§ 13. Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what effect his proposed reduction in the schools' capital building programme in Dyfed will have on the replacement of Victorian primary schools.
§ Mr. Michael RobertsThat will depend on what schemes the authority undertakes within its allocation.
§ Dr. ThomasI speak as a member of an education committee that covers one-quarter of the surface area of Wales. Does the Minister realise the chaos into which he puts the plans of any education committee, particularly an education committee in South-West Wales that has a huge burden facing it with regard to a particular school in the South-West of the county?
§ Mr. RobertsThere are 123 pre-1903 primary schools in Dyfed. The previous Administration recognised that this was not a matter that they could tackle immediately but only over a very long 17 period. The hon. Gentleman will be familiar with the fact that the Dyfed county council education authority, on which he serves, has in the past, and with the approval of the previous Administration, allocated most of its money to comprehensive schools rather than to the improvement of primary schools.