§ Mr.Ashdownasked the Secretary of state for Education and Science what information was received by his Department in response to the circular letter to local education authorities in mid-1986 seeking information in connection with the authorities' plans for education capital expenditure in 1987–88 on (a) numbers of substandard places in unremodelled secondary schools in which the oldest teaching accommodation was built before 1919 and in which less than one-third of total teaching accommodation is in post-1945 permanent construction and (b) numbers of such places considered to serve areas of educational and social disadvantage; if he will publish such information as he has available; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DunnThe information requested is set out in the table. It does not present a reliable national picture of the incidence of substandard places or of areas of educational and social disadvantage for several reasons. for example, a number of authorities failed to supply and information, or supplied only a part of what was requested. In addition, authorities themselves are asked to judge what constitutes an area of educational and social disadvantage: the information at(b) cannot therefore be taken as consistent or comparable.
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Local Education Authority (a) Sub-standard places in unremodelled secondary schools1 (b) Number of such places in areas of education and social disadvantage Barking2 n/a n/a Barnet 1,170 nil Bexley nil nil Brent nil nil Bromley nil nil Croydon nil nil Ealing2 n/a n/a Enfield2 n/a n/a Haringey2 n/a n/a
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Local Education Authority (a) Sub-standard places in unremodelled secondary schools1 (b) Number of such places in areas of education and social disadvantage Harrow2 n/a n/a Havering nil nil Hillingdon2 n/a n/a Hounslow nil nil Kingston-upon-Thames nil nil Merton2 n/a n/a Newham 2,122 2,122 Redbridge2 n/a n/a Richmond-upon-Thames nil nil Sutton2 n/a n/a Waltham Forest 960 960 Inner London 8,589 2,413 Birmingham 3,200 1,800 Coventry2 n/a n/a Dudley 2,750 800 Sandwell 1,396 1,396 Solihull nil nil Walsall 600 n/a Wolverhampton 750 n/a Knowsley nil nil Liverpool2 nil nil St. Helens nil nil Sefton 344 nil Wirral 540 540 Bolton1 nil nil Bury nil nil Manchester 510 510 Oldham2 n/a n/a Rochdale nil nil Salford2 n/a n/a Stockport nil nil Tameside 2,200 2,200 Trafford nil nil Wigan2 n/a n/a Barnsley nil nil Doncaster2 n/a n/a Rotherham 785 nil Sheffield 200 140 Bradford 5,515 2,570 Calderdale 2,925 845 Kirklees2 n/a n/a Leeds 2,604 528 Wakefield 677 422 Gateshead2 n/a n/a Newcastle upon Tyne2 n/a n/a North Tyneside 330 nil South Tyneside nil nil Sunderland2 n/a n/a Isles of Scilly nil nil Avon 5,098 900 Bedfordshire2 n/a n/a Berkshire 1,280 nil Buckinghamshire nil nil Cambridgeshire 2,945 648 Cheshire 560 nil Cleveland2 n/a n/a Cornwall 8,107 n/a Cumbria 3,290 2,000 Derbyshire 4,396 4,248 Devon2 n/a n/a Dorset2 n/a n/a Durham 2,200 nil East Sussex2 n/a n/a Essex2 n/a n/a
Local Education Authority (a) Sub-standard places in unremodelled secondary schools1 (b) Number of such places in areas of education and social disadvantage Gloucestershire 1,900 nil Hampshire 540 540 Hereford and Worcester 7,260 nil Hertfordshire nil nil Humberside 199 100 Isle of Wight 850 nil Kent 6,745 n/a Lancashire 2,900 720 Leicestershire 2,000 135 Lincolnshire 1,160 nil Norfolk nil nil North Yorkshire nil nil Northamptonshire 355 n/a Northumberland 750 360 Nottinghamshire 651 300 Oxfordshire2 n/a n/a Shropshire 2,330 nil Somerset1 220 nil Staffordshire 370 n/a Suffolk 425 n/a Surrey 910 nil Warwickshire2 n/a n/a West Sussex nil nil Wiltshire 685 nil 1 These authorities did not supply the information requested in their response to the Department's letter of 30 June 1986; the figures given were supplied in response to the letter of 18 December 1985. 2 These authorities did not complete the relevant section of the form in their responses either to the letter of 30 June 1986 or to that of 18 December 1985. n/a=Not available.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Yeovil on 2 February, Official Report, column 470, concerning recent information on substandard places in primary schools, what comparable or broadly comparable information is available from responses made by local education authorities in other years since 1979; if he will place copies in the Library of each circular letter sent by his Department in any year since 1979 requesting information of sub-standard primary places or schools; if he will publish in the Official Report a table similar to that given in his reply of 2 February, showing figures for the earliest year since 1979 for which such figures are available; and if he will make a statement.