MR. ARTHURLEE (Hampshire, Fareham)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Education if he can state what are the approximate numbers of voluntary schools which could be affected by the provisions of Clause 4 of the Education Bill, 1906, giving separate figures for the various denominations; and what are the approximate percentages of the respective totals of the various denominational schools to which the special facilities, provided in Clause 4, could be applied.
§ MR. BIRRELLI will let the hon. Member have, I hope by the end of the week, the number of voluntary schools of different denominations at present existing in urban districts with a population of over 5,000, but it is quite impossible for me to say in how many of these cases parents of four-fifths of the children are 247 likely to desire extended facilities. Still less can it be stated in how many cases other accommodation is available for the children whose parents do not desire these facilities, as required in Section 4 (2) of the Bill.
§ MR. ARTHUR LEEIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the National Education Association have made a calculation from the latest Blue-books, and has he any reason to suppose the figures published by them are incorrect? The right hon. Gentleman appears to have misunderstood my Question.
§ MR. BIRRELLI cannot make myself responsible for those figures.