To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what arrangements he makes for ensuring that sufficient capital funds are available to areas of known rapid population expansion for timely planning and construction of schools without prejudice to current and future interest of existing and future populations of the relevant local education authority.

It is for local education authorities to ensure that they provide sufficient school places. In distributing annual capital guidelines to authorities, my right hon. and learned Friend gives priority, after allowing for existing commitments, to their plans for providing new school places in areas of population growth. Priority is then given to plans to remove surplus capacity, to new building projects at colleges of further education and, as resources allow, to programmes to replace or refurbish existing school premises.