§ MR. CORRIE GRANT (Warwickshire, Rugby)To ask the Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is aware that the Hertfordshire County Council has voted £750 towards the cost of building a new national school at Hatfield on the understanding that certain rooms will be available for higher education; whether this method of aiding elementary education was adopted after consultation with the Board of Education, as required by Section 2, Sub-section (1) of the Education Act, 1902; and if so, what advice or directions did the Board of Education give to the Hertfordshire County Council in the matter.
(Answered by Sir william Anson.) If 1 understand the Question rightly, it suggests that the Hertfordshire County Council are assisting to provide premises for a voluntary school, and moreover that they are doing so out of funds which should be devoted to secondary education 86 A local authority which contemplated such an infraction of the law would be unlikely to consult the Board of Education as to the course which they were adopting. The Board are aware that rooms for technical instruction are included in the plans for a new voluntary school at Hatfield, but they have no reason to suppose that these rooms are not being provided by the managers. The Board will, however, inquire into the matter.