§ MR. LEES KNOWLES (Salford, W.)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education 1686 what is the rule of the Education Department with regard to bank charges and bank interest and commission for overdrawn school accounts; why some schools are allowed to charge interest and others are not; and, seeing that bank interest is in many cases an absolute necessary expenditure, as the grant for the year and for one quarter of the fee grant are not paid till at least six weeks after they are due, and that the bankers' commission is necessary in the case of all schools, inasmuch as every school is now compelled to have a banking account, if he will in future allow such charges to appear on the expenditure side of the annual balance sheet?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCJL (Mr. A. H. D. ACLAND,) York, W.R., RotherhamThe rule of the Department is that bank charges for keeping an account, and bank commission on cashing drafts, are held admissible under Article 90 of the Code as expenditure which may be met out of school income. But charges for interest on overdrafts are held to be inadmissible under that Article. When interest on overdrafts has been paid, and is entered in the school accounts, the charge is allowed to appear on the expenditure side of the balance sheet, but the managers are given the option of withdrawing it and defraying the charge from some other fund. If it is not withdrawn, the school income is reduced pro tanto for the purpose of Article 107 (b).