective children, with the result that the authority has now prepared detailed estimates for providing the school, he will state for what reason the Board have now refused their sanction?
§ Lord E. PERCYI have asked the Leyton Authority;o postpone this scheme until it can be considered in connection with the programmes which I have requested authorities to submit to me, or, in any case, until I have before me the revised estimates of local authorities for the coming year, and arrangements have recently been made for a deputation from the authority to lay their case before my Department.
§ Mr. MORRISONDoes that reply in fact mean that the decision in regard to the provision of soecial schools for defective children, may be reconsidered by the Noble Lord during the next three months?
§ Lord E. PERCYI will consider all schemes that are at present suspended when I know where I am and what is to be the basis of the revised estimates. At 301 the present moment I have no sufficient knowledge of what local authorities are doing or what, in general, they require.
§ Mr. MORRISONWhen does the Noble Lord anticipate that the matter will be reconsidered? Will it be in three months' time?
§ Lord E. PERCYI asked for revised estimates by 1st February and not half of them are in yet. I have asked for the programmes by 18th April. I do not know if they will be in at that time.
§ Mr. PALINGDoes the answer mean that all local authorities who have made provision for the building of schools for defective children have been asked to hold up the schemes until such time as the Noble Lord sees the estimates?
§ Lord E. PERCYAt the present moment, in general I am not giving final approval to new schemes. There are some exceptions, but for the moment, until I have the revised estimates, I am asking local authorities to delay them.
§ Captain WEDGWOOD BENNWhen the Noble Lord is arriving at a decision, will he undertake to publish a specific statement of the services which have been curtailed or abandoned?
§ Lord E. PERCYI shall not undertake to publish an account of all individual projects of building particular schools, which may have been postponed. I shall certainly see that the House is put in possession of as full a statement as I can give them, showing what general services have been postponed and what is the general position.