§ MR. H.T. TOLLEMACHE (Cheshire, Eddisbury)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury (1) if it is the case that a building grant to the proposed School of Science and Art at Nantwich has been refused by the Lords of the Treasury on the ground that they cannot make an exception to the rule; and (2) if he will state what is the rule to which reference is made, as it does not appear in the new Science and Art Directory containing the Report of the Committee appointed to revise the grants made by that Department?
§ MR. HANBURYThe answer to the first paragraph is, Yes. The new rule, laid down last February, is that no new applications for building grants to schools of science or art will be entertained. These grants are now an anachronism. They date from days when little or no assistance was given to higher education in other ways, and when similar grants were given to elementary schools. The latter grants have long been discontinued in this country, and the localities now have large sums at their disposal for technical education. The new Science and Art Directory has not yet been issued. The hon. Member has no doubt been misled by the fact that the Report of the recent Departmental Committee on the Distribution of Science and Art Grants contains a proposed revise of the old directory, but this is neither authoritative nor final. The new directory will contain no provision for building grants.