EDUCATION BILL. (Hansard, 11 June 1896)

§ Sir ARTHUR FORWOOD (Lancashire, Ormskirk)
To move— (1.) That the Committee have power to insert provisions authorising the education authority for each county to supplement the special aid grants payable to voluntary elementary schools, out of moneys provided by Parliament, by grants out of money derived from local rates; such grants to be deemed to form a part of the expenses of the education authority acting as a school board.

§ Mr. H. C. F. LUTTRELL (Devon, Tavisstock)
To move— (2.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to insert provision in the Bill for abolishing the cumulative voting at elections for school boards, and that all elections for school boards shall be conducted on the same lines as are the elections held under the Local Government Acts, 1888 and 1894.

§ Mr. DAVID THOMAS (Merthyr Tydyil)
To move— (3.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to divide the Bill into two Bills, the one dealing with elementary education and the other with secondary education, and that the first Bill be reported to the House before the other is proceeded with.

Mr. BRYNMOR JONES (Swansea District)
To move— (4.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to make provision for giving to women the right of becoming members of an education authority upon the same terms as those upon which men are eligible.

§ Mr. EDWARD MORTON (Devonport)
To move— (5.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to make provision in the Bill for women to be members of the education authority.

§ Mr. ERNEST GRAY (West Ham, N.)
To move— (6.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee to make such provision in the Bill as 864 will secure that the appointment of teachers in public elementary schools, or their retention of any such appointment, shall not depend on the, performance of, or the abstention from, any duties wholly unconnected with the office of a school teacher; and also that any teacher dismissed from such schools may have the right of appeal against such dismissal to some competent authority.

§ Mr. W. F. LAWRENCE (Liverpool, Abercromby)
To move— (7.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee to provide that the Education Authority in the Bill named be empowered, should it deem fit, to aid out of the local rates the annual maintenance of the voluntary elementary schools within its district to such an amount and in such manner as by the said Committee shall be decided.

§ Mr. YOXALL (Nottingham, W.)
To move— (8.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to provide for relieving the pressure of the school rate upon heavily burdened districts, for which an education authority acts as school board, by such adjustment of the incidence of the school rates as shall tend to equalise the local burdens in all districts for which the education authority so acts.

§ Mr. HARRY FOSTER (Suffolk, Lowestoft)
To move— (9.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to make provision in the Bill for separate treatment for the County of London and for every county borough, and for adequate representation of the Voluntary Elementary Schools upon the Education Authority under the Bill.

Mr. CARVELL WILLIAMS (Notts, Mansfield)
To move— (10.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to provide that women may be eligible to be members of the education authority.

§ Mr. T. P. WHITTAKER (York, W. R., Spen Valley)
To move— (11.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to make provision in the Bill for the special aid grant to voluntary schools being made out of local rates levied in the educational area in which the schools thus aided are situated.

Mr. BRYNMOR JONES
To move— (12.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to make provision for the representation upon the county governing bodies constituted by schemes made in pursuance of the Welsh Intermediate Education 865 Act, 1889, and referred to in Clause 1, sub-section 6 (b) of this Bill, of classes of persons concerned in public elementary education not now represented or not adequately represented upon such bodies.

§ Mr. HENRY J. WILSON (York, W. R., Holmfirth)
To move— (13.) That it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to divide the Bill into three parts; the first dealing only with the provision and payment of the special aid grant, the second dealing with the educational authority and the remaining provisions concerning elementary education, and the third dealing with secondary education; and that the first Bill be reported to the House before the others are proceeded with.

§ * MR. SPEAKER
Before the House proceeds to Committee, it will be necessary for me to call attention to the Instructions on the Paper. The first Instruction is in the name of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Ormskirk Division, and proposes to give power to supplement the Special-aid Grant to Voluntary Elementary Schools by grants from local rates. That Instruction is not in order, because it will be competent for the right hon. Gentleman in Committee to move an Amendment to that effect, and it will be open for him to propose that a grant shall be supplemented from local sources. The next Instruction stands in the name of the hon. Member for the Tavistock Division of Devonshire, and proposes that the Committee shall have power to insert clauses abolishing cumulative voting in connection with School Boards. I have had considerable difficulty in dealing with this Instruction, but upon the whole I am of opinion that it is out of order, on the ground that an Amendment to that effect may be moved. The School Board is referred to frequently in the Bill, which is a general Bill, dealing very largely with the reform of the Education Laws, and proposing to affect the duties of School Boards and the control of them by a new education authority. It also proposes to grant money to them in certain cases, and under these circumstances I think it will be in order to propose an Amendment to abolish cumulative voting. The next Instruction, which is in the name of the hon. Member for Merthyr, proposes to divide the Bill into two parts—one dealing with elementary education, and the other 866 with secondary education; and that, I think, is out of order. The Bill does not naturally divide itself into two such parts and secondary education, it is to be observed, is not mentioned by name in it. I think there is one clause—Clause 12—which deals solely with non-elementary education, but all else that relates to non-elementary education or the machinery in connection with it would have to be picked out of the various clauses of the Bill. I think, therefore, it is not divisible into two parts, and that the Instruction is out of order. The next Instruction stands in the name of the hon. Member for Swansea. I ought to point out to him that he has another Instruction on the Paper; that no Member is entitled to move more than one, and probably, as this one is substantially to be moved by other hon. Members, he will wish to forego his right to move it. [Laughter.] The next Instruction stands in the name of the hon. Member for Devonport. This is an Instruction to the Committee which gives them power to make provision in the Bill for women to be members of the education authority. Now, the education authority is to consist partly of a Committee comprising the members of the County Councils or Borough Councils, and partly of members who are to be selected by these councils. It would be out of order to move an Instruction to this Committee to alter the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act or of the Local Government Act 1888 constituting Borough and County Councils, and therefore it would be out of order to move any Amendment or Instruction empowering the Committee to alter the constitution of these bodies. But as regards the members who are for the first time to be chosen to be added to that committee it would be in order to move an Amendment that those elected members might be women; therefore, the Instruction is out of order. The next Instruction is in the name of the hon. Member for West Ham. That is out of order because it is a mandatory Instruction to a Committee of the Whole House. The next Instruction stands in the name of the hon. Member for the Abercromby Division of Liverpool, and that is substantially the same as the Instruction which stands in the name of the right 867 hon. Gentleman the Member for the Ormskirk Division, and the same ruling applies to it. The next Instruction stands in the name of the hon. Member for West Nottingham, and that is out of order as an Instruction, because an Amendment to the same effect will be in order. The next Instruction is one in the name of the hon. Member for Lowestoft. It will be quite competent in Committee to propose separate treatment for the County of London, and to propose the representation of the Voluntary Schools upon the education authority under the Bill; therefore, the Instruction is unnecessary and out of order. The next Instruction, which stands in the name of the hon. Member for the Mansfield Division of Nottingham, I have already practically dealt with in dealing with that of the hon. Member for Devonport. The next Instruction, in the name of the hon. Member for the Spen Valley Division of the West Riding of Yorkshire is out of order for the same reason which applies to the Instruction of the right hon. Member for the Ormskirk Division. The next Instruction, which stands in the name of the hon. Member for Swansea, proposes that it be an Instruction to the Committee that they have power to make provision for representation upon the county governing bodies constituted under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act of classes of persons concerned in public elementary education not now represented or not adequately represented upon such bodies. In the form in which it stands upon the Paper, I think this would not be in order unless it were altered to the extent of providing that it should only apply to representation for the purposes of this Act. It is not, however, necessary for me to deal with the question whether it could be so amended without notice, because an Amendment to the effect of the Instruction so altered would be in order in Committee, and therefore it would as an Instruction be out of order altogether. [Laughter.] The last Instruction stands in the name of the hon. Member for the Holm-firth Division of Yorkshire, and proposes that the Bill should be divided into three parts, dealing, the first with the provision and payment of the Special Aid Grant, the second with the educational authority and the remaining 868 provisions concerning elementary education, and the third dealing with secondary education. The same reasons apply in this case which I gave when dealing with the Instruction of the hon. Member for Merthyr. I am of opinion that this Instruction is bad, because the Bill does not divide itself into three parts naturally. For these reasons, therefore, I am of opinion that all the Instructions on the Paper are out of order, and the House is in a position to go at once into Committee. ["Hear, hear!"]