§ Sir G. KEKEWICH (Exeter)I beg to ask the Prime Minister whether, seeing that a Select Committee reported in 1901 that the Queen Anne's Bounty Board and the Ecclesiastical Commission might advantageously be united so as to effect a saving of money estimated by the then Archbishop of Canterbury at £20,000 to £30,000 per annum, he will consider the desirability of taking steps, at the first convenient opportunity, to carry out the recommendation of the Committee.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fifeshire, E.I am aware that the Select Committee of 1901 reported generally in favour of the amalgamation of the Queen Anne's Bounty Board and the Ecclesiastical Commission, and that a Bill to carry this into effect was intro- 1104 duced in 1902, but subsequently dropped. The question is, no doubt, one deserving serious attention, but in view of more pressing matters which will have to be dealt with I can give no undertaking that the Government will introduce a measure on the subject.