§ VISCOUNT CRANBORNE (Rochester)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, with regard to the demand which has been made upon the voluntary managers in Sowerby township for the supply of increased accommodation, whether he is aware that there is already ample accommodation for infants at Sowerby, at Millbank, and at Triangle Schools within the district; that there is full accommodation for the older children of the district at the two former schools; and that the total accommodation in the three schools exceeds the number of children on the books by 147 places, and the average attendance by 311 places; and whether, in these circumstances, the demand will be pressed?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. A. H. D. ACLAND, York, W.R., Rotherham)The figures given by the noble Lord are, I believe, substantially correct. In consequence, however, of the gradual shifting of population from the hill to the valley, there is, in the opinion of the Inspector of the district (which is confirmed by a census which has been taken by the School Board) a deficiency of accommodation for about 100 to 120 older scholars in the Triangle part of the district. I am not prepared, however, to press any demand upon the managers of the Sowerby Schools to provide for the deficiency; and I do not think that any proposals which were liable to be interpreted as a demand should have been made to the managers. I regret to find that no letter has been addressed to the School Board on this matter. They should have been communicated with as to the deficiency in the first instance. A letter will now be written to the Board, and the Department will carefully consider their views on the whole subject, including the question of the deficiency.