asked the Minister of Education if he is aware of the concern of the Leyton Borough Council about the economies affecting education in that borough; and if he will consult the Essex County Council with a view to reconsidering those economies which affect the Borough of Leyton.

I appreciate the borough council's disappointment that none of the Essex projects in the 1964–65 building programme is in its area. I have recently seen a deputation from the Essex education authority to discuss the most urgent of its outstanding proposals, which did not include those in Leyton.

May I ask whether the Minister has received a communication or representations from the Leyton Borough Council on this matter? Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate that this is causing very strong feelings in all quarters of Leyton, and is it not disappointing in the extreme that when he saw this deputation of the Essex County Council it did not include Leyton? Will he see that this is done?

The hon. Gentleman must realise that I am in a difficulty. I saw a deputation from Essex. I agreed to the inclusion of one more school that was clearly urgently needed, but the proposals did not include any schools in the Leyton area. It is Essex which is the local education authority. It may be that we could discuss this in the context of the proposals for the London Government Bill, but we cannot do that now. That is my difficulty, and I am bound to have regard to the order of priority which the local education authority puts to me.

Is it not shameful?

I should not like to express a view about that. It is not for me to dogmatise on the priorities put to me by other authorities.