§ MR. MCLARENI beg to ask the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education when the House will be placed in possession of the Government proposals as to secondary education; and whether he will defer making any further orders under pending inquiries, on the application of public bodies to be constituted authorities for the purposes of secondary education, until those proposals have been laid before Parliament?
§ THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL FOR EDUCATION (Sir J. E. GORST,) Cambridge UniversityI am not at present able to state when the Government proposals as to secondary education will be laid before Parliament. As I stated yesterday, no public bodies have made application to the Department to be constituted authorities for secondary education, for the Department has no power to do anything of the kind, and the local authorities for Technical Education have already been constituted by Parliament. No orders of the kind suggested in the question have been, or will be, made. But the Committee of Council have no intention of deferring the operation of Clause VII. of the Directory, which they regard as essential to the better administration on the Science and Art Grants.