§ 2. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Education, in view of the increasing population and overcrowded classrooms, what special steps he will take in the coming year to increase the school-building programme in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
§ The Minister of Education (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd)I believe that the programme already approved is sufficient to meet the immediate needs of the area, and I am not at present contemplating any special measures.
§ Mr. SwinglerThe Minister may believe that, but Newcastle-under-Lyme Education Committee does not. Is the Minister aware that Newcastle-under-Lyme Education Committee has persistently put in what it regards as minimum requirements and that these have been persistently reduced by the Ministry, as the result of which the situation has become worse and not better? Will the Minister now investigate the situation to see if he can give the educacation committee a fair chance of catering for the children?
§ Mr. LloydVery considerable investigation has been carried out in the normal course, and two schools have been approved in the current programme. They are principally for the new housing areas. I understand that some other proposals were not thought to be justified in the general context of the difficulty in which the country is of providing first of all for the bulge.