§ 55. Miss Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what representations she has received from the Committee on Adult Education concerning the proposals to save £5 million per annum by means of increases in fees charged for non-vocational courses for those in employment; and what reply she has sent.
§ Mrs. ThatcherThe proposal covers fees for non-vocational courses and for vocational courses for those already in employment. The chairman conveyed to me the committee's anxiety about the possible effect on the size and social composition of the non-vocational enrolment and their hope that in the forthcoming discussions the statutory duty of local education authorities in this field would be emphasised. I replied that my Department would ask LEA's to consider the relative importance locally of all courses, vocational and non-vocational, which it was their statutory duty to provide, and to take account of individual hardship.