HC Deb 17 October 1968 vol 770 cc564-5
20. Mr. J. E. B. Hill

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science when he expects to receive the Second Report of the Public Schools Commission.

Mr. Edward Short

In view of the importance of this investigation and its relevance to secondary reorganisation, I have asked Professor Donnison to let me have the report as soon as possible; it seems likely that it will be available in the autumn of 1969.

Mr. Hill

Will the Secretary of State ensure that the Commission has all the time that it needs to visit representative schools, to study them in depth and to consider the large body of evidence that will be submitted to it before it makes its report?

Mr. Short

I quite agree that it needs time to do the job properly. The Commission had started to visit schools and already been to Bristol. It has gathered a great deal of evidence. In view of the tremendous importance of this second stage of their work and its relevance to secondary reorganisation, I have asked the Commission to do its work as quickly as it can. The Chairman assures me that he can probably finish the work by the late summer of next year.