§ 20. Mr. SHORTasked the President of the Board of Education what is the number of existing elementary schools condemned as unsuitable and incapable of improvement; and the number of children attending such schools?
§ 21. Mr. BARKERasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that there are schools housing more than 500,000 children which are totally unfit for the purpose and should be closed forthwith; and what steps are taken to see that these schools are replaced by buildings of a more healthy type?
Duchess of ATHOLLI will answer these questions together. The number of schools, on List A—that is, schools which have been reported as unsuitable and incapable of improvement—is now 623. The number of children on the registers of these schools is about 160,000, and not, as suggested by the hon. Member for Abertillery (Mr. Barker), more than 500,000. The latter figure is an estimate of the total number of children attending the schools originally included in the Lists A and B. In a number of cases the requisite action has already been taken, and proposals have been received for dealing with a large number of other schools on the lists. The programmes which have been submitted indicate that authorities contemplate being able to deal with the bulk of the provided schools on the lists by the end of the programme period, and my right hon. Friend is now considering what further steps should be taken to secure that the whole problem, both as regards provided and non-provided schools, is treated on a systematic basis.
§ Mr. BARKERIs the noble lady aware that the statement appeared in the "Times" supplement of 31st July of last year that there were half a million children attending schools not fit for pigs?
Duchess of ATHOLLI can only add that the information I have just given to the House is officially correct and vouched for.