§ Mr. Gwynfor Evansasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on his policy in regard to the establishment in Wales of Welsh or bilingual schools.
§ Mr. RedheadMy right hon. Friend is continuing the policy which for more than 50 years has been pursued by what was the Ministry of Education and is now the Department of Education and Science, of fostering the use of the Welsh language in the schools of Wales and supporting local education authorities who wish to establish "Welsh" or bilingual schools or departments. The initiative for the establishment of new schools, of this as of other kinds, rests with individual local education authorities. Local education authorities must conform with the statutory procedure laid down under Section 13 of the Education Act 1944, and must satisfy my right hon. Friend that the school is needed to discharge their duties under the Act, that the accommodation proposed is suitable, that the school is likely 81W to be of an educationally workable size and not too small to offer a reasonable variety of courses, and that it will not affect adversely the legitimate interests of other pupils in the area. Where these conditions are satisfied my right hon. Friend agrees to the establishment of new "Welsh" or bilingual schools. There are circumstances in which individual local education authorities in Wales find that the establishment of a Welsh department in an existing school is a better arrangement from the educational point of view; in such cases the decision rests with the authority.