§ Mr. Sharpasked the Minister of Education the approximate total cost of the approved building programmes of local education authorities for the year 1946–47; and to what extent this programme was completed.
§ Mr. TomlinsonIn the year 1946–47 there were no formal educational building programmes. The amount of work completed by local education authorities in the ten months ending 31st January, 1947, was approximately £1,00,000. A substantially greater amount was approved in the last two quarters of the financial year in preparation for the 1947–48 programme.
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§ Mr. Sharpasked the Minister of Education what is the estimated cost of the building programmes of local education authorities for the year 1947–48; and to what approximate extent the allocation of building materials and labour to his Department will enable such work to be completed.
§ Mr. TomlinsonThe information is not available in the precise form asked for by my hon. Friend. In Circular 134, dated 19th December, 1946, it was stated that taking into account the programmes of major projects submitted by authorities my predecessor had decided to plan, subject to the labour and materials position from time to time, on the basis of a programme for 1947 of building work to be done in the calendar year to the value of £24 million excluding agency work done by the Ministry of Works but including work done under civil licence. It will not be practicable to give a reliable estimate of the amount of work which is likely to be completed during the calendar year until the effects of the recent fuel cuts and bad weather can be accurately judged.