HC Deb 16 January 1974 vol 867 cc124-5W
Mr. Michael Cocks

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what major and minor school projects within the city and county of Bristol will be delayed in view of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcement of public spending cuts.

Mr. Raison

The Department's Circular 15/73 announced that of major school building projects only those to meet basic needs for additional places would be eligible for approval between 1st January 1974 and 30th June 1975. Six major projects to replace or improve old primary schools in the Bristol local education authority area will therefore be delayed until after June 1975, as follows: Whitehall Junior School, Greenbank Infants School, Pro-Cathedral RC Primary School, Colston Primary School, Whitehall Infants School, St. John's CE Primary School. The local education authority is responsible for deciding which minor projects should be carried out within its minor works allocations.

Miss Quennell

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what effect the cuts in public spending will have upon the Hampshire County Council education plans, both on capital and revenue account.

Mr. Raison

As regards capital, between January 1974 and 30th June 1974 major projects to meet basic need for essential additional places in primary and secondary schools will be eligible for approval. The building programme for special schools will be allowed to proceed and authorities will receive an allocation for minor works. The 1974–75 nursery allocation already announced will remain valid but will run from 1st July 1974 to 30th June 1975. From 1st July 1974 to 30th June 1975 a limited programme of higher and further education projects, to be announced in due course, will also be eligible for approval.

There will be no formal system of allocating cost limits to individual projects. Instead, the total value of work started in the country as a whole will have to be contained within a total cash limit. In this situation it is not possible to forecast the projects that will eventually be started for any given authority.

Following the Chancellor's statement, the rate support grant settlement for 1974–75 has been reviewed. It will be for each authority to decide how the reduced resources available to it will be allocated between the different services.