§ Sir ARTHUR GRIFFITH-BOSCAWENasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that the expenditure on elementary education in the borough of Wrexham exceeded the produce of a rate of 1s. 6d. in the £ last year, and exceeds it again this year, and that in the case of the county borough of Dudley it exceeds this amount in the present year; and whether he will take steps to secure that both of these boroughs receive a share of the special grant for necessitous areas in the current financial year, and will alter the regulations governing the grant accordingly?
§ Mr. TREVELYANThe Board have not yet received the financial statements of the two authorities concerned for the year 1910–11. I am not, therefore, in a position to answer the first part of the question. With regard to the second part of the question, I must refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12th April to my hon. Friend, the Member for the Rotherhithe Division of Southwark.
§ Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWENWhat was that answer?
§ Mr. TREVELYANIt is of some length. What the hon. Gentleman wants more than anything else is that the Grant will be confined to those areas which have participated in the Grant during the year 1910–11.
§ Sir A. GRIFFITH-BOSCAWENThat is the point I wanted to get at. Does not the principle that authorities which have not exceeded a 1s. 6d. rate up to last year do not get a share of the Special Aid Grant in future involve penalising those authorities which have been economical in the past? Is it not very unfair to them?