§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has had from local education authorities about his target for cutting 1 million school places by March 1984; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. BoysonThe Government's published expenditure plans assume that 630,000 surplus places will have been taken out of use by March 1984. We shall review our targets in the light of the returns of local education authorities to the Department's circular 2/81—once a sufficient number have been received to enable a reliable analysis to be made.