54. Mr. W. Joseph Stewartasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education what progress has been made up to date in replacing schools blacklisted and condemned by the Board's survey; what number have been dealt with; and what number are still waiting to be replaced?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (Mr. Kenneth Lindsay)Six hundred and seventy-nine schools were originally placed in Class A of the Black List, that is, schools reported as unsuitable for continued recognition and incapable of improvement. Of these, 562 have been dealt with by closure, replacement or reconstruction, and of the 117 still on the list, plans for dealing with 26 have been approved by the Board.
Mr. StewartIs the hon. Gentleman satisfied with the progress that has been made by local authorities in closing blacklisted schools?
§ Mr. LindsayI shall not be satisfied until the remaining 90 or so are removed. We are urging local authorities to proceed as rapidly as possible. Some of these schools are intimately bound up with reorganisation schemes which we are also pressing.