HC Deb 15 May 1973 vol 856 cc1214-5
3. Mr. Horam

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations she has received asking her to designate educational priority areas; and what replies she has sent.

Mrs. Thatcher

None, Sir.

Mr. Horam

Does the right hon. Lady appreciate that the reason why I and other hon. Members keep tabling Questions on an EPA programme is that we believe—and there is ample evidence to back us—that it is the only way we shall get resources on a sufficient scale into areas of social deprivation on Tyneside or anywhere else? Does the right hon. Lady concede that the dribs and drabs doled out now under the urban aid and other programmes do not add up to the weight of programme required in this sector? Is the right hon. Lady aware that, when this matter was last raised at Question Time, the figures she gave me for spending in this sector added up to only one-fifth of 1 per cent. of the total education budget? Will she—

Mr. Speaker

Order. We must have short supplementary questions.

Mr. Horam

Will not the right hon. Lady do something in this area?

Mrs. Thatcher

The help going into these areas is not limited to the urban programme. The primary school replacement programme goes into these areas to a considerable extent, and the raising of the school leaving age programme is of particular value, especially in those areas.

Mr. Hattersley

The right hon. Lady will recall that the Halsey Report advocated more or less the same policy as that advocated today by my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead, West (Mr. Horam). Why does the right hon. Lady choose to ignore it?

Mrs. Thatcher

Far from choosing to ignore it, I am continuing the policy where we have had designated 570 schools of exceptional difficulty. Added to that we have the urban programme, the programme for the replacement of old schools and that for the raising of the school leaving age. They add up to a very considerable joint programme.