§ 41. Miss Herbisonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland which education authorities are in arrears in their school-building programmes; what is the extent of arrears in each case; and what are the causes for the arrears.
§ Mr. J. StuartI shall, with permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing to what extent projects which education authorities included in the building programmes submitted a year ago are unlikely to start during 1955–56. The main reason for the delays in planning these projects has been the shortage of professional staff.
§ Miss HerbisonCan the Secretary of State tell me how many areas are affected, without giving names?
§ Mr. StuartTwenty-four.
§ Following is the information:
| (a) | (b) | (c) |
| Education Authority | Estimated value of buildings costing over £5,000 which were expected by Authority to start in 1955–56 | Estimated value of buildings included in Column (b) which now appear unlikely to start in 1955–56 |
| (£ thousand) | (£ thousand) | |
| Aberdeen (County) | 178 | 31 |
| Angus | 22 | 15 |
| Argyll | 189 | 55 |
| Ayr | 242 | 98 |
| Banff | 79 | 34 |
| Berwick | — | — |
| Bute | 211 | 26 |
| Caithness | 241 | 241 |
| Clackmannan | 228 | — |
| Dumfries | 126 | 14 |
| Dunbarton | 684 | — |
| East Lothian | 39 | 39 |
| Fife | 1,099 | 376 |
| Inverness | 90 | 6 |
| Kincardine | 15 | — |
| Kirkcudbright | 146 | — |
| Lanark | 3,305 | 1,794 |
| Midlothian | 767 | 270 |
| Moray and Nairn | 26 | 8 |
| Orkney | 23 | 6 |
| Peebles | 59 | — |
| Perth and Kinross | 342 | 226 |
| Renfrew | 581 | — |
| Ross and Cromarty | 110 | —. |
| Roxburgh | 61 | — |
| Selkirk | 27 | 27 |
| Stirling | 647 | 16 |
| Sutherland | 29 | 29 |
| West Lothian | 417 | 201 |
| Wigtown | 174 | — |
| Zetland | — | — |
| Burghs | ||
| Aberdeen | 862 | 462 |
| Dundee | 668 | 648 |
| Edinburgh | 998 | 464 |
| Glasgow | 2,745 | 1,219 |
| TOTAL | £15,430 | £6,305 |
§ 53. Mr. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what effect the recently announced proposals to deal with inflation will have on the school-building programme in Ayrshire; and if he can state what specific projects will be affected.
§ Mr. J. StuartIt is not possible to say which, if any, projects will be affected 1921 until the authority has supplied the list of forthcoming starting dates which it was asked for in the Circular of 27th February on educational building. But, as stated in the Circular, it is not the intention to postpone the start of any project which is essential to provide for the increase in the school roll, the movement of population to new housing areas or the development of technical education.
§ Mr. Rossis the right hon. Gentleman aware that the financial condition of Scottish local authorities is such that they are not likely to embark on inessential school building, and that every project is necessary? Can the right hon. Gentleman give a promise that the advance in technical education scheduled for Ayrshire will not be at the expense of new primary and secondary schools?
§ Mr. StuartI have answered that point. I said that we were not delaying works which were necessary for the increase in the school roll, and so on. There have been delays which were due in the main to the shortage of architects, etc., but we are doing our best to overcome them.