HC Deb 10 July 1974 vol 876 cc1351-2
22. Mr. MacArthur

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the future development of education in Scotland.

Mr. Robert Hughes

There is too much happening in Scottish education to encompass within a short reply. If the hon. Gentleman has any specific point in mind I shall be happy to deal with it.

Mr. MacArthur

I have a specific point. Will the hon. Gentleman devote less time to hounding grant-aided and independent schools and spend more time trying to ease the scandalous conditions that exist in many local authority schools in Scotland?

Mr. Hughes

I spend no time at all hounding the grant-aided schools. Most of the time that I devote to dealing with education is spent in trying to deal with the inheritance the hon. Gentleman's Government left, and the scandalous situation in education.

Mr. Monro

Does the Minister realise that he has made a monstrous statement about grant-aided schools today? Why has he not given the normal increase in grant to cover increased costs and salaries for the grant-aided schools this year? Does he appreciate that he has effectively put up the fees by 25 per cent. for many parents who cannot afford them, and that he has had no consultation with the grant-aided schools? That is no way for an Under-Secretary in charge of education to behave.

Mr. Hughes

I shall be happy to deal with many of those points if the hon. Gentleman is lucky enough to have the opportunity to raise the matter on the Adjournment. The fees charged in grant-aided schools would have had to be increased irrespective of our decision. What we have done will cost the average parent of a pupil at a grant-aided school £10 per annum. In any event the parents would probably have had to find an additional £40 because of increased costs.

Mr. MacCormack

Does the Minister agree apart from the matter of making a survey of education that it is rather silly to have Scottish schools administered through the Scottish Education Department while Scottish universities are run by the University Grants Committee? Does he agree that we should have our own separate organisation for university education in Scotland?

Mr. Hughes

I am not prepared to comment on that. If the hon. Gentleman cares to put down a Question on the Order Paper he shall have an answer.