§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will obtain and publish in the Official Report a detailed list, on a national or area basis, of the number and stated schools which have been condemned or agreed for replacement; the date when such were agreed upon and not commenced; how many schools have been classified as unsafe, unsatisfactory, or not up to minimum standards; and how many of these are in the London borough of Newham.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonLocal education authorities may submit proposals to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the replacement of schools which they consider to be unsatisfactory. The Department does not collate or publish such information, either on a national or local authority basis, or decide which schools should be replaced. It is for the authorities to decide, within the resources available and subject to compliance with Government policies, which projects to undertake. My right hon. Friend recognises with regret that, due to recent cuts in public spending, many desirable school improvement projects that authorities had planned to start in 1976–77 and 1977–78 will not now proceed but, in distributing the reduced resources for school building, priority has had to be given to areas where population growth leads to basic need for new school places.