15. Mr. David Adamsasked the President of the Board of Education whether he will provide a list of local education authorities in the North of England which have adequate nursery school accommodation; and whether he will state his accepted definition of adequate accommodation in this respect?
§ Mr. ButlerThe provision of nursery schools is not a statutory duty of local education authorities. The adequacy of the provision in any given area is dependent on local conditions including alternative arrangements for the education of children under five. I should not be disposed to say that any authority in the north of England or elsewhere had so far provided sufficient nursery schools to meet the needs of their areas and I look for suitable developments in this service when circumstances permit.
Mr. AdamsWill the Minister be good enough to answer the first part of my Question and supply a list of the local education authorities which have provided this accommodation?
§ Mr. ButlerIf the hon. Member will read my answer carefully, he will see there is some difficulty, but I will try to do my best for him.
Mr. AdamsWill the Minister also state what is the Ministerial definition of "adequate accommodation," in view of the fact that education authorities throughout the country have totally different estimates of what is adequate?
§ Mr. ButlerI would point out that there is some difficulty in defining the word "adequate."