§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why it took her assistant private secretary until 9 February to send a reply to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West's letter of 10 January concerning Newham's 362W allocation for school building in 1979–80; what was contained in this reply which could and should not have been sent before 9 February; and on what date she finally arranged for the joint meeting with the Newham chief education officer.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonI am sorry that my hon. Friend did not receive an earlier reply to his letter of 10 January. My right hon. Friend receives many requests to receive deputations from local education authorities to discuss allocations for school building. Unfortunately, she is unable to meet all such requests and often the detailed discussion involved is more appropriately dealt with by officers of the authority and the Department. The director of education for Newham met officers of the Department on 13 February and I shall write to my hon. Friend shortly when the final allocations are decided.