§ 7. Mr. Charles Morrisonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has to set up committees and commissions to inquire into secondary education.
§ Mr. CroslandNone, Sir.
§ Mr. MorrisonWould not the right hon. Gentleman think that there could well be a case for setting up some sort of commission on secondary education, similar to Robbins on universities, and Newsom? If he does not think that there is a case, why not?
§ Mr. CroslandThe hon. Member should be aware that, in the last few years, we have had the benefit of two reports on secondary education by the Central Advisory Council, one of them the Crowther Report and the other the Newsom Report. What he is asking for has been done not once but twice in the last few years.
§ Mr. MorrisonWould not the right hon. Gentleman agree, though, that in both those Reports it was pointed out that there was no evidence which would be exact enough to lay down that any one type of secondary school reorganisation was better than any other?
§ Mr. CroslandIt will be in the recollection of the House that an essay in textual criticism of the Newsom Report took place in a recent debate on comprehensive reorganisation, when my right hon. Friend, now Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, took a very different point of view from that of the hon. Member. On comprehensive reorganisation, I am clear that the Government do not need and should not have the views of an outside commission on this question. In our view—this is supported by the trend which I mentioned earlier amongst local education authorities—the social and educational arguments for this change are overwelming. I know that it is a matter of controversy, and partly for that reason I can see no reason why any outside commission ought necessarily to come to a unanimous conclusion. This is the kind of question on which a responsible Government must make up their mind and give a lead.