35. Mr. Hornby askedthe Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will extend the time limit for submission by local education authorities of their proposals for secondary reorganisation.
§ Mr. CroslandNo, Sir. I have considered, and will consider, individual requests for extensions where there are exceptional circumstances.
§ Mr. HornbyDoes not the right hon. Gentleman find from his own inquiries that a very heavy burden of work is being borne by local education authorities as a result of the secondary reorganisation requirements which in some cases have got in the way of urgent work of another kind—for instance, the school-building programme? Does he not think that it would have been better to have fully considered plans rather than rushed ones from local authorities?
§ Mr. CroslandI am quite aware that Circular 10/65 has imposed a heavy burden of work on a number of authorities, particularly county authorities with very scattered and divers areas. As I said in reply to an earlier Question, we have already granted a small number of extensions, and if a case is put up to us for an extension in order to produce a proper scheme then we shall consider it sympathetically.
Mr. R. C. MitchellWill the Secretary of State undertake to scrutinise very carefully all applications for an extension of the time limit to ensure that the reasons for that extension are genuine and not just delaying tactics by certain reactionary authorities?