§ SIR CHARLES CAMERON (Glasgow, Bridgeton)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate whether the 900 children of school age, inmates of the Bridge-of-Weir Orphan Homes, whom the local school board in April last refused to admit to the public school, have during the last six months been in attendance at any school; whether the official sent by the Scottish Education Department to inspect the school buildings at the orphan homes at Bridge-of-Weir has yet sent in his report as to their suitability for the purposes of a public school, and the terms on which the proprietors are willing to let or lease them to the school board; and whether any step has been taken by the Department to secure that the provisions of the law of Scotland as to compulsory education shall not remain indefinitely in abeyance in the district in question.
§ *MR. A. GRAHAM MURRAYThe question in dispute between the school board and the managers of the orphan homes has been the subject of much correspondence, and I regret to say that it is not yet settled. The inspector has reported the buildings to be well suited for the purposes of a school, but it does not rest with the Department to arrange the terms on which they may be leased. The Department have been pressing the school board for a decision as to their action, and a definite reply has been promised this week. Until that is before 495 them their Lordships can make no further statement.