§ 37. Mr. Edwin Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will approve the request to combine the Mexborough Secondary School with the Mexborough Grammar School so as to form a comprehensive unit.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeNo such proposal has been made to my right hon. Friend by the West Riding local education authority.
§ Mr. WainwrightIs the Minister aware that the Mexborough and District Divisional Education Committee has given approval for the combination of the two schools to take place, that the existing secondary school will be with us for a long time and that the reactionary attitude of the West Riding County Council in not allowing the schools to go comprehensive means that there will be children in the Mexborough district condemned to existing secondary school education and not having the opportunity of a better kind of education?
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeI am aware of the point about the Divisional Executive, but I remind the hon. Gentleman—I think he knows it well—that it has only advisory functions, and no proposal has been received from the authority.