§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on secondary schools and the opting-out provisions as they affect the reorganisation of education in the borough of Trafford.
§ Mr. ButcherThe consideration by my right hon. Friend of proposals by Trafford LEA to reorganise secondary schools in its area was suspended whilst the parents of pupils at Sale boys' grammar school voted on whether the school should apply for grant-maintained status. The parents voted against such an application in January 1989, and my right hon. Friend has, therefore, resumed his consideration of the LEA's reorganisation proposals, and will announce his decision in due course.
§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about the implications of the recent judgment on sex discrimination in Birmingham selective schools as it affects the reorganisation of education in Trafford.
§ Mr. ButcherThe judgment by the House of Lords that the Birminghan LEA was in contravention of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 by providing fewer grammar school places for boys than for girls has no implications for the proposed reorganisation of county schools in Trafford as the current proposals in Trafford LEA will provide equal opportunities for selective places for boys and girls.
§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement about the reorganisation of Roman Catholic secondary education in the borough of Trafford.
§ Mr. ButcherIn March 1988 the Salford Roman Catholic Diocesan Schools Commission published statutory reorganisation proposals for three Roman Catholic secondary schools in Trafford. My right hon. Friend was not satisfied that the proposed arrangements offered improved educational prospects for pupils of all abilities, nor that the high capital cost was justified. He accordingly rejected the proposals on 16 February 1989.