Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he has for reducing the use of bricks in connection with the construction of new schools; and what schemes he has in that connection to make greater use of modern substitutes such as prefabricated panels.
§ Mr. CroslandMy Department's Circular 1/64, a copy of which I am sending to the hon. Member, urged local education authorities to make greater use of industrialised building and the advice it gave has been followed up in discussions with many authorities. Systems of industrialised building were used in one-fifth of all the major school building projects started in 1963–64. The Development Group in my Department has played an important part in the evolution of industrialised systems and a special unit was set up last year to stimulate productivity in educational building.