§ MR. AINSLIE (Lancashire, N. Lonsdale)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if 1915 he is aware that the penalty of five shillings inflicted on parents for the non-attendance of their children at school has lost its force in consequence of the abolition of school fees, and that it does not repay the costs incurred by the authorities of a school in prosecuting an offender; and if he will endeavour to provide a remedy?
§ MR. MATTHEWSThe abolition of school fees does not appear to me to have any bearing on the sufficiency of the five shillings, which is the limit of penalty, and costs, for breach of an attendance order. That sum was frequently insufficient to defray the costs actually incurred by a prosecuting School Board before the abolition of fees, and will be so still, but I do not think that these extra costs ought to be defrayed either by the parents of the defaulting child or by the ratepayers of the county or borough.