HC Deb 19 January 1967 vol 739 cc105-6W
58. Mr. Alfred Morris

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the Plowden Report on Primary Education.

Mr. Crosland

I greatly welcome the general tenor and philosophy of the Report. It will make a major contribution to our educational thinking. I am glad that the Council have not only spoken highly of the quality of primary education at its best in this country but have called attention to the special needs of children in socially deprived areas.

The Council has made many recommendations, some of them of far-reaching significance. Some are directed to the Government and would involve substan- tial expenditure and in certain cases legislation. Our study of these recommendations has started but is bound to take some time. We must have regard to the resources likely to be available over the period covered by the Report and to the views of the associations of local authorities and teachers and of other bodies concerned. These I have already invited. I have also drawn the attention of the associations to the many other recommendations which are primarily directed at local authorities and teachers.

I have already, in the foreword to the Report, expressed my gratitude to Lady Plowden and her colleagues for the valuable work which they have accomplished.