HC Deb 06 May 1981 vol 4 cc70-1W
Mr. George Robertson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will outline the guarantees given to the Hamilton college of education board of governors about future provision of (a) pre-service training, (b) in-service training, (c) disruption of students' courses, (d) the student residences and (e) the course on technical education.

Mr. Alexander Fletcher

The board of governors of Hamilton college of education were informed in a letter of 25 March 1981 from the Scottish Education Department that:

  1. (a) the Secretary of State intends to monitor carefully the future position in regard to teacher supply in Lanarkshire, with a view to taking appropriate remedial action if necessary;
  2. (b) it is the Secretary of States's desire that the level of in-service training provision in Lanarkshire should be maintained so far as practicable—in which connection he has noted the board's belief that this could best be done for the time being from the existing location at Hamilton;
  3. (c) it is accepted that, in forthcoming discussions about the implementation of my right hon. Friend's decision to close the college, priority should be given to consideration of the position of students who will still be in mid-course at Hamilton at the end of the current session;
  4. (d) it is the Secretary of State's intention that the Hamilton student residences should remain open, under whatever ownership, until the end of the 1981–82 academic session; and
  5. (e) the Secretary of State very much hopes that it will be practicable to continue in some form or other the course developed at Hamilton for the training of teachers of technical education and will give sympathetic consideration to proposals for achieving this.
My right hon. Friend subsequently indicated in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Argyll (Mr. MacKay) on 14 April that the regulations which he proposes to make in implementation of his decision to close Hamilton college will make provision to the effect that the Hamilton site may be retained for one further academic session in order to permit students in mid-course to continue their studies at Hamilton during that period, and that arrangements will be made to accommodate thereafter at Jordanhill those students who will not have completed their courses at the end of the 1981–82 academic session.—[Vol. 3, c. 78.]