§ MR. MUNDELLAasked the Vice President of the Council, If he is able to inform the House as to the legality of the proceedings of the Education Department in refusing a grant to the British School at Keynsham; if he is aware that since the re-opening of this school the names of 110 children have been inserted on the register, of whom 80 had not previously attended the parish school; if his attention has been directed to the fact of the announcement by the vicar that the children of parents attending the British School would be deprived of the benefits of the Parish Clothing Club; and, what precedents there are (if any) for the refusal of a grant to an efficient Elementary School in a district where there is no School Board?
§ VISCOUNT SANDONAs far as I can ascertain, this is the first instance of a request to the Education Department for an annual grant to a new school in a locality where, in obedience to orders from the Department, the necessary additional accommodation has been supplied by existing public elementary schools. This is, therefore, the first case in which a decision has had to be come to on the subject, though in the analogous cases of localities where there are school boards, we have refused annual grants to Church of England and other schools where, owing to the locality having supplied the additional accommodation which the Department demanded, such new schools were unne- 247 cessary. I informed the hon. Gentleman last week, in answer to his Question, that we were advised that we had power to refuse a grant in this case; but that, as he raised a doubt about it, I should be most happy to refer it to the Law Officers of the Crown, and would inform him of the result of that reference. I shall, of course, inform him as soon as I receive the opinion of the Law Officers. Until I have that opinion, I must beg leave to decline to enter further into the question of the legality of the proceedings of the Department.