§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the average length of time taken by his Department to reach a decision on proposals for secondary school reorganisation submitted by local education authorities over the last three years.
§ Mr. Dunn[pursuant to his reply, 26 February 1986, c. 581]: The average period between publication of secondary school reorganisation proposals and the final decision by the Secretary of State over the last three years was 8.8 months. This includes the two-month period during which statutory objections can be made and the further month allowed before a local education authority must submit these objections and their comments to the Secretary of State.