§ Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, pursuant to his answer, Official Report, column 710, to the hon. Member for Mid-Staffordshire of 17 January, what steps he proposes to take to monitor the level of compliance of local education authorities with the statutory requirements regarding morning worship in schools under the Education Act 1944.
§ Mr. Chris PattenMy right hon. Friend has no plans to collect information centrally on this matter. Where complaints are made to him that the requirements of the Education Act 1944 on collective worship are not being met in a particular school, he obtains details of the circumstances of the individual case and carefully considers these in the light of his statutory functions.