HC Deb 28 February 1895 vol 31 cc48-9
MR. H. S. FOSTER

I beg to ask the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education whether he is aware that, in order to meet the pressure in Voluntary schools in the north of England, after the issue of Circular 321 by him, the School Management Committee of the Newcastle Diocesan Society formed an organisation for supervising all communications between the Department and the Voluntary schools of the county of Northumberland, and of assisting these schools to resist undue pressure or to meet the demands which might fairly be made upon them; whether he has seen the Report issued for the year 1894 by the Education Committee of the Society, in which it is stated, amongst other things, that in 21 cases in the county of Northumberland the building requirements of the Department were, upon local explanation, either modified or withdrawn at a saving of £4,240; and if he will explain how it happened that these demands, which were subsequently reduced, were originally made by the Department?

MR. ACLAND

I have seen the Report issued for 1894 by the Education Committee of the Newcastle Diocesan Society, which appeared in The Times of the 7th of last month. In the article in which the report is quoted, and which is written by a member of the committee, I observe that it is explicitly stated that the demands of the Department were not arbitrary or capricious, and that in no one instance had it met representations by other than fairness. The fact that requirements and suggestions made by the Department had by the aid of this committee (which not only advised managers in every detail, but supplied them free of cost with the most economical plans for carrying out alterations) been modified, at a large saving to the particular schools, is cited in the article, as showing the need of some organisation on the part of school managers in order to help the Department to understand the local situation in each case. The figures mentioned are not capable of being verified officially, but I have no wish to throw doubt on them, especially as they come from what I may fairly call such a friendly source.