§ Mr. BuckleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schools he has visited since his appointment; and how many of these are(a) state funded and (b) independent schools.
§ Mr. ButcherApproximately 126, of which about 14 were independent.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the schools in England and Wales that have experienced major damage by fire in each of the last 24 months.
§ Mr. ButcherThis information is not collected by the Department of Education and Science or the Welsh Office education department. The Fire Protection Association maintains a record of the majoriy of major fires in Great Britain, and I have asked for details. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as the information is available.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much from each local authority's capital allocation has been spent on the improvement or replacement of existing school buildings in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. ButcherThe information requested was not collected centrally before 1988–89. In 1988–89 expenditure on new improvement and replacement projects for all local education authorities was £119 million. In addition, authorities will have spent substantial sums on improvement projects which they had already started in previous years.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about fire safety arrangements within schools.
§ Mr. ButcherUnder the terms of regulation 24 of the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981, local education authorities have a duty to provide fire precautions and means of escape in the case of fire in maintained schools.
In the case of independent schools, registration under part III of the 1944 Education Act rests; amongst other things, on the provision and maintenance of adequate fire precautions.