§ 25. Mr. HARRISasked the President of the Board of Education what is the standard adopted by the Board in placing a limit upon expenditure by local education authorities on the provision of maintenance allowances for pupils in public elementary schools; and are the Board prepared to recognise for grant, outside the limits imposed, expenditure on such maintenance allowances where local education authorities can offer adequate reasons, such as an adequate system of contributory central schools providing a four years' course for pupils between the ages of 11 and 15 years?
Duchess of ATHQLLThe limit of one shilling per unit of average attendance relates not to the total expenditure of local authorities on maintenance allowances for elementary school children, but to the expenditure on which grant at the special rate of 50 per cent. is payable. On expenditure in excess of this limit grant at 20 per cent. is payable. The limit was announced by my right hon. Friend's predecessor, the right hon. Member for Central Newcastle (Mr. Trevelyan), in his statement to the House on the 22nd July, 1924, and I may perhaps refer the hon. Member to that statement. It is one of the conditions of grant relating to maintenance allowances for elementary school children that the children should be attending a school which provides a course or courses of advanced and progressive instruction suitable for children over 14 years of age, and is properly organised for that purpose.