§ 4. Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he proposes to take to assist local authorities with their future plans for school building to meet the raising of the school-leaving age.
§ Mr. NobleI give education authorities all the help I can to ensure that the necessary accommodation is available in time. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a recent circular which deals generally with the raising of the school-leaving age.
§ Mr. Wolrige-GordonIs my right hon. Friend aware that the extra building necessary for the raising of the school-leaving age will add yet another heavy burden to the cost of education borne by local authorities and that services are needed to see that the money is well spent? Has he any policy to suggest to local authorities in terms of centralisation or vocational courses for this extra year to help them in their planning?
§ Mr. NobleMy hon. Friend will see the advice I have given to local authorities when he gets the circular. Certainly there has to be a great deal of consideration of problems like the sort of courses needed before planning for new school building begins.
§ Mr. RossIs the Secretary of State aware that more than a circular is required to assist local authorities? Assurances that his approval will be forthcoming to their proposals will satisfy them even more, bearing in mind what 1398 he has done in relation to their school building programmes hitherto—cutting, cutting, cutting.
§ Mr. NobleThe hon. Member has made that point before and we have discussed it often. I quite agree that a great deal will be needed in detailed discussion with the local authorities, but this is for a provision which is required in 1970–71. Therefore, there is a reasonable amount of time for detailed discussions with local authorities.
§ Mr. Hector HughesWould the Secretary of State find it convenient to issue a table indicating which local authorities are included in his Answer and how many relate to the City of Aberdeen?
§ Mr. NobleI shall certainly let the hon. and learned Member have that information. I should imagine it would relate to all authorities in Aberdeen.
§ 5. Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he has cut the school building programme in Aberdeenshire.
§ Mr. NobleAs has been explained in correspondence with my hon. Friend, Aberdeenshire's share of the investment available for school building is reasonable when its needs are compared with those of other authorities.
§ Mr. Wolrige-GordonIs my right hon. Friend aware that, while we appreciate the amount of school building undertaken by this Government throughout the country, a cut of this kind this year makes the provision of proper education facilities exceedingly difficult? Cannot he ensure far greater co-operation between the Scottish Office and local authorities in future to minimise this kind of cut-back?
§ Mr. NobleAs my hon. Friend knows, we are doing this with all local authorities on a longer time scale than before, but I think my hon. Friend also appreciates that in the last few years Aberdeenshire has been particularly fortunate because there has been extra money available, not needed by other local authorities. Therefore, it has got ahead very well with its programme.
§ Mr. DalyellWill the right hon. Gentleman name the local authorities which have not needed the money?
§ Mr. NobleIf the hon. Member would like to have the information, I shall certainly give it for those local authorities which did not come up to the amount of money they expected at the beginning of the year to expend.