§ 31. Mr. Sorensenasked the Minister of Education what representations he has received from Roman Catholic authorities in respect of increased financial burdens imposed on Catholic schools due to the substantially higher cost of building, extension and renovations not anticipated in the agreement originally accepted; and to what extent he is reconsidering the existing arrangements affecting grant-aided schools.
§ Sir E. BoyleMy right hon. Friend has received a deputation from the Roman Catholic hierarchy asking that his grants for denominational school 559 building should be increased and should also be extended to cover the building of new schools which are ineligible for grant under the present law. This would need amending legislation, and my right hon. Friend is not in a position to make a statement.
§ Mr. SorensenIs the Minister aware that many Members of Parliament have received deputations from the Catholics in their areas? Can we take it, therefore, that we can now transmit to these deputations the information he has just given?
§ Sir E. BoyleYes, Sir, but I hope the hon. Gentleman will not go any further than the answer I have given to the House. The issues here are genuinely complex, and my right hon. Friend is studying them carefully. After all, we have here to take into account the views of many people—the local authorities, the teachers, the many religious denominations, and that large section of opinion not bound to any religious shade of view but which, none the less, is concerned with education.