§ MR. J. H. YOXALL (Nottingham, W.)I beg to ask the hon. Member for the Thirsk Division of Yorkshire, as a Charity Commissioner—(1) whether it is the case that the Schemes of the Charity Commissioners for the administration of Endowed Schools are submitted to the Education Department for approval, or otherwise, before publication; and (2) whether, upon any Scheme for the administration of an Endowed Elementary School, the Commissioners have consulted the Education Department as to the propriety of providing for the teachers of such a school those safeguards against capricious dismissal which are invariably provided in Schemes for Endowed Grammar Schools; and, if so, whether the Education Department have ever disapproved of a Scheme containing 1470 such safeguards for the teachers of an Endowed Elementary School for the reason that it contained such safeguards?
MR. GRANT LAWSON (York, N.R., Thirsk)No Schemes are submitted by the Charity Commissioners to the Education Department before publication; but Schemes framed by the Commissioners under the Endowed Schools Acts are so submitted after publication. The Commissioners have not so consulted the Education Department. The Schemes for the smaller Endowed Elementary Schools (not within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners), which have been approved by the Education Department, contain provisions as to the position of teachers identical with those inserted by the Commissioners in their Schemes. The answer to the last Question is, no. It may be added that the question of the teachers in Public Elementary Schools is one with which the Education Department appears to be primarily concerned; and, consequently, is not one as to which the Commissioners can properly take the initiative.