§ SIR ROBERT ANSTRUTHERasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether the Minute of the Board of Supervision, dated the 8th May last, relating to Inspectors of Poor in Scotland, has or has not been found to be in excess of the statutory powers conferred upon the Board by the Act of the 8th and 9th Vic. c. 83; and, whether, in the event of this being the case, it is his intention to instruct the Board of Supervision to cancel the Minute referred to?
MR. BRUCEIn answer to the Question of the hon. Baronet, I may say that in reply to an inquiry addressed to me by the Board of Education in Scotland, my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Advocate informed them that, in 1411 his opinion, the Minute issued by the Board of Supervision was beyond their powers, and that, so long as the Inspectors of the poor performed their duties "faithfully and efficiently," they had n power to deprive them of their appointments. In reply to the second Question, he begged to say that the Secretary of State had no power to instruct the Board of Supervision to cancel the Minute.