§ LORD BALCARRES (Lancashire, Chorley)To ask the President of the Board of Education why the report of the public local inquiry concerning the Oxford Street school at Swansea, which is dated 2365 30th September, was withheld from publication for ten weeks.
(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) "Publication" is not required by the statute, but simply a deposit of the report of the inquiry at the offices of the local education authority. It is not the practice of the Board to deposit the report until the Board have come to a decision upon the questions with regard to which the inquiry was held, and no useful purpose would be served by such a course. In this case very difficult questions of fact and law arose which required prolonged consideration by the Board, with such legal assistance as is at the disposal of the Government, before that decision could be arrived at. The decision was communicated directly it was arrived at to the local education authority and to the managers.
§ LORD BALCARRESTo ask the President of the Board of Education on what dates the report of the public local inquiry concerning the Oxford Street school at Swansea was sent to the local education authority and to the managers, respectively; and if it is usual to forward these reports simultaneously to the parties concerned.
(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) The decision of the Board on the question which formed the subject matter of the inquiry was forwarded to the authority and to the managers simultaneously on 17th December. At the same time the report of Mr. Hamilton was forwarded to the authority for deposit in pursuance of Section 73 (3) of the Elementary Education Act, 1870, and the managers were informed that this course had been taken, and that the place of deposit was the Guildhall, Swansea. It is not usual to forward Reports of local inquiries to anyone but the local education authority concerned.