§ 8. Mr. du Cannasked the Minister of Education his reasons for approving the proposal of the Somerset Education Committee to close the Church of England School at Combe Florey, Taunton.
§ The Minister of Education (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd)Yes, Sir. I thought that the proposal of the Somerset Local Education Authority would give the children a better education.
§ Mr. du CannWill my right hon. Friend kindly give me two assurances? First, will he assure me that in this rather sad local case, full consideration was given to local opinion, and, secondly, will he say whether, when there are proposals for the closure of village schools, however logical the closure may be from the point of view of local education arrangements, expense and so on, full weight is given to the fact that very often the local school is an important community centre?
§ Mr. LloydI do understand this, but at this school it looked as if the number of pupils would fall to only 14 in a year or two, and it was plainly not right to continue it.