HC Deb 28 June 1972 vol 839 cc1628-34

1.1 a.m.

Mr. Charles R. Morris (Manchester, Openshaw)

I am grateful for the opportunity of making what could rightly be interpreted as an eleventh hour plea to defer the closing of the Clayton Secondary School for Girls in Manchester, in my constituency, until at least such time as the Secretary of State for Education and Science authorises the building of the promised secondary comprehensive school to serve the Beswick, Bradford and Clayton areas of Manchester.

The Secretary of State's decision to endorse the closing of the school in effect reverses her predecessor's decision in specifically excluding the proposed closing of the school from the 1965 re-organisation of secondary school education in Manchester. I trust that the Minister will spell out in detail the Secretary of State's justification for the decision which she has now taken. If the school closes, it will in effect bring to an end a school which has contributed much to community and cultural life in the Clayton area of Manchester.

Regrettably, it is a decision which appears to owe more to administrative convenience than to any real concern for the future well being of the girls concerned. How else are we to interpret this decision when a report presented to the Manchester Education Committee recently warned in the following terms of some of the consequences which will follow: One of the difficulties about closing Clayton Girls is that the alternative schools are not in general easily accessible. It is probable that many of the girls will choose Wright Robinson High School for Girls; while others may prefer the Manchester Central High School for Girls, it will be seen from the statistics that neither of these schools has many vacant places in the year groups in question. In spite of this warning, the Manchester Education Committee went ahead with its proposal to close this school.

The closing of the school will inevitably mean added costs for the parents of the girls concerned—on added travelling, uniform, and school meals costs—which are bound to bear heavily on the family budgets of my constituents. It could mean real hardship, particularly for the low income families.

I should explain that Clayton is a quiet residential area of Manchester, predominantly terraced and council houses, unlike the south side of the city where Manchester City Council has been generous and imaginative in providing community amenities. Clayton, like Openshaw, has few, if any, of what we regard as the essentials for community life. It has neither library nor swimming pools, nor even, as yet, a youth centre, and yet it is proposed that we should close the sole remaining secondary school in the locality. Is not this the reason why at a recent meeting at the school 400 parents were unanimous in their opposition to closure?

My constituents' petitions and representations have so far, regrettably, fallen on deaf ears. Closure could not have come at a worse time for the girls. The splendid headmistress and dedicated staff were at last succeeding in their endeavours to persuade girls at the school to stay on beyond the normal 15-year-old leaving age and had succeeded in establishing a really good fifth year and even a small sixth year. The introduction of GCE courses was envisaged, but, alas, the proposed closure has put the proposed plans in jeopardy.

The consequence of the decision now taken is that 43 girls left at Easter, and goodness knows what will be the effect of the decision on the 16 girls in the current fourth year, who have just begun two-year courses which are scheduled to terminate in July, 1973. I hope that the Minister will agree tonight that the academic future of the girls is of vital concern.

Finally, I deal with one of the justifications advanced by Manchester Education Committee for the closing of the school; namely the impending retirement of the headmistress, Miss Smith, who during her headship has immeasurably improved the standard of the school and done so much to encourage the work of the girls and their school life. It is said that her resignation has to some extent prompted the decision to close. Following conversations with her yesterday, I have reason to believe that if the Minister heeds my plea tonight she in turn would be prepared to reconsider her decision to retire. Miss Smith, as with so many others, believes that this school has helped and is helping to shape the lives of the girls concerned and at the same time is making a positive contribution to community life.

I hope and trust that this evening the Minister will ignore his departmental brief. I am well aware of the precedents which have been established in the past, but I hope that this evening he will establish a new precedent and, as I have said, ignore his departmental brief and allow the head and her dedicated staff at Clayton Secondary School for Girls to get on with the job they have done so well so far.

1.10 a.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Mr. William van Straubenzee)

If there were any hon. Members of this House able to entice me away from a departmental brief I am sure that the hon. Member for Manchester, Openshaw (Mr. Charles R. Morris) would certainly be one of them, and in the forefront of those who could do so. I hope he will find by the time I have finished that I have attempted to deal with this matter as sympathetically as may be, not only because I fully understand how he personally feels about it, and I know how assiduously he has in this as in other matters represented his constituents' point of view, but also because I know how strongly some of them feel about the matter.

This is not an easy decision. I would like to set out as fully as I can in the short time both of us have available the background considerations which led my right hon. Friend to make her decision. The first thing I must say in all friendliness to the hon. Member is that it is a decision. It would be fair neither to him nor to his constituents to give any indication other than that a decision has been made. The proper and appropriate procedures were followed by the Manchester Local Education Authority, and after due and careful consideration of them all, and of the objections, my right hon. Friend gave her decision. If she were in this or any other matters—indeed, if she had power in this and other matters—to vary a decision entered into, I think it would make administration extremely difficult for those in the local authorities concerned.

The hon. Gentleman started by very fairly referring to the refusal of the then Government in 1965 to sanction the closure of the school under the then proposed reorganisation arrangements. This was, at that time, because among other things, the reorganisation would have meant using two-tier schools in two sets of premises. The proposed 11 to 14 and 14-plus schools to which Clayton girls would have gone under the former proposal involved six sets of unsatisfactory premises and considerable expenditure on those premises. It was thought by the then Secretary of State that parental choice of school would be too restricted if it were confined to the two-tier schools, and it was thought then that the journey along east Manchester would not fit in with bus routes, and so on. This is not doing justice to the case, but this is putting it very briefly.

I would say to the hon. Member that I would think there to be some significant differences in 1972, and these are some of the reasons which led my right hon. Friend to make her decision.

First of all, the five alternative high schools are larger than Clayton. Clayton, as the hon. Member will know, has no prospect of more than about 200 pupils. The five alternative high schools have space for extra pupils and can offer more educational opportunities and more specialisations. To say this is not to be critical of Clayton. I just want to put the facts to the hon. Gentleman. Two of the schools are building up sixth forms, including the Central High Girls School, and two have been provided since 1965. The hon. Member will remember—and I think this is important in this context—that demand for the boys school in Clayton fell, so that it was closed in 1971 without objection. That is the first reason.

The second reason is this. It is the Secretary of State's aim, as soon as resources allow, to replace the old buildings. But they, as well as the more recent ones—and again I say this without criticism of Clayton—have more facilities than Clayton, which is on one floor of an old building shared by a primary school and is on a very restricted site. Third, the parents as a result of this have a choice of five larger alternative high schools, and the authority has told me that it hopes to give the parents first-choice preference over others.

The authority has considered carefully the transport arrangements for the girls from Clayton. The routes to be used are better than the ones in the 1965 proposal, which was turned down, and the authority has been able to show that no journey need take more than half an hour. The authority is hoping to provide a small bus to the Wright Robinson High School, and will also consider sympathetically help with bus fares for poorer families.

I have already referred to the small size of the school and to the poor facilities, making it quite clear that I am not being critical of the school in saying this. Since we are speaking in 1972, the raising of the school leaving age is a factor. It will obviously make the situation even worse. There is no scope for an extra building on the site because it is shared with a primary school.

The hon. Gentleman referred to the position of the headmistress, and I am happy to join him unreservedly in his tribute to the work of Miss Smith. She has made a significant contribution to the quality and achievements of the school, but there lies no doubt in my right hon. Friend's mind that in the long term the girls at Clayton will have much greater educational opportunities elsewhere, with the advantage of larger numbers and bigger premises. Whilst an important factor in the case was Miss Smith's impending retirement, I naturally take note of what the hon. Gentleman said. It was one of the factors, and I have sought to set out the others.

I understand that all the boys in the Clayton area and four out of every seven girls from the Clayton area already opt for the other high schools even in the situation as it is at present. In the time at my disposal I can only deal with the matter in shorthand terms. I am anxious to assure the hon. Gentleman that this was not just an administratively convenient solution which was rubber-stamped by my right hon. Friend. As in all such cases, the most careful con- side ration was given to the proposals of the local education authority. In setting out shortly the considerations which were in my right hon. Friend's mind, I hope that I have shown that in making her decision she had in mind the human

considerations which the hon. Gentleman asked her to have in mind.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at nineteen minutes past One o'clock.