asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans he now has for encouraging the use of the initial teaching alphabet.

The question of further developments in this field will be considered by the Schools Council when it has received and studied the report of the independent evaluation of the initial teaching alphabet which it has commissioned and which is expected in the autumn.

Does the Minister of State agree that in many areas this has proved to be an outstanding success? Will she do her best, on behalf of the Government, to ensure that it is not starved for lack of finance?

The independent evaluation has been welcomed. Applications for research grant to continue studies in this field have been made to the Social Science Research Council, and we have reason to believe that an announcement will be made very soon.