§ MR. ERNEST GRAY (West Ham, N.)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the fact that certain of the auditors of the Board have informed local education authorities that it is irregular for them to pay on the date in July when the schools close for the summer holidays those salaries which fall due on the 31st July for the previous month or quarter; and whether, having regard to the long-established custom, and to the convenience of all concerned, he can state that no unfortunate consequences will attend the following of the practice this year; and whether, also, he can suggest any method by which irregularity and inconvenience may be avoided in future years.
(Answered by Mr. Gerald Balfour.) I am aware that attention has been called to this matter in some of the reports to local education authorities made by one of the district auditors. The Local Government Board have expressed the view that it is competent to a local education authority to make it one of the conditions of employment of a teacher that his salary should in circumstances of the kind mentioned in the Question become payable in advance, and in order to avoid difficulty at the audit they have sanctioned payments made in advance, in so far as they might be open to objection on the ground of the absence of such a condition, at the same time saying that the matter should be put on a proper footing for the future. The Board would be prepared to take the same course in respect of the present year in any other similar cases.