asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why she has not advised local authorities to seek ways of reducing the unit cost of small schools as an alternative to closure, for example by the use of shared teaching or ancillary staff on the lines of the shared headmaster experiment in Harbottle, Northumberland.

I am informed that the Northumberland Education Authority is considering a proposal for Harbottle and Netherton First Schools to share a head teacher but that a final decision has not yet been made.Unit costs are only one of a number of factors that have to be taken into account when proposals are made to cease to maintain a school and it is not an overriding consideration, as the document "Falling Numbers and School Closures" which was recently circulated for comment made clear. I am confident that local authorities are fully aware of the importance of reducing unit costs where this can be done without damage to the quality of their educational provision.