§ SIR W. HART DYKE (Kent, Dartford)I beg to ask the Secretary to the 362 Board of Education whether the alterations made in the payment of the annual grant to elementary schools in the new Education Code will cause any reduction in the amount now earned, and whether any estimate has been made by the Board of Education which can afford some assurance upon the subject.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION (Sir WILLIAM ANSON, Oxford University)After a very careful inquiry into the probable effect of the change in the block grant proposed in the new Code, the Board have estimated that the total amount paid is not likely to be affected, and that variations in the case of individual schools will make no practical difference in the total amount of grants paid to local authorities for the maintenance of the schools in their area.
§ MR. HENRY HOBHOUSE (Somersetshire, E.)Has the hon. Gentleman considered the effect of these changes on rural schools where the children are not usually kept in attendance until they are fifteen years of age?
§ SIR WILLIAM ANSONYes, we have considered the general effect on the different areas of the change, and in this particular I think I can reassure my right hon. friend.