§ LORD BALCARRES (Lancashire, Chorley)To ask the President of the Board of Education if all the quarterly salaries due to the teachers in non-provided schools of Merionethshire have now been paid; if so, by whom, and on what date were such payments made.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) I have no information on the subject of the noble Lord's Question.
§ LORD R. CECIL (Marylebone, E.)To ask the President of the Board of Education whether he has received any further communication from the Merionethshire local education authority; and, if so, what is its substance; and whether the Board of Education is now prepared to refund to the managers any salaries which may be paid by them to the teachers.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) I have now heard that the local education authority has intimated to the managers of several voluntary schools that if they pay salaries and send accounts to Whitehall the authority will raise no objection to the Board of Education repaying to the managers the sums recognised by the authority as due for salaries. In reply to the last part of the Question, I cannot undertake to give a guarantee to refund to the managers any salaries which may be paid by them to the teachers, as such a step would not be in accordance with the provisions of The Education (Local Authority Default) Act, 1904, but the fact that the local authority raise no objection to such payment to the managers would certainly be taken into account by the Board of Education in coming to a conclusion whether or not it is expedient to proceed in accordance with the provisions of that Act.