HC Deb 14 March 1968 vol 760 cc1602-3
26. Mr. Christopher Price

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what advice he has given to local education authorities about identifying educational priority areas.

Mr. Gordon Walker

I gave authorities guidance in Circular 11/67 on the criteria which I would take into account in considering building projects for inclusion in the special £16 million E.P.A. building programme. I hope to announce details of this programme very shortly. Criteria have recently been settled by the Burnham Committee to govern the selection of schools, subject to my approval, as schools of exceptional difficulty in which all qualified teachers are to receive an addition to their salaries of £75 a year.

Mr. Price

Will my right hon. Friend accept that many of us are gratified that the Burnham Committee has at last reached agreement on the question of this £75, but will he make sure that the two sets of criteria are fitted into one another, and will he give particular weight to the criterion which concerns the number of immigrants, since many of us believe that this handicap puts a greater strain on a school than some of the other criteria which he has laid down?

Mr. Gordon Walker

I agree that it is very gratifying that the Burnham Committee has come to this conclusion. One of the criteria which it has suggested in its submission to me is the proportion in a school of children with serious linguistic difficulties, and I think that this meets the point made by my hon. Friend.

35. Mr. J. E. B. Hill

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to improve the contact between school and home in educational priority areas, in particular by the appointment of home liaison officers.

The Minister of State, Department of Education and Science (Miss Alice Bacon)

This is primarily a matter for the local education authorities and schools concerned. I understand that some local education authorities are experimenting in the use of education welfare officers and other social workers to help in the development of home and school contact in deprived areas. My right hon. Friend has accepted the Plow-den recommendation that he should issue a pamphlet on home/school relations generally, and I expect this to be published in the autumn.

Mr. Hill

Does not the work of the officers who have been carrying out these services show that great results flow from a comparatively modest expenditure of time and effort? Therefore, would the right hon. Lady not do all she can to encourage the extension of this work?

Miss Bacon

Yes, I will certainly do all I can. I always make a special point of mentioning this when I go around the country.