§ Mr. Benceasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the building cost limits for higher and further education.
§ Mr. CroslandA joint study by the U.G.C. and the Education Departments of accommodation standards for higher and further education, which has already resulted in the fixing of a common cost limit for residential accommodation, has been carried a stage further by the establishment of a common cost limit for non-specialist accommodation such as lecture rooms and seminar rooms and by the adoption of a common approach to other building matters. These changes will be incorporated in a general revision of the cost limits to take account of the rise in building costs since the various dates on which limits were last determined. The new cost limits will apply from 1st April, 1967 and details are being sent to the universities, the local education authorities and the voluntary colleges of education. Programmes of building starts for 1967–68 and subsequent years will be revised accordingly. For the universities the new programme values will be £35.1 million 77W (formerly £30 million) in 1967–68 and £29 million (£25 million) in each of the two years 1968–70. For further education and teacher training the revised figures for 1967–68 will be £30.5 million (£27 million) and £8.5 million (£7 million) respectively; the value of programmes for these sectors for subsequent years is still under consideration.