§ MR. MICKLEM (Hertfordshire, Watford)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the Local Government Board have sanctioned the raising of a loan of £10,000 by the Herts County Council for the purpose of erecting a new secondary school at Watford, to be settled upon denominational trusts; if so, whether such sanction was given before the scheme for the new school was approved by the Board of Education; whether the Local Government Board were aware that the county council proposed to charge £5,000, part of the £10,000, on the Watford Urban District; whether any opportunity was afforded to the urban district council to place their views before the Local Government Board; and, in the event of no such opportunity having been afforded, whether the Local Government Board will withdraw their sanction to the loan until after a public inquiry has been held, and the views of the urban district council ascertained.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) The Local Government Board have sanctioned a loan of £10,000 by the Herts County Council for a contribution towards the cost of providing a secondary school for girls at Watford. I understand that the school is subject to a scheme, that an amending scheme has been proposed, and that a public inquiry has been held by the Board of Education with regard to it, but that it has not yet been settled. The question as to the parishes to be charged with the cost of the school is one for the county council. I did not receive any representations from the Watford Urban District Council on the subject. The loan, as already stated, has been sanctioned, and I am not in a position to take any further action in the matter.