§ 31. Mr. John Hallasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will now give an estimate of the additional cost which would have to be borne by local authorities if all the recom-menations in Circular 7–65 on immigration were implemented.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Mr. Denis Howell)This would necessitate obtaining detailed information and estimates from the local education authorities concerned, and would not in my view justify the work involved.
§ Mr. HallWould the Minister not agree that the suggestion made to local authorities that they need extra teachers, and, to quote his words, additional welfare assistants, additional clerical assistance, to deal with the problem, quite apart from the recommendation dealing with additional transport facilities, imposes a very considerable additional burden on local authorities in certain areas, and is it not right that part of this burden should be borne by the Ministry?
§ Mr. HowellIt is correct that it provides a burden to some authorities. It varies considerably from place to place, and it is a fact that the Government, in certain circumstances, are proposing to help provide extra money for this.
§ Sir E. BoyleWould the Minister not agree that, quite apart from the question of the circular, one of the most important aspects of this matter is the teaching of English to immigrants, and that this is a matter where public funds should not be skimped?
§ Mr. HowellI certainly agree, and, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, we have
| Pupils | Teachers {including part-time teachers at their full-time equivalent value) | |||||
| Type of Secondary School | Number | Percentage of total | Number | Percentage | ||
| Modern | … | … | 1,555,132 | 55.2 | 78,567 | 52.1 |
| Grammar | … | … | 718,705 | 25.5 | 41,861 | 27.8 |
| Technical | … | … | 84,587 | 3.0 | 4,965 | 3.3 |
| Bilateral and Multilateral | … | 66,166 | 2.3 | 3,549 | 2.3 | |
| Comprehensive | … | … | 239,619 | 8.5 | 13,364 | 8.9 |
| Other | … | … | 154,845 | 5.5 | 8,372 | 5.6 |
| All Secondary Schools | … | 2,819,054 | 100.0 | 150,678 | 100.0 |
§ NOTE: The differences in staffing in the types of school reflect the varying proportion of pupils in Sixth Forms who are taught in smaller groups.
1324§ particularly made arrangements to improve the teacher ratio in this case, and, of course, account will be taken by the Department of the results of inquiries into things to be done.
§ Mr. HallIn view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.