§ 17. Mr. Hazellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will state the capital allocation for building new schools or major extensions to existing schools made available to the Norfolk County Council for the years 1960–61 to 1967–68.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe total for the eight years is £3,857,000.
§ Mr. HazellI thank my hon. Friend for her reply, but may I ask whether she is aware that conditions in a number of primary schools in Norfolk are extremely unsatisfactory, that some are overcrowded, that many lack modern sanitary facilities and that in North Walsham it is unlikely that all the school children reaching 5 years of age at the end of the year will be able to be accommodated because of the shortage of places?
§ Mrs. WilliamsThe difficulty arises mainly because Norfolk has little basic need and mostly requires improvements. The whole of the 1968–69 major building programme has been given up to primary projects only. As to the last part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, children who have reached the age of 5 but have not yet reached the term after their fifth birthday, are taken on at the discretion of the headmaster if he has places. It is not a statutory requirement.