§ 15. Mr. TREVELYANasked the President of the Board of Education whether any steps have been taken by the Board to encourage the provision of nursery schools; and what is the Board's policy in this respect?
§ Lord E. PERCYThe Board's policy in this as in other matters is that laid down three years ago in Circular 1358, i.e.,
to ask all local authorities to consider the more immediate needs of their areas in all grades of education and to formulate programmes of action covering a definite period.314 Local authorities are now engaged in carrying out programmes, formulated in accordance with this policy and covering the three years 1927–30. This policy is based on the principle that each local authority is best able to judge the relative urgency of different proposals for educational development in its own area and that pressure from the Board in favour of particular proposals is more likely to retard educational development than to advance it. Since last year the Board have approved proposals for three new nursery schools.