HC Deb 18 July 1940 vol 363 cc423-4W
Mr. Dunn

asked the President of the Board of Education how many elementary schools there are in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and for which the West Riding County Council are directly responsible and for which no air-raid shelters are provided, and will he give the reasons why shelters have not been provided?

Mr. Ramsbotham

The number of public elementary schools in the West Riding of Yorkshire where no shelters are provided is 397. These schools are all in the less vulnerable parts of the county. I understand that the local education authority have the position under review in the light of the suggestions made in the Board's Administrative Memorandum No. 233, dated 6th July, 1940, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy, and are considering what further protection should be made on the lines recommended in the Ministry of Home Security's pamphlet entitled "Your Home as an Air Raid Shelter."

Mr. David Adams

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he is now actively making provision of air-raid shelters for all schoolchildren requiring such protection?

Mr. Ramsbotham

It is not my Department's function to provide air-raid shelters for schoolchildren. The matter is one for the local education authority in consultation with the local A.R.P. authority, as explained in the answer which I gave on Tuesday last to the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Lindsay) and of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy.

Mr. Lindsay

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will consult with the Minister of Health in order to revise the present division of the country into evacuation, neutral and reception areas, with different standards of school-shelter accommodation for each area?

Mr. Ramsbotham

As my hon. Friend is aware, the decision from which and to which areas schoolchildren are from time to time evacuated rests with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health. That decision is based on considerations of civil defence and is reached after consultation with the Ministers, including myself, concerned with civil defence. There is therefore no occasion for such further consultation as is suggested. I cannot accept the inference, implicit in the Question, that the scale of air-raid protection appropriate to a given school can be automatically determined by the fact that the area in which it is situated is scheduled as an evacuation, a neutral or a reception area.