Captain FABERasked the President of the Board of Education if he will state whether, under section 13 of The Educa- 1667 tion Act, 1902, under no circumstances can the funds of the Dowse Charity be used for the purposes of county council elementary schools without the consent of the trustees; will he state whether this means that there can be no relief to the rates from this source for the projected new school at Broughton, in Hampshire; whether the estimated cost of this school has already increased from the £2,000 mentioned at the time of inquiry to over £3,000; and whether he will cause further inquiry to be made?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. Runciman)The income of Dowse's Charity amounts to about £90 per annum, and in view of the trusts, so long as Dowse's School is maintained as a voluntary public elementary school, there must be paid to the local education authority under section 13 of The Education Act, 1902, so much as may be agreed between the local education authority and the trustees, or, in default of such agreement, be determined by the Board of Education. The amount paid to the local authority must be applied by them for relief of the rates of the parish of Broughton in manner specified by section 13 (2) of the Act, irrespectively of the provision of a new council school in the parish. The school is estimated to cost about £3,000, out of which a grant of £1,200 has been provisionally allocated by the Board. As I previously stated, a public inquiry has already been held, and I am not prepared to reopen the question.