§ 90. Mr. T. Fraserasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that Lanarkshire Education Committee has felt obliged to cut its capital investment programme for school buildings in the next five years from a planned £16½ million to £6½ million because of the limitations of the general grant; and what steps he proposes to take to avert a breakdown in education in the county of Lanark.
§ Mr. MaclayA school building programme of £16–5 million for the next five years for Lanarkshire would not appear to be practicable in the light of the available technical and building resources and of the amount of school building which this authority have been able to carry out in recent years. The distribution among education authorities of the capital investment available for the next five years must be considered primarily in relation both to the needs of the different areas and also to the amount of work which it is believed can be completed in this period. It has always been possible hitherto to allow Lanarkshire to start every essential32W building project as soon as they have been ready to do so and it will be my aim to maintain this position.