§ Mr. SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether the catchment area and its population in and around Edinburgh for cases available for teaching purposes was considered before he accepted the proposal to close the Edinburgh dental school.
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§ Mr. RifkindI have not accepted the approval to close the Edinburgh dental school. This is a matter for the Universities Funding Council.
Before making its recommendation, the working party on the review of dental provision in Scotland advised, on the basis of outpatient attendance figures, that
the attendance figures between Edinburgh and Dundee are sufficiently close as to make little difference in terms of undergraduate education".I have sent its report to the Universities Funding Council, and asked the council to consider the working party's advice in reaching decisions on undergraduate dental education.