6. Lieut.-Colonel Colin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will examine as a matter of urgency the effects of the continuing closure of rural schools on community life in the northeast of Scotland.
Mr. Edward TaylorWhen a proposed school closure comes to my right hon. Friend for approval, he considers very carefully the contribution made by the school to the life of the community. But our first duty concerns the educational opportunities available to the children and there would have to be decisive evidence of the school's importance to the community before my right hon. Friend could consider requiring an authority to keep it open against their own judgment and against the children's educational interests.
Lieut.-Colonel MitchellIs the Minister proposing any action on the recommendations of the Gaskin Report in respect of rural depopulation and the influence that these schools have on that subject?
Mr. TaylorI think that this is a wider question on which it would be inappropriate for me to make a statement 363 at this stage. But my hon. Friend should bear in mind, as I am sure the whole House does, that people are more likely to remain in rural communities if the educational facilities available to their children are comparable with those elsewhere.
§ Mr. MaclennanWill the hon. Gentleman consider, in conjunction with this question of closing rural schools, whether the criteria operated for the transport of children should be altered to take account of modern circumstances and the need to travel much greater distances?
Mr. TaylorThere is a later Question on the Order Paper about that matter, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will be satisfied with the reply which I then give.