§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he has any plans to compensate the city of Manchester for the extra £500,000 of costs of additional teaching and premises maintenance arising from his proposed modification to the proposals for reorganisation of voluntary aided secondary schools in the city of Manchester.
§ Mr. DunnNo. Local education authorities are well aware when publishing proposals designed to achieve savings that their proposals may be rejected or modified by my right hon. Friend. Financial considerations are not the only factor he considers in reaching his decision.
§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the reasons for his delay in responding to the city of Manchester and the Salford Roman Catholic diocese concerning plans to reorganise voluntary aided secondary schools in Manchester from 10 February until 5 June.
§ Mr. DunnThe proposals were published on 6 December 1983; the Manchester LEA and Salford diocese submitted objections and their comments on them in February 1984; and my right hon. Friend announced his conclusions on 5 June 1984. I do not accept that there was any undue delay, given the need for detailed consideration by my right hon. Friend of all the relevant information, including the many arguments raised by those who objected to the proposals.
§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his reasons for modifying the proposals to reorganise voluntary aided secondary schools in the city of Manchester; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DunnMy right hon. Friend proposed the modification to defer implementation of the proposals for one year because he was not satisfied that the original proposed date of implementation would allow sufficient time to complete the necessary planning for the new schools, their staffing and the completion of admission arrangements for pupils.