HC Deb 06 May 1965 vol 711 cc1553-4
30. Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary a State for Education and Science how many substandard schools, primary and secondary, are still in use; and what would be the cost of bringing these up to standard, either by remedial works or by replacement.

Mr. Crosland

I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the report of the school building survey carried out in 1962, which was published in January of this year. The introduction explains why particular schools were not identified as substandard. A figure of £1,368 million was named in the survey as the cost, in 1962, of bringing all schools in England and Wales up to standard. But it was made clear that the results of the survey were subject to very important qualifications which deprived them of immediate practical significance.

Mrs. Short

May I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply, and ask him whether he does not think that this expenditure is perhaps the reason why the publication of the report was delayed until after the election; and that we are now faced with this considerable expenditure in order to bring our schools up to date after 13 years of neglect by Conservative Governments?

Mr. Thorpe

Arising out of that supplementary question, may I ask whether the Minister would at least set himself the target that within 18 months it can no longer be said that we have schools without running water or electricity, and in which a bucket is not the only form of sanitation, which is a situation particularly true in rural areas? Will he try to do something about it quickly?

Mr. Crosland

I share the hon. Gentleman's desire completely, but we really are suffering from the appalling backlog of the neglect of the last 13 years.

Sir E. Boyle

Would not the right hon. Gentleman agree that only in 1963 we had £200 million worth of school improvements under construction? And is it not a fact, bearing in mind what was said at the last election, that the last thing the people expected from the new Government was the reduction in the amount of the minor works programme that has been made?

Mr. Crosland

I am sorry that the right hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends should continually give a false impression of the school building programme. If we take what is relevant to the building survey that is under discussion, the total school building programme this year at well over £100 million will be something like £20 million higher than it was last year.