§ Mr. Pollockasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will announce the Government's decisions on the policy review of the Consultative Committee on the Curriculum.
§ Mr. John MacKayI have today written to Sir James Munn, the chairman of the Consultative Committee on the Curriculum, to tell him of the Government's decisions on the recommendations of the policy review carried out last year and I have arranged for copies of the letter, its appendices and of the policy review itself to be placed in the House of Commons Library.
I have made clear to Sir James the high value I place on the work of the CCC and my appreciation of the commitment of both the voluntary participants in its activities and of the permanent staff of the Scottish Curriculum Development Service. The Government endorse the arguments in favour of continuing the CCC on broadly its present remit. I have, however, decided in principle that the management of the SCDS could be strengthened and the efficiency and effectiveness of both the CCC and the SCDS improved by incorporating both bodies into a single company limited by guarantee. Our aim is that this should be achieved in consultation with the new CCC by 1 August 1988, subject to agreement on a satisfactory basis for incorporation.
I have also decided that the organisation and the educational effectiveness of the SCDS could be substanitally strengthened by bringing it together into one unit with the support staff of the new CCC. Our preference is that the new organisation should continue to be located within the campus of a college of education. I have
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Increase in income after tax (£ per week) compared with indexation in 1987–88 for married man with two children Multiple of Average Earnings1 ½ ¾ 1 1½ 2 5 10 Increase derived from: (i) 1p cut in basic rate 0.41 0.97 1.54 2.68 3.44 3.44 3.44 (ii) 6 per cent, increase in personal allowances 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.23 1.69 2.54 2.54 (iii) Increase in child benefit £2.00 per week2 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 £2.60 per week3 5.20 5.20 5.20 5.20 5.20 5.20 5.20 (iv) 5 per cent, increase in income tax thresholds4 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 3.08 9.25 9.25 therefore asked the CCC to negotiate with the Northern college with a view to locating the combined body on its Dundee campus.
The campus has much to offer the new CCC including the fact that it is to become the open learning centre for the college of education sector and I believe that, among the available alternatives, it has the strongest claims. It will be of great value to the Northern college—and to Dundee—to have the opportunity of housing a major educational body such as the CCC.
The interests of staff will be taken into account in planning the reorganisation, which I would expect to be completed by 1 August 1989 at the latest.
Full details of the Government's response to the recommendations of the policy review are set out in the appendices to the letter to Sir James Munn. I believe that our decisions provide a sound basis on which the CCC and the SCDS can continue to make a major and highly relevant contribution to improving the curriculum for young people and to providing support to help teachers implement it.