§ Mr. LEACHasked the President of the Board of Education if he is now prepared to take steps to make compulsory the feeding of those elementary school children whose parents, through no fault of their own, are too poor to properly feed them, seeing that the Report of the Board of Education on the feeding of school children shows that where feeding 1027 has taken place the children are mentally improved, regularity of attendance is increased, and the children are thereby trained in habits of orderliness and good behaviour?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. Trevelyan)My right hon. Friend is not prepared to introduce legislation of the character proposed, at any rate without further experience of the working of the Act of 1906. It is no disparagement of the excellent work which has been done under the Act by local education authorities to say that there does not appear to be that unanimity of opinion as to the nature of its effects upon the children which the terms of the question would appear to suggest.