HC Deb 10 April 1974 vol 872 cc416-8
17. Mrs. Winifred Ewing

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details for Moray and Nairn of the school building programme as to cost and location for the past five years and for the future so that as plans are already drawn up.

Mr. Robert Hughes

As the reply is lengthy, I will, with permission, circulate details in tabular form in the OFFICIAL REPORT. I can, however, tell the hon. Lady that in the five years to 31st March 1974 school building projects other than minor works started by Moray and Nairn Education Authority amounted to £1,973,000, plus £24,000 included in the programme but not yet started.

Mrs. Ewing

Will the hon. Gentleman be sympathetic to the problems created by the sudden influx of population into my constituency? I accept that it is not alone in that, but I hope that the hon. Gentleman can be sympathetic to it. Both Elgin and Lossiemouth need senior schools are vastly overcrowded. Does Findhorn to Kinloss and from Kinloss to Forres to go to school, and all these schools are vastly over-crowded. Does the hon. Gentleman consider that both the senior schools should go on? There is a great fear that only one will go on and the other will be sacrificed to its needs while all the time more population is coming into this area.

Mr. Hughes

I shall bear the hon. Lady's remarks in mind, because I have experience of people coming in to my own constituency and the surrounding areas. The building programmes for the future years have not been concluded. We will take account of the needs of the areas. At the end of the day, it is for the local education authority to determine its priorities in relation to the programme that it submits.

Dr. M. S. Miller

If, as hon. Members opposite so often claim, people are leaving Scotland. how does it come about that everybody is going into the hon. Lady's constituency?

Mr. Hughes

I do not know that I can answer that, except that it is possible that two things are happening—that people are leaving Scotland and are also moving about within Scotland.

Mr. Gray

Despite the attraction of the hon. Lady in Moray and Nairn, will the Minister please remember that probably the most important area of all in the oil-affected counties is that of Ross and Cromarty? When he is looking at his figures, will he pay particular attention to Easter Ross?

Mr. Hughes

We certainly take into consideration every area. Although there are problems in the north and north-east of Scotland, there are problems in the west of Scotland as well. Our difficulty, bearing in mind the legacy that we have inherited, is that we have to balance the priorities very carefully.

Mr. Teddy Taylor

Will the hon. Gentleman stop talking about his legacy and inheritance in Scotland? Will he at least accept that when he came to power unemployment was falling sharply, job vacancies were at an all-time high and the rate of immigration at an all-time low? Will he at least assure us that the reduction in employment will continue and not rise under a Labour Government, as it did before?

Mr. Hughes

I can understand the hon. Member's embarrassment. It was only yesterday that he was complaining bitterly about the part-time teaching in Glasgow and the west of Scotland which was the result of his administration.

Following is the information:

In the five years to 31st March 1974, the following school building projects other than minor works were started by Moray and Nairn Education Authority:

Project Cost (£'000's)
Old Academy, Forres: conversion to primary school 86
East End Primary School, Elgin: extension 138
Lossiemouth High School: temporary classrooms 25
Milne's High School, Fochabers: temporary Classrooms 27
Forres Academy: swimming pool 72
Hopeman School: conversion to primary school 14
Seafield Primary School: kitchen/dining unit 27
West End Primary School, Elgin kitchen 9
Lossiemouth High School: games hall 46
Nairn Academy: new school 1,467
West End Primary School, Elgin: improvements 20

Improvement work at Rothes Primary School included in the 1973–74 programme at an estimated cost of £24,000 has still to be started.

With its allocations for the 1974–75 programme year the authority plans to start the following projects other than minor works:

Estimated cost (£'000's)
Auldearn Primary School: modernisation 30
Bishopmill Primary School extension 80
Elgin new nursery school 38
Llanbryde: nursery class extension 33

Allocations for programmes after 1974–75 have not yet been decided, except in the case of the nursery education building programme for 1975–76. The authority plans to start a new nursery school at Forres, estimated to cost £38,000.