§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what consultations he has had, or intends to initiate, with statutory, religious, professional, charitable, and voluntary organisations whose current function or roles are of significance in the operation of the schools system, as presently in operation, prior to the publication of a Bill designed to implement the proposals descrilbed in Cm. 2021.
§ Mr. ForthMy right hon. Friend has already received some 850 responses to his White Paper proposals. He, his22W ministerial colleagues and his officials at the Department for Education have also held meetings with representatives of the local authority associations, the churches and other interested bodies. All these responses and comments will be carefully considered before the publication of a Bill.
§ Mr. SpearingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his statement concerning the savings he expects to accrue from the reduction, or elimination, of claimed surplus places in schools, on page 57 of Cm. 2021, if he will state the approximate amount of actual expenditure he hopes to save, together with the relevant arithmetical calculations.
§ Mr. ForthThe Department is currently consulting LEAs on the scope for removing surplus places on the basis of its estimate that in 1991 there were up to 1.5 million surplus places in England. The costs associated with surplus places vary considerably according to the particular circumstances, and not all of them can practicably be removed. It is therefore not possible to provide the information requested at this stage.