§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on the amount of money that is needed to fully repair all the schools in England and Wales.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthJudgments about what constitutes "full repair" vary. The 1987 report of the DES survey of school buildings estimated that the cost of implementing the main structural requirements related to the Education (School Premises) Regulations 1981 and the other physical requirements in primary and secondary schools in England was about £1.1 billion (although this estimate is subject to sampling error). Since then substantial sums, both capital and current, have been, and continue to be, devoted to improving school premises. The repair of schools in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.