§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTON (Shropshire, Oswestry)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education what steps are taken under Section 13 of "The Endowed Schools Act, 1873," for publishing and circulating the Schemes approved by the Department, in order that they may not escape the notice of all parties interested; and whether he will consent to the publication of all such Schemes in The London Gazette?
§ MR. ACLANDThe practice has always been to publish Schemes approved by the Department twice, at intervals of a week, in the same newspapers in which they have been previously advertised by the Charity Commissioners. I do not think there is any reason for departing from this practice. For further details, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer to the question which stands in his name next to this.
§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTONI beg to ask the hon. Member for Merionethshire's Charity Commissioner, what steps are taken under Section 33 of "The Endowed Schools Act, 1869," for publishing and circulating the Schemes drafted by the Commissioners, in order that they may not escape the notice of all persons interested; and whether he will consent to the publication of all such schemes in The London Gazette?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY CHARITY COMMISSIONER (Mr. T. E. ELLIS, Merionethshire)The following are the steps ordinarily taken by the Commissioners under the provisions of Section 33 of the Endowed Schools Act, 1869, for publishing and circulating Draft Schemes so as to give information to all persons interested:—In the case of an endowment in London, about six leading morning and evening daily papers of opposite politics, and also some local paper having circulation in the part of London chiefly interested in the endowment, are selected for the insertion of advertisements of the Draft Scheme; and, in the case of an endowment in the City of London, the Scheme is also advertised in journals having 1053 special currency in the City. Besides being thus advertised, the Scheme is deposited for gratuitous inspection, and sold at a cheap rate to all applicants, at the office of the Commission in Whitehall. In the case of an endowment in the country, the Trustees of the endowment are required to furnish the names of at least two local journals of opposite politics, having principal circulation among those interested in the endowment; secondly, the name of some place where the scheme can best be deposited so as to be easily accessible; and, thirdly, the name of some person who will undertake to sell at a small charge copies supplied to him gratuitously; and the Scheme is published accordingly. In the case of Schemes under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act, additional publicity is given by their submission to all local Public Bodies, and to numerous persons interested. For instance, the Glamorgan Scheme was submitted to 108 local Public Bodies and to 42 persons for purposes of public deposit and sale. In view of the fact that publication of these Schemes in The London Gazette is not required by Statute, and would, in the opinion of the Commissioners, be less effective for the purposes of the Endowed Schools Acts than the abovementioned process, they would hesitate to impose upon the Imperial Exchequer the additional expense of advertisements in a journal which does not command an extensive circulation among bodies and persons interested in education.