§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he is taking to improve school buildings, in the light of the statement by Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools in its recent expenditure survey that the state of school buildings are a cause of growing concern.
§ Mr. DunnIt is for local authorities themselves to determine repairs and maintenance priorities in the light of local needs and circumstances. We have made clear our view that this area should be given priority within the resources available. The Government's plans for local authority expenditure on education for the current year provide scope for some improvement in the level of provision for repairs and maintenance, provided costs cart be contained and feasible savings made elsewhere. In order to help authorities make the best use of the resources available, the Department published in March this year guidelines for determining maintenance priorities and for setting up cost-effective maintenance programmes.