TEACHERS' SALARIES (BURNHAM SCALE). (Hansard, 12 July 1926)

§ 57. Mr. MORGAN JONES
asked the President of the Board of Education whether the difficulty which has arisen as between the Board and the Essex County Education Authority in relation to the application of the Burnham scale has now been settled; and, if so, whether he is in a position to inform the House as to the nature of the settlement?

§ 56. Sir EDMUND TURTON
asked the President of the Board of Education whether, seeing that by the Education Act, 1921, local education authorities are given control of all expenditure required for the purpose of maintaining and keeping efficient all necessary public elementary schools within their areas and empowered to appoint necessary officers and to assign to them such salaries as they think fit, he obtained, or will obtain, an opinion from the Law Officers of the Crown as to the legality of the Board's proposed action before including in the draft code a Regulation to the effect that the scales of salary for teachers must be in conformity with the Burnham award of the 27th March, 1925

§ Lord EUSTACE PERCY
With the hon. Member's permission I will answer this question together with No. 57, which I understand refers to the same point. I am advised that the Board of Education have power to make a Regulation laying down as a condition of grant such a scale of teachers' salaries as appears to the Board to be proper and necessary in order to secure educational efficiency, and that such a condition does not conflict with the provisions of the Act of 1921 referred to by my hon. Friend. I am, however, anxious to meet, so far as possible, the 34 views expressed by the County Councils Association and other bodies as to the form of the draft Regulation, and I, therefore, propose to proceed by way of Amendment to the Regulation for Substantive Grant. The necessary Amendments, which will take the place of Articles 18, 11 and 9 of the draft Regulations for public elementary schools, secondary schools and further education, respectively, as well as of the temporary Regulation of 2nd February last, will be published in draft to-morrow, and I will circulate the text in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

§ Mr. MORGAN JONES
May we take it from the official answer that the Burnham scale will be applied without distinction to education authorities throughout the country?

§ Lord E. PERCY
I do not think that arises out of this question. The position, as the hon. Member knows, is in negotiation, and I do not want to make any statement at the present time.

§ Mr. A. V. ALEXANDER
Are we to understand that the alteration to the Regulations which the Noble Lord proposes, wilt make it possible for the Board to pay amounts where the local authorities refuse to pay the Burnham scale?

§ Lord E. PERCY
If the hon. Member looks at the new Regulations, he will see that it makes no difference whatever.