asked the Minister of Education if he will reconsider his decision not to purchase Buglawton Hall for use as a grammar school at Congleton, in view of the difficulties in building such a school for several years ahead.

It would be for the local education authority, not my Department, to buy this property. They have not asked me to reconsider my decision that the purchase cannot be approved and I do not consider that the expenditure of money, labour and materials involved in the purchase and adaptation of this property for school use, either temporarily or permanently, would be worth while.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the local authority have already said that they would like him to buy this property, and in view of the extreme shortage of educational facilities and the difficulty of building such a school, will he look into what the hon. Member for West Fife (Mr. Gallacher) said on a previous Question, and do something about it?

I have already pointed out that it would be for the local authority and not for me to purchase property of this kind, and I would also like to point out with regard to this property that the work required to be done would take as much material as would be necessary for building a new school.

In view of the right hon. Gentleman's answer, I must make it clear that I am not in favour of buying these buildings.