§ MR. TALBOT (Oxford University)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether he is aware that a demand has been made by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors upon the managers of a voluntary school in Kent for a house-to-house census of the population residing within two miles of such school; and whether such demand has been made under the authority of the Department; if so, under what powers such demand is made?
§ * THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. ACLAND,) York, W.R., RotherhamThe Department require to be satisfied, before paying a grant under Article 104 or 105 of the Code, that the population is within the limits stated by those Articles; and where the claim is made on the ground that the population within two miles of the school is below a certain number, the Department does not pay the grant without ascertaining the actual population in the manner stated in the question. The Department has full powers to call for such Returns under Article 87 of the Code.
§ MR. TALBOTDoes the right hon. Gentleman say that it has a right to demand that the managers of private voluntary schools should take such a census?
§ MR. ACLANDYes; it can be demanded of any Board of Managers.
§ * MR. ACLANDI imagine they have powers. At any rate, we often ask for censuses and find no difficulty.