HC Deb 14 March 1978 vol 946 c204
6. Mr. Freud

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many mobile classrooms are currently in use in the parliamentary constituency of the Isle of Ely; how many of these are in (a) the primary and (b) the secondary sectors; and how this compares with mobile classroom accommodation elsewhere in the country.

Miss Margaret Jackson

I understand from the Cambridgeshire Education Authority that there are 33 primary and 30 secondary classrooms of this kind in the Isle of Ely. Temporary accommodation in East Anglia probably accounts for about the same proportion of all school accommodation as in England and Wales as a whole.

Mr. Freud

The people of Cambridgeshire will be pleased to hear that in this instance they are no worse off than other parts of England. Will the Minister say whether in the provision of mobile class rooms her concern is for mobility rather than economy? If that is so, will she bear in mind that it costs almost as much to move some mobile classrooms from one place to another as it does to erect them?

Miss Jackson

I am aware that this is a problem, and in Cambridgeshire, as elsewhere, the Department and the authority are anxious to see such classrooms taken out of use and replaced by permanent accommodation as soon as possible. But this, particularly in Cambridgeshire which has a high basic need, is something we are able to do only gradually. Over the last three years we have given Cambridgeshire £14 million in building allocations. The county has applied for about £7 million for the next three years and we are considering this at the moment.