§ 58. Mr. Harold Daviesasked the Minister of Education what new schools are being allocated to north Staffordshire; and how many of these are to be built in the towns of Leek, Biddulph and Cheadle.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Education (Mr. Kenneth Pickthorn)Two primary schools and one secondary school are now being built in Newcastle-under-Lyme. No new school is at present being built in Leek, Biddulph or Cheadle, but one new school has been opened in Biddulph and one in Leek since 1939, and existing schools have been and are being extended.
§ Mr. DaviesIs the hon. Gentleman aware that because of the opening of new coalfields in the area the National Coal Board are coming into the towns of Biddulph and Cheadle, where there is now a terrific population problem? May I suggest that the Ministry are not allocating any new schools to this part of North Staffordshire, and that if the position continues there will be chaos in elementary education in these three towns in the near future?
§ Mr. PickthornI will make sure that the considerations suggested by the hon. Gentleman are kept fully in mind.
§ 59. Mr. Harold Daviesasked the Minister of Education to state the number of children now in the schools of Leek, Biddulph, Cheadle and Kidsgrove; and how they compare with the school population in 1938.
§ Mr. PickthornIn January, 1953, there were 9,160 pupils on the registers of maintained schools in these towns, compared with approximately 7,650 before the war.
§ Mr. DaviesDoes not the hon. Gentleman agree that those figures illustrate exactly the point I made in my last supplementary question? Therefore, will he increase the pressure on the Ministry to grant the new schools?
§ Mr. PickthornI am sure that the Ministry will continue its urgent activity in these matters. It is fair to add that there have been 1,000 or more places provided between the dates of these two sets of figures, and there are 300 now in course of provision by current programmes.