§ MR. GEORGE WHITE (Norfolk, N.W.); To ask the President of the Board of Education, whether he has considered the proposal of the local education authority for London to alter the method of ascertaining the number of school places required, which method has been established for many years by a formal agreement between the School Board and the Board of Education; whether a similar proposal to avoid the provision of schools by altering the basis 339 of calculation was made by the School Board in 1888 and refused by the Board of Education; and whether he will withhold his sanction from the present proposal.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Board of Education have as yet received no proposals from the local education authority for London as to any new method of ascertaining the number of school places required, nor have they been informed of any method of calculation having been adopted or proposed by that authority which would seek to revive any rejected proposals of the London School Board in 1888. When any specific application reaches the Board of Education from the London County Council for providing or abolishing school places, I may assure my hon. friend that it will be considered and determined by the Board of Education strictly on its intrinsic merits and with full regard to the very varying needs of different parts of the metropolis.