§ MR. BOLANDTo ask the President of the Board of Education whether he can state the number of Catholic schools in England and Wales, respectively, on January 1st, 1906, in urban areas with a population of between 1,000 and 2,000, between 2,000 and 3,000, between 3,000 and 4,000, and between 4,000 and 5,000, respectively; can he state the number of schools in each of these categories in which the proportion of non Catholic children exceeds 20 and 25 per cent., respectively; and can be state the number of Catholic schools in urban areas with a population of 5,000 and over, in which the proportion of non-Catholic children; exceeds 20 and 25 per cent., respectively.
1118 (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) As regards the first paragraph, the hon. Member will find, from the already published Statement, No. 2947, the number of schools in the several categories desired which are outside the urban areas of 5,000 population and over. I do not think it would serve any useful purpose to go to the great labour of working out the figures for each of the various urban areas of differing populations desired by the hon. Member. I have no information upon the points asked in the remaining two paragraphs of the Question, nor, in the absence of a religious census, do I see how any such figures could be obtained.