§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science; pursuant to his reply of 7 December, what deficiencies of educational provision he has pressed Liverpool city council to rectify; and what progress has been made.
§ Sir Keith JosephMy open letter to the leader of the Liverpool city council in June—copied to the hon. Member—spelled out certain important deficiencies of educational provision in the city arising from the fall in pupil numbers. Since then, I have approved proposals to close three small inner city county secondary schools and proposals to reorganise the city's 41 Roman Catholic secondary schools in order to reduce the damaging consequences of falling pupil numbers. The authority has informed me that there is no prospect of further progress on county secondary school reorganisation by next September. Recent letters issued by the Department, which I am copying to the hon. Member, show that I am pressing and shall continue to press for renewed efforts in order to secure a sound educational future for Liverpool's schools.