§ Mrs. Bainasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will accept the Melville Report and recommend its implementation by a specific date;
(2) if he will recommend the implementation of the Scottish Education Department 1973 memorandum on staffing in special schools by a definite date.
§ Mr. McElhoneThe principal recommendation of the Melville Committee was that the practice of ascertaining some mentally handicapped children as ineducable should be ended, and this recommendation was implemented in the Education (Mentally Handicapped Children) (Scotland) Act 1974. A number of the other recommendations have been or are being implemented. The committee's recommendations as to staffing ratios, and the staffing standards for special schools set out for consideration in the 1973 consultative document, are widely accepted as guidelines, but it is for education authorities to determine the rate at which they can be implemented in the light of their resources.