HC Deb 24 January 1977 vol 924 cc962-83
The Secretary of State for Education and Science and Paymaster-General (Mrs. Shirley Williams)

With permission, Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a statement.

The Government's strategy on the training of teachers is to establish a basic teacher training system which would be capable of expansion to meet any foreseeable needs in the 1980s while not so large as to create a surplus of qualified teachers for whom jobs could not possibly be provided.

My Advisory Committee on the Supply and Training of Teachers has expressed agreement with my proposal that the system should be reduced to about 45,000 places of which some 10,000 should be available for in-service education and training of serving teachers, and the support of induction arrangements for new entrants.

To facilitate the contraction and reorganisation required, I am publishing today my proposals for college closures, mergers and other steps which I consider will make the best provision possible for in-service and initial training in the period up to 1990. I am grateful to the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Widnes (Mr. Oakes), for the detailed work he has done on these matters.

The criteria on which these proposals are based are set out in a paper, copies of which I have placed in the Library. In brief, we have endeavoured to promote the integration of teacher training with other higher education, to avoid its fragmentation in small units while ensuring as far as is possible that no areas are devoid of institutions to support in-service training, to preserve existing professional and academic excellence and to create an institutional structure in which teacher training can continue to develop. The proposals reflect a compromise between these and other considerations and have involved decisions between alternative possibilities which have been very difficult to make. Some institutions will be bitterly disappointed but I believe that the proposals taken as a whole are a fair and constructive solution to the difficult problems involved.

In formulating these proposals the Government have been very conscious of the need to preserve a significant number of large teacher training units, sited in areas of educational difficulty, which should be capable of developing as centres of excellence in aspects of teacher education particularly relevant to the problems, such as education within a multiracial society, the special needs of the handicapped and the teaching of basic skills, which will be facing the schools between now and the end of the century. They would hope to foster such developments by increased support for research and development projects based on these institutions.

I am arranging for details of the proposals to be circulated in the Official Report. They will involve the cessation of initial teacher training at 25 to 30 institutions. The individual proposals will be the subject of further consultations with the maintaining authorities and providing bodies concerned with a view to reaching final decisions on the structure of the new system not later than the early summer.

This is necessary not least because of the serious human problems involved, and I should like to conclude by paying a tribute to the patience and understanding shown by the staff concerned, as well as local education authorities and providing bodies, during the inevitably lengthy process of laying the foundations for the future system of teacher education in this country.

Mr. St. John-Stevas

While we accept the need to reduce the number of college of education places for initial training, may I ask whether the right hon. Lady agrees that more places could be saved by using some of these places for in-service training, other than the number to which she has referred, and so raising standards, and, secondly, to provide crash courses in the shortage subjects such as crafts and mathematics? Will the right hon. Lady ensure that future consultations, particularly with the religious colleges of education, are carried out by her Department with greater sensitivity, understanding and consideration than has been the case in the past?

Finally, what is the right hon. Lady doing to ensure that this growing empire of redundant colleges, which have been built up with public funds, is turned to socially acceptable uses, and what is she doing to find alternative employment for those who have dedicated their lives to these colleges and are now losing their jobs through no fault of their own?

Mrs. Williams

On the first point, the balance in the proposals that I am making will shift very markedly towards in-service training. Indeed, if it were not for generous provision for in-service training the cuts would have to be even more severe than those I am proposing. However, I should like to assure the hon. Gentleman that, while in-service training uses may be additional to the proposals that I am making, this merely concerns college in-service training.

With regard to crafts and mathematics courses, we are already inviting colleges to put in bids for shortage courses in the craft subjects, and we are already consulting them about mathematics. We are satisfied that there will be adequate provision for these courses in the system proposed. Of course, the system proposed does not come into effect until the beginning of the 1980s, and we hope to provide for most of the shortage courses well before then because the shortage is an immediate one.

With regard to consultations, we have certainly had no complaints as far as I know from the denominational bodies and the balance proposed is exactly in line with the existing balance. However, for reasons of clarifying the position to the House, I should say that on this occasion, for the first time, the bulk of the consultation will follow the proposals and not precede them, because after initial consultations with the local authorities it was they who preferred that it should take this pattern rather than the traditional pattern.

The hon. Gentleman's final point was about the future of the staff and the buildings concerned. The staff will be covered by the Crombie Agreement, but I hope that as many as possible will be able to be used in other parts of the education system.

With regard to buildings, I am pleased to be able to tell the House concerning the last set of proposals, which covered some 20 colleges, that all but five of those colleges have already had very encouraging proposals made for other uses. We have reason to believe that other uses will be found for most of the other colleges that we are proposing to close as a result of my announcement.

Mr. Thorpe

Does the right hon. Lady agree that if these cut-backs, based on the forecasting of her Department—which has not always been accurate in its forecasts—prove to be over-drastic, they will have a very deleterious and long effect on the fortunes of education in this country? Will she comment on the effect on the pupil-teacher ratio over the next 10 years, and will she say that she does not wish any local education authority to interpret this as giving it a green light to cut back on its existing teacher strength?

Mrs. Williams

On the first point, perhaps I could repeat for the right hon. Gentleman that there is no question but that we can expand very rapidly up to at least 60,000 places on the basis of the proposals that we are making now, and they have been made in the light of being able to bring about a very rapid expansion, including, if necessary, a change in the balance between the in-service provision and the initial training provision if we had, say, a sudden influx of population for which we had not yet allowed. [Interruption.] I am sorry if the House did not understand that. I meant, for example, if there was an unexpected movement of population. We must allow for all possibilities. To be fair to the right hon. Gentleman, I believe that that is the sort of idea that he might have in mind. Otherwise, there is a good deal of notice before one has to deal with a population rise.

With regard to the right hon. Gentleman's second point, we are very anxious to give the colleges at long last a degree of stability, and the proposals that I am advancing are obviously intended to be capable of surviving until the 1990s without further disagreeable announcements of the kind I am making today having to be made. These proposals allow for some improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio position in the 1980s. The right hon. Gentleman will bear in mind that there has been a marked change in the rate of teacher wastage, which has come down very sharply, which also affects, together with the birth-rate, the provision for the future. I hope, therefore, that the right hon. Gentleman will recognise that we are trying to come up with a lasting solution.

Mr. Christopher Price

Is my right hon. Friend aware that many of us on the Labour Benches accept that some further diminution in the number of places was necessary—[HON. MEMBERS: "No."]—and that her job was made more difficult by the previous Government's failure to grasp this nettle? Is she also aware, however, that the method of carrying out the exercise, in a wholly bureaucratic way, so that the public at large cannot see what is going on or the principles by which the exercise is carried out, is wholly unsatisfactory? My right hon. Friend needs to set up some machinery so that if fewer children are being born any readjustment can be done in an open way rather than in the inner recesses of her Department.

Mrs. Williams

My hon. Friend is absolutely right in his first point. It was clear some years ago that the birthrate was beginning to turn down and that the downwards movement was being sustained. Not until the return of the Labour Government in 1974 was anyone prepared to grasp this nettle. If the House is not prepared to grasp it, the only alternative is sustained unemployment of young qualified teachers, which would not be in the interests of the education profession or of children.

The answer to my hon. Friend's second point is that every paper provided to and by the Advisory Committee on the Supply and Training of Teachers has been published and is available in the Library. To my knowledge, this is the first time this type of operation has been conducted in the open.

Sir John Hall

If one of the reasons for maintaining teacher training in a particular area is that the area has multiracial education problems, will the right hon. Lady reconsider her decision to close the teacher training courses at the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education in view of the considerable multi-racial education problem in High Wycombe and the district?

Mrs. Williams

There is the opportunity for consultation now. I must make it quite clear that these are proposals, not decisions. My reference was to the type of courses being conducted in colleges, not necessarily to the exact geography of the area in which they are carried on.

Mr. Litterick

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there will be bitter indignation in Birmingham at the damage the proposals will inflict on the Birmingham polytechnic? Does she agree that the surest way to improve the general level of efficiency of our education system is to improve the pupil-teacher ratio? Will she clarify her remarks about pupil-teacher ratios as they will affect the elementary and secondary sectors?

Mrs. Williams

I shall be publishing the regional school populations and the proposals together, so that the House will be able to judge the speed at which the school population is falling. I must tell my hon. Friend, and anyone else who questions me about individual colleges, that there is no escaping some decline in the number of teachers in training when the birth-rate is falling dramatically. It would be ludicrous to pretend that no response is required.

We are suggesting a reduction of from 1,000 to 850 places at the Birmingham Polytechnic. That part of the country is not suffering as much as a number of other parts where teacher training has been expanded more in the past.

Mr. Gwynfor Evans

Will the right hon. Lady bear in mind the need in Wales to train teachers who can teach physically and mentally handicapped children through the medium of the Welsh language?

Mrs. Williams

We bear in mind the needs of mentally and physically handicapped children—I have indicated that this is a special consideration that we have taken into account in our proposals—regardless of whether they are taught in English or in Welsh.

Mr. Bryan Davies

Does my right hon. Friend accept that there will be a welcome from the Labour Benches for the determination to protect the work of col- leges which have specialised in courses for inner city areas and multi-racial communities? In this context, I hope that the work of All Saints College is being suitably protected. Does my right hon. Friend also accept that there is concern because the number of students in this sector of higher education is being reduced and opportunities for girls in higher education will show a consequent reduction? Is she not worried about the implications?

Mrs. Williams

Our proposal is that All Saints should remain but that there should be a link between it and the Middlesex Polytechnic, which, for administrative reasons, would be helpful in that part of London.

With his second point, my hon. Friend put his finger on a very important matter. One of the greatest areas of opportunities for girls has been the college of education sector. My hon. Friend the Minister of State and I will be suggesting in the near future how best opportunities for girls might be widened in further education and the universities in order to maintain the present balance of opportunities.

Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop

Will the right hon. Lady take this occasion to recast the emphasis in teaching modern languages at teacher training colleges from the nineteenth century preoccupation with French to languages which the country needs much more now, such as German, South-American Spanish and Portuguese and Arabic, in which we are desperately deficient as a nation?

Mrs. Williams

There has probably been too great a concentration on French in the past few years. There are some indications that other languages are not expanding as rapidly as we would wish, but I think that this is a matter to be considered in the course of the discussions we shall be holding in the regions later this year. I am sure that it will arise then.

Mr. Ginsburg

My right hon. Friend has described her proposals as being essentially proposals of compromise. We appreciate her difficulties, and she is entitled to a measure of support, but does she agree that more information is required than has been given to the House at this stage. Will my right hon. Friend set out the position of the Kirk-lees authority and the Wakefield authority? I have so far been unable to ascertain anything definite from the Library. May we have fuller information about the position of Bretton Hall? Can my right hon. Friend give an assurance, to apply locally but also nationally, that there will be the fullest consultations with those affected, because there is obviously considerable anxiety?

Mrs. Williams

We propose that the facilities at Bretton Hall and those of Huddersfield Polytechnic, which has a very small education department, should be amalgamated to provide 550 places, which would be based largely on existing Bretton Hall provision. We also propose that courses in shortage subjects should be retained at both institutions. The part-time initial training at the Castle-ford annexe would, however, cease. It is relatively small.

Several Hon. Members rose—

Mr. Speaker

Will hon. Members make their questions as brief as possible in view of the large number who wish to speak?

Dr. Hampson

I apologise for having missed the right hon. Lady's statement. I have just come down from the North.

Is the right hon. Lady aware of the enormous disquiet and discontent of chief education officers, whom I have approached in the past week or so, about the way in which the exercise has been conducted, in that they have had no consultations with the Department at senior level about the future of their colleges? I gather that the first information that some of them had of their college closure and the effect of this drastic cut was by telephone today. How does the right hon. Lady square that with her claims of open government?

Mrs. Williams

The hon. Gentleman has wholly misunderstood the way in which the operation was conducted. [HON. MEMBERS: "The hon. Gentleman was not here."] As my hon. Friends are fiercely indicating, if the hon. Gentleman had been present for my statement I think he would not have asked that question. However, he apologised, so I am not making a point of that. I explained in my statement that the local authorities, after discussion, wished the Department to put forward proposals, to be followed by consultation. These proposals will he followed by consultation. They are not decisions but proposals. After consultation, final decisions will be announced to the House in two months' time.

I do not see why the hon. Member for Ripon (Dr. Hampson) is shaking his head, since I was present at the discussions and he was not. Therefore, I know what conclusions were reached by the local authorities. I assure him that what I have said is the case. If the hon. Gentleman has met horror and disturbance among education officers, I assure him that we have not done so. It may be that they were given by the hon. Gentleman to misunderstand the position.

Mr. Corbett

Will my right hon. Friend pay attention to the needs of the mentally and physically disabled, not against a background of existing provision, but against the background that existing provision in many areas is totally inadequate? Will my right hon. Friend also confirm that, although she has made up her mind, her mind is not completely closed and that there will be an open door to her Department for authorities to put forward their proposals?

Mrs. Williams

There is no question about that, and I am pleased to give my hon. Friend that assurance. Consultations will now begin. Unless we had put forward proposals, the process would have dragged on for a long time, and I do not think that that would have been in the interests of colleges or schools.

I have paid special concern to the needs of handicapped children, and we have examined the situation in the case of each college. The decision whether to close an establishment has been examined in the light of the excellence of such work. I appreciate that amendment of the Education Act 1976 was aimed at integration of schools for the handicapped and disabled, and I recognise the need to look further at expansion of this work.

Mr. Hal Miller

I thank the Minister of State for his courtesy at all times in advising authorities of Government proposals. Will the right hon. Lady explain what will happen to institutions such as North Worcestershire College, which is already amalgamating with a college of further education? What will happen to the provision for further education in the area, and how will this be paid for once the teacher training element has been reduced?

Mrs. Williams

In regard to the North Worcestershire College, we are proposing that further teacher training will cease but that there should be an expansion of the Worcester College of Higher Education, which covers the same area. We have had in mind the specific problem of further education, but I ask the hon. Gentleman to see my hon. Friend the Minister of State so that they may go into the matter in detail.

Mr. Roderick

My right hon. Friend will be aware of the rapid rise in training provision in recent years following the advice of experts on the question of need. How confident is she of that advice? Should we not seek to avoid any lurches in one direction or another, and in approaching the B.Ed. degree should we not pursue full-time four-year teacher training courses?

Mrs. Williams

My hon. Friend is right, and that is what we are trying to do. By linking colleges to institutions which offer alternative courses, we believe that there will be a great deal more flexibility than by restricting courses to colleges which offer nothing but teacher training. Secondly, by trying to widen the concern of colleges to include a greater area of in-service training, we shall give colleges greater flexibility for a long time to come. Whether the birth-rate continues to fall or levels out and rises again, I do not believe that it will be necessary for my successor to come to the House of Commons in a few years' time and announce further changes in teacher training provision.

Mr. Burden

I am glad that the right hon. Lady shares the concern of the House about provision for the education and training of handicapped children. Since she has already shown sympathy, I know she will agree that such teachers require special qualifications and training. Will she give an undertaking to examine that area of need rather than to cut back on the training of such teachers and, indeed, if possible, to extend it?

Mrs. Williams

We have to cut back on the overall training of teachers for the reasons I have already given, but we are endeavouring to protect the training of teachers in special areas of shortage and need in order to provide the best quality of education for all our children.

Mr. Cant

Although I do not claim to speak on behalf of the Staffordshire County Council, I am sure that it will be disappointed with my right hon. Friend's statement but will also feel that it was inevitable. Will my right hon. Friend say whether the Madeley College of Education is to be cut from 1,100 to 400 pupils? When she says that decisions will be made, does she envisage that happening by the early summer, within the next few months, or within what period? In other words, is the time scale of the operation intended to be a gradual one over a considerable period of time?

Mrs. Williams

The present Madeley College has 850 places. There will be a fall to 400 places, but that college is to be amalgamated with North Staffordshire Polytechnic. Therefore, other courses will be available.

On the subject of time scale, my hon. Friend the Minister of State and I would like to be able to complete consultations within the next two or three months in the interests of the colleges, but there is no firm deadline for completion of consultations. We want to make announcements by the early summer.

On my hon. Friend's third point, the proposals will not affect anything until the end of the decade. Therefore, there is plenty of time for the rundown to take place, because students who begin in September 1977 must be permitted to complete their courses. Since the process will take place over a period of three years, it will not all happen tomorrow.

Mr. Aitken

Although the right hon. Lady said that there had been consultations, is she aware that there have been no consultations with the authorities in Kent? Is this not regrettable in view of her proposal to close down Nonington College, a centre of great excellence in the second largest education authority in Britain? Will the right hon. Lady examine that situation with great care?

Mrs. Williams

With the agreement of the local authorities, we have been asked to put forward proposals. Therefore, the authorities in Kent, as all other authorities, will have every opportunity to carry out consultations now.

Mrs. Millie Miller

I appreciate the point made by my right hon. Friend about the level of consultation and the time scale, but will she bear in mind the concern already expressed to her Department about the North-East London Polytechnic, which faces difficulties because it serves an educationally-deprived area and merits special consideration?

Mrs. Williams

The provision for teachers in London has always been exceptionally great. Because we needed to make a reasonably fair geographical division, London and the Northern Region have suffered rather more than most because they suffered less in the earlier round. Having said that, I must add that we intend to maintain the experimental postgraduate and post-Dip.HE courses at the North-East London Polytechnic, which are of particular educational interest.

Mr. Wyn Roberts

Will the Secretary of State say how much of the proposed cut-back in numbers of places relates to Wales and whether it is likely to involve closure of any existing institutions there? Furthermore, will she say what thought has been given to advising youngsters now at school who might otherwise wish to become teachers?

Mrs. Williams

The reductions in Wales are in line with reductions elsewhere—neither much greater nor much less. We propose to close two colleges, one proposal affecting educational provision in the Polytechnic of Wales and the other affecting the West Glamorgan College of Education.

Mr. Leadbitter

The Secretary of State has no doubt carried on her consultations with great care; that is not to be questioned. What we have learned today, however, has drastic implications. Could she not bear in mind the Northern Region, which is utterly deprived? The number of higher education students per thousand of population as a yardstick is the lowest of all the regions. In view of this, particularly as we are being dealt with far more harshly this time than in the first round of closure announcements, it is hardly a good reason on that account for hitting such a deprived area again. Will she assure the House, and particularly the Northern Members, that she will be sufficiently flexible as to take other factors into account before implementing her conclusons in the manner suggested?

Mrs. Williams

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The proposal in the North is that there should be a very substantial increase in the size of the provision made at Newcastle Polytechnic—from 650 to 900 places—but that St. Mary's College, Fenham—the Roman Catholic college—should cease to provide teacher training. In addition to that, the merger of St. Hild and St. Bede with Durham University is going ahead and there will be 400 teacher training places there. Although my hon. Friend is absolutely right in his suggestion about fewer places for the North going on to higher education, the provision of higher education in the North is not out of line with that in other parts of the country.

Mr. Forman

I sympathise with the many young people whose future prospects may be affected by these proposed cuts. None the less, does the right hon. Lady accept that for most parents throughout the country it is the standards and the quality of teacher training that are of prime concern? What step does she propose to take to improve the standards and quality of future teacher training in colleges that remain, especially in the important subjects which teach basic skills such as mathematics?

Mrs. Williams

This is basically a structural operation. We have borne in mind the standards in existing colleges. However, in making our decision that is not always the sole criterion and cannot be. My own view is that we now need to consider the content of teacher training. This is of vital importance. It is a different exercise.

Mr. John Garrett

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that the changes she has in mind for teacher training in Norfolk fully allow for the rapid increase in population in the county?

Mrs. Williams

The Eastern Region has got off reasonably lightly, for the very reason that my hon. Friend suggests—because there is likely to be an increase in population in the area.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Is the right hon. Lady aware that Avery Hill College in my constituency has demonstrated its flexibility by having courses in eight out of the 13 shortage subjects? Can she assure the House that a college such as this with its Mile End annexe will be protected at least in its shortage subjects and will be considered for filling in with in-service training courses?

Mrs. Williams

Avery Hill is one of a group of colleges for which 2,000 places in total have been allowed—the division among them to be decided in discussions with the Inner London Education Authority.

Mr. Skinner

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that cutting teacher training colleges was never part of our manifesto and has never been part of Labour Party policy and that trade unionists and Labour Members could be excused for thinking when they agreed to an incomes policy that the social contract would include an understanding that these things were never to be cut? Can my right hon. Friend confirm that if these consultations are held I shall be able to argue for Matlock Training College, so much so that it will not suffer amongst the others that have been executed today?

Mrs. Williams

First, if my hon. Friend argues on the ground that cuts in teacher training were never in the manifesto he must recognise that the fall in the birth-rate was not in the manifesto either and that occasionally policies have to yield to circumstances. There has been a steady improvement in the staff-pupil ratio and these proposals will not worsen it. Indeed, they make provision for some further improvement. Thirdly, the pleasures of a consultation between us may not be necessary since we are not proposing to close Matlock College.

Mr. Speaker

Order. I must appeal to the House. There are three hon. Members who obviously have constituency interests. If they will ask their questions quickly, I shall call them.

Dr. McDonald

Would my right hon. Friend agree that a time of falling birthrate is the time to ensure a vast improvement in the teacher training ratio? What action does she propose to improve the teacher training ratio where it is bad, such as at Thurrock in my constituency and in the rest of Essex?

Mrs. Williams

As many of my hon. Friends know, we have already in the rate support grant clearly advised all local authorities, including that in which Thurrock appears, that no part of the cuts which are necessary in education should be made on the staff-pupil ratio, that sufficient money has been provided for this to be maintained, and that this is our highest priority. I have further indicated that we expect to see some improvement towards the end of the decade. At the moment, we put as our first priority the maintenance of existing standards. As there is a major expansion coming through in further education and higher education because of the vast upturn in the birth-rate we have to make additional provision, and in the past year alone 50,000 additional children have chosen to stay on over and above the numbers expected. This must impose an additional demand on resources.

Mr. Alan Lee Williams

I sympathise with my right hon. Friend in having to make her statement. She never lacks courage in these matters. If these proposals go through, is she able to estimate the number of lecturers who will be displaced, and what proposal will she make for their redeployment in schools?

Mrs. Williams

At this stage I cannot give my hon. Friend that estimate, for the very reason that these are proposals and not yet final conclusions and because there may be some room for other courses which would use some of the staff concerned. I can only assure my hon. Friend that there is full provision for the safeguarding of salaries for those who move to other education jobs, and there are also the Crombie proposals to protect those who would prefer to leave the profession.

Mr. Rooker

Does not my right hon. Friend think that it would be politic to lump all the education cuts in one statement instead of making a statement today on teacher training cuts and making another next month about school meals? Is it compatible with a social democratic or Socialist vision of society to tie levels of future training solely to the birth-rate when we have an economy which will be afflicted with1½ million to 2 million unemployed over the next few years? Why cannot we make provision in teacher training for making allowance for people who may want to return to school for further education for six months and so keep them off the dole and keep everyone as fruitfully and productively employed as possible?

Mrs. Williams

On the first part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question, he knows more than I do in suggesting that I am about to make a statement about school meals next month. On the second part, as things stand at present and in the light of decisions being made by local authorities—we can only guide and not control local authorities—it would be an act of total irresponsibility to continue the present output of teachers trained only for teaching and not able to get jobs in other professions. I point out to my hon. Friend, and I hope that he will take the trouble to study the statistics, that we are still continuing with the very substantial expansion of other forms of further education. Surely it is more sensible to train people for other varieties of jobs than to continue in one sphere if they are likely to get a job only in one profession.

Following are the main proposals:

NORTHERN REGION

Teacher training in the Tyneside area should be concentrated in Newcastle Polytechnic where places should be increased from 650 to 900. Northumberland College and St. Mary's College, Newcastle upon Tyne should cease to provide teacher training.

The negotiations for the merger of St. Hild and St. Bede with Durham University should be continued on the basis of a reduction in teacher training to 400 places.

YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE

The teacher education facilities at Bretton Hall College, Wakefield and Huddersfield Polytechnic should be amalgamated: the combined institution should have 550 teacher training places based largely on existing Bretton Hall provision and retaining courses in shortage subjects from both institutions. The part-time intitial training at the Castleford Annexe should cease.

Lady Mabel College, Rotherham should be merged with Sheffield City Polytechnic.

Initial teacher training should cease at North Riding College and at the Doncaster Metropolitan Institute of Higher Education. Teacher training in the 3 Bradford colleges should be reduced from 1,000 to 600 places, in such a way as to safeguard provision for home economics and training relevant to a multiracial society. This would probably mean that teacher training would have to cease at Bingley College.

The provision at Trinity and All Saints' Colleges should be reduced from 750 to 650 places.

NORTH WEST

Initial teacher training should be discontinued at Preston

Polytechnic and at Padgate College of Higher Education. Liverpool. Provision for teacher training at Liverpool Polytechnic and the City of Liverpool College of Higher Education should be reduced from 1,350 to 1,000 places and their amalgamation should be considered.

The Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (Christ's and Notre Dame Colleges (Roman Catholic) and St. Katharine's College (Church of England)) should concentrate on the Woolton sites, with a reduced provision of 1,000 teacher training places.

Manchester. Provision at Manchester Polytechnic and Manchester College of Higher Education should be reduced from 1,850 to 1,500 places: their division between the two institutes to be decided in consultation with the Authority.

Provision at De La Salle College should be reduced from 750 to 600 places. Provision at Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education should be reduced from 1,100 to 1,000 places.

WEST MIDLANDS

Teacher training should cease at North Worcestershire College but the provision at Worcester College of Higher Education should be increased from 650 to 750 places.

Madeley College should amalgamate with North Staffordshire Polytechnic with a reduced teacher training provision of 400 places.

The provision at Birmingham Polytechnic should be reduced to 850 teacher training places and at the West Midlands College to 500 places.

EAST MIDLANDS

Initial training at Eaton Hall College should cease: provision for courses in craft, design and technology should be transferred to Trent Polytechnic if suitable arrangements can be made.

EAST ANGLIA

The Peterborough Annexe of Kesteven College should close.

Discussions for the incorporation of Keswick Hall in the University of East Anglia should proceed on the basis of a reduced teacher training provision for 400 places.

GREATER LONDON

Teacher training should cease at the Bromley Institute of Higher Education, Ealing Institute of Higher Education, the Polytechnic of Central London and at the College of Philippa Fawcett and Furzedown.

Further consideration should be given to the organisation of teacher education in the remaining ILEA institutions within a total of 2,000 places. Care should be taken to make adequate provision for mature students.

The discussions which have begun between All Saints College and Middlesex Polytechnic should proceed on the basis of an amalgamation of the institutions with a total provision of 750 teacher training places and preservation of the College's contribution to teaching in multi-racial schools and of home economics.

The initial teacher training provision at the North East London Polytechnic should be reduced to 100 places for postgraduate and post-DipHE courses.

Provision of teacher education in the Roehampton Institute of Higher Education should be reduced to 1,200 places, and at St. Mary's College, Twickenham, from 900 to 700.

Provision of teacher education at Kingston Polytechnic should be reduced to 400 places and the Guildford Outpost closed.

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND

Initial teacher training should be discontinued at the following institutions:

The implementation of these proposals together with other minor adjustments would result in provision for teacher education in 1981 as follows:
Proposed number of teacher training places for 1981
NORTHERN REGION
Charlotte Mason … 300
Cleveland Polytechnic … 400
Durham New College … 500
Newcastle Polytechnic … 900
St. Hild and St. Bede (in University of Durham) … 400
Sunderland Polytechnic … 500
YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE
Bradford and Ilkley … 600
Huddersfield Polytechnic (including Bretton Hall) … 550
Hull College of Higher Education … 600
Leeds Polytechnic … 1,000
Ripon and York St. John College of Higher Education … 790
Sheffield City Polytechnic (including Lady Mabel) … 1,000
Trinity and All Saints … 650
NORTH WEST
Chester … 625
Crewe and Alsager College of Higher Education … 1,000
De La Salle … 600
Edge Hill College of Higher Education … 800
Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (Christ's, Notre Dame and St. Katharine's) … 1,000
Liverpool Polytechnic (including City of Liverpool College of Higher Education) … 1,000
City of Manchester College of Higher Education … 1,500
Manchester Polytechnic …
St. Martin's, Lancaster … 625
WEST MIDLANDS
Birmingham Polytechnic … 850
Lanchaster Polytechnic, Coventry … 700
North Staffordshire Polytechnic (including Madeley) … 400
Newman … 700
Westhill … 420
West Midlands … 500
Wolverhampton Polytechnic (including Dudley) … 700
Worcester College of Higher Education … 750

Nonington College.

Portsmouth Polytechnic.

The Crawley Outpost of the West Sussex Institute of Higher Education.

Initial teacher training should also cease at the East Sussex College of Higher Education, except for the provision at the former Chelsea College for physical education which should be continued as part of Brighton Polytechnic. where total provision sh ould be increased from 600 to 1,000 places.

Christ Church College, Canterbury, should continue with a reduced provision of 500 places.

SOUTH WEST

Initial teacher training should cease at Rolle College and at the Camborne Outpost. The provision in the Gloucestershire Institute of Higher Education should be reduced to 500 places; teacher education in home economics at the Gloucestershire College should be discontinued, and St. Mary's and St. Paul's Colleges should be amalgamated on the St. Mary's site.

WALES

Initial teacher training should cease at the Polytechnic of Wales and at West Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education.

Proposed number of teacher training places for 1981
EAST MIDLANDS
Bishop Grosseteste … … … … 500
Derby Lonsdale College of Higher Education … … … … 450
Leicester Polytechnic … … … … 500
Loughborough (in Loughborough University) … … … … 600
Matlock … … … … 450
Nene … … … … 500
Trent Polytechnic … … … … 1,000
EAST ANGLIA
Homerton … … … … 650
Keswick Hall (in University of East Anglia) … … … … 400
GREATER LONDON
Goldsmiths' … … … … 1,000
ILEA
Avery Hill … … … … 2,000
Polytechnic of North London … … … …
Polytechnic of the South Bank … … … …
Thames Polytechnic … … … …
Shoreditch … … … …
Kingston Polytechnic … … … … 400
Middlesex Polytechnic (including All Saints, Tottenham) … … … … 750
North East London Polytechnic … … … … 100
Roehampton Institute of Higher Education … … … … 1,200
St. Mary's, Twickenham … … … … 700
West London Institute of Higher Education … … … … 900
OTHER SOUTH EAST
Bedford College of Higher Education … … … … 600
Brighton Polytechnic (including Chelsea P.E.) … … … … 1,000
Bulmershe College of Higher Education (Berkshire) … … … … 700
Chelmer Institute of Higher Education (Brentwood) … … … … 450
Christ Church, Canterbury … … … … 500
Hertfordshire College of Higher Education … … … … 700
King Alfred's, Winchester … … … … 750
La Sainte Union … … … … 600
Oxford Polytechnic … … … … 400
Westminster … … … … 450
West Sussex Institute of Higher Education … … … … 650
SOUTH WEST
Bath College of Higher Education … … … … 750
Bristol Polytechnic … … … … 650
Dorset Institute of Higher Education … … … … 500
St. Luke's Exeter (in Exeter University) … … … … 500
St. Mark and St. John … … … … 460
Gloucestershire Institute of Higher Education … … … … 500
WALES
Bangor Normal … … … … 400
Bangor St. Mary's (in University College of North Wales) … … … … 200
Gwent College of Higher Education … … … … 500
Llandaff (in University College, Cardiff) … … … … 250
North East Wales Institute of Higher Education … … … … 400
South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education … … … … 600
Trinity, Carmarthen … … … … 500

VOLUNTARY COLLEGES

The total number of teacher education places proposed for 1981 at the voluntary colleges of the two main Churches and their proportionate share of 45,000 places, according to their "historic" Share of total provision, are given below:

Proposed number of teacher training places for 1981
Church of England Colleges
Historic share of 45,000 places … … … … … 7,500
Places proposed … … … … … 8,300
Places in Church colleges transferred to universities … … … … … 1,500
Catholic Colleges
Historic share of 45,000 places … … … … … 4,200
Places proposed … … … … … 4,220

The regional summary below gives the maintained school populations in 1973 and 1976 and those forecast for 1981, a division for each region of 45,000 places in proportion to such forecast and the total proposed.

School population Division of 45,000 places in proportion to total of (v) and (vi) Proposed number of teacher training places for 1981
1973 1976 Forecast for 1981
Primary Secondary Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
(000's) (000's) (000's) (000's) (000's) (000's)
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii)
North 366.5 247 336 278 305 268 3,030 3,000
Yorks/Humberside 507 372 508 439 475 417 4,720 5,190
North West 760.5 457 737 534 650 544 6,310 7,150
West Midlands 584 359 587 431 518 447 5,100 5,020
East Midlands 386.5 243 405 309.5 356 317 3,560 4,000
East Anglia 176 107 177 135 162 137 1,580 1,050
Greater London 686 465 645 514 548 522 5,660 7,050
Other South East 1,004 658 989.5 749 843 801 8,700 6,800
South West 397.5 254 407 311 354 322 3,580 3,360
Wales 313 201 315 235 280 241 2,760 2,850
5,181 3,363 5,106.5 3,935.5 4,491 4,017 45,000 45,470