§ Q2. Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Prime Minister if he will transfer ministerial responsibility for the education of handicapped children to himself.
§ The Prime MinisterI have no plans to transfer to myself responsibilities at 1499 present allocated to any of my right hon. or hon. Friends.
§ Mr. MorrisIs the Prime Minister aware that he is being strongly attacked for dishonesty, this time from within his own party, on the question of handicapped children? Does he agree with the charge now being made by Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism that he has acted dishonestly over his pledge to institute an inquiry—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That kind of word is not desirable.
§ Mr. MorrisI am referring to a report from Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism which says that the Prime Minister is acting dishonestly over his pledge to institute an inquiry into the education of 95,000 mentally and physically handicapped children. Is the Prime Minister aware that Pressure for Economic and Social Toryism has called these children "the outsiders" and attacked the Government for their appalling lack of concern? Will he say what the Government have done to improve the educational opportunities for autistic and dyslexic children, and children who are both deaf and blind?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman should not exaggerate what PEST has said. What I said in my original letter was that if the Labour Government had not instituted inquiries into these matters by the time we came to office we would do so. That was in 1968. After that, the Labour Party instituted the Vernon inquiry into the visually handicapped and the Quirk inquiry into the speech therapy services, and the advisory committee on handicapped children generally was reconstituted. We agreed with all that. The Secretary of State's general advisory committee now deals with the whole question of handicapped children. No one underestimates the problems that still remain to be dealt with, and I suggest that the hon. Gentleman does not help his case by his approach.
§ Sir D. RentonIs my right hon. Friend aware that the Secretary of State for Social Services has made remarkable advances in the treatment of the mentally handicapped, for which all those who are involved in this matter are indeed grateful?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir, that is certainly the case. But I think we would all agree that there are still many problems, and that several thousands of children are waiting to receive special educational facilities. Our task must now be to meet this need as quickly as possible.
§ Mr. Edward ShortIs the Prime Minister aware that the Labour Government's inquiries to which he referred were small, specific inquiries into a very small number in each case, and that in his letter to Mr. Stanley Segal—it is my recollection that it was written in 1970 and not 1968, but we can check that—the Prime Minister promised a general inquiry into the whole question of handicapped children? The right hon. Gentleman has not kept that promise. When will he keep it?
§ The Prime MinisterIn fact, I wrote the letter on 22nd July 1968 and the Labour Government's actions were taken after that. As I said, there is the standing advisory committee to deal with the whole subject. I said in my letter:
Whether a Plowden type inquiry, that is to say, a remit to the Central Advisory Council on Education, is the most suitable form or not is a matter which would need careful consideration when we see the conditions on our return to power.The particular inquiries have been carried out. I believe that those who are concerned with these matters take the view, on the whole, that there can be no overall general approach to the particular problems of disabled children and their education. The special detailed inquiries dealt with particular aspects, and the general standing advisory committee deals with general aspects.