HC Deb 04 March 1971 vol 812 c495W
32. Mr. Farr

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the number of primary schools in Leicestershire still using nineteenth century buildings; and what was the number five years ago.

Mr. van Straubenzee

About 130 and 160.

49. Mr. Hardy

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many primary schools in England and Wales were constructed before 1901; and how many of these have not been brought up to a modern standard.

Mr. van Straubenzee

The school building survey in 1962 showed that there were then nearly 14,000 primary schools in England and Wales built before 1903. Since then over 2,000 primary schools, many of them built in the nineteenth century, have been closed. No comparable survey has been undertaken since 1962; but, according to returns made by local authorities since November, 1969, some of them still incomplete, there remain about 5,000 primary schools built before 1903 whose replacement or substantial improvement is justified because of long-term need for the accommodation.