MR. LLOYD MORGANI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the case of Miss E. Bryant, acting matron at Her Majesty's Prison, Carmarthen, from 1877 to 1898; whether he is aware that in 1898 the justices of the peace for the county of Carmarthen granted her a superannuation allowance of £27 5s. l0d. per annum, and that the Carmarthenshire County Council, after obtaining the sanction of the Home Secretary, paid her the sum of £21 0s. 7d. in December, 1808, while in June, 1899, the Local Government Board auditor disallowed £19 11s. 9d. of the sum of £21 0s. 7d., and surcharged the chairman of the Finance Committee with the same; whether he is aware that in November, 1899, the chairman of the Finance Committee appealed to the Local Government Board against the disallowance, and can he state whether the question has yet been decided, and, if so, the decision arrived at; whether any, and, if so, what communication has passed between the Local Government Board and the Home Office in reference to the above matter; and whether, as owing to the dispute in question Miss Bryant is still unpaid, he will expedite the matter so as to enable the county council to pay the amount due to her.
§ MR. T. W. RUSSELLThe Local Government Board have received an appeal against the disallowance referred 1467 to, but the appeal has not yet been decided. Legal questions of difficulty are involved in the case, and correspondence has taken place between the Board, the Home Office, and the Treasury with regard to it. The Board are now awaiting a communication from the Treasury on the subject, on the receipt of which they hope to be able to dispose of the appeal.