§ 11. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many new primary schools have been started in 1971; how many have been completed; and what were the comparable figures for the years 1965 and 1970.
§ Mr. MonroIn the nine months to 30th September, the latest period for which figures are available, 30 new primary schools were started and 23 completed.
The figures for the corresponding periods in 1965 were: started 39, completed 42; and in 1970: started 24, completed 28.
§ Mr. HamiltonHow do the figures for December, 1970 to May, 1971 compare with the figures for December, 1966 to May, 1971? In the latter period 39 new primary schools were started. The present Government have said that they are giving extra priority to the provision of primary education. Can we not therefore assume that the current figure will be much greater than that I have quoted for the 1967 period?
§ Mr. MonroIf the hon. Gentleman wanted those figures he should have asked for them. The hon. Gentleman should realise the extent of the acceleration which has taken place in the programme since the Labour Government left office. We estimate that in the present financial year there will be 62 new starts—a very considerable improvement on the programme of 24 that we inherited.