§ MR. R. W. PERKS (Lincolnshire, Louth)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board, whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Corporation of New Romney, Kent, are in the habit of making an annual grant of £25 out of the municipal funds towards the support of the Church of England Day Schools in New Romney, and that last year, in addition to the donation of £25, the Corporation also contributed to a voluntary rate made on behalf of the same schools; and, whether such payments can be legally made by the Corporation; if not, why they have not been disallowed by the public auditors.
§ MR. CHAPLINI have no information as to whether the Corporation have made the contributions in the Question, or as to the legal authority under which they considered that they could make these payments, assuming that they have made them. The accounts of the Corporation are audited by auditors appointed under the Municipal Corporations Act, and these auditors have no power to disallow payments included in the accounts, even although it may be illegal.