§ MR. RAWLINSONTo ask the President of the Board of Education when he will publish the rules for the distribution of the million pounds referred to in Clause 12 of the Education Bill, and promised by him on 12th May last.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) It was by an oversight in my office, for which I express regret, that the hope was expressed by me (it was not a promise, as the hon. Member suggests), on 10th May† that the regulations for the distribution of the £1,000,000 under Clause 12 of the Bill would be issued very shortly; it was
† See (4) Debates, clvi., 1479.920 due to an inadvertent confusion of that matter with the regulations then being drafted in respect of the other new grant for necessitous areas, which were issued a few days later. I am unable to-day to make any statement in regard to the distribution of the £1,000,000. It will necessarily be affected to a certain extent by the decision arrived at only yesterday in this House, that local authorities may, in defined circumstances, be relieved of the duty of maintaining a certain limited number of schools, and will also be precluded from taking any financial burden (which might have occurred under the Bill as introduced) in respect of certain other schools in the shape of payments for rent.