MR. HERBERT (Buckinghamshire, Wycombe)To ask the President of the board of Education whether he is aware that the Local Education Authority decided, in the early part of this year,
†See (4) Debates, clvi., 407.397 that the provided school at Lyningham with-Filgrave, in the county of Buckinghamshire, was unnecessary, and ought to be closed, and that the board of Education on 20th February, l906, concurred in that decision after considering all the circumstances of the case, including a petition from the inhabitants, and that the school was accordingly closed; whether he will explain why the board of Education has now reversed its decision and called upon the local authority to reopen the school, and has refused to receive a deputation from the local authority on the matter; whether he is aware that there are not more than a dozen children of school age in the village, and that there is an efficient provided school within a mile and a half; and whether there are any other facts conflicting with the decision of the local authority that the school cannot be efficiently or economically maintained.(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The facts of the case are very much as stated in the Question. The decision of the board that the school must be reopened was chiefly based upon representations made to them as to the effect which the closure of small rural schools such as this would have upon the depopulation of rural areas, a consideration of which, I am sure, the hon. Member will readily admit the urgency and importance. At the same time I fully appreciate the considerations which have determined the action of the local authority, and I am having further inquiries made upon the spot with a view to finding some solution of the question.