§ 22. Mr. Sloanasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, since the method of reckoning the amount paid by the Exchequer into the Scottish Education Fund is based on the assumption that the educational expenditure of Scot-lands bears a fixed relationship to the educational expenditure of Great Britain as a whole, and since because of recent events this fixed relationship has been interrupted, he will take steps to avoid injustice to Scottish education authorities through the operation of the so-called eleven-eightieths principle?
§ Mr. WestwoodMy right hon. Friend is not aware of any circumstances which make it desirable to disturb the method of calculating Scottish education grants which was embodied in the Education (Scotland) Act, 1918. The effects of this financial arrangement are under constant review.
§ Mr. SloanWill my hon. Friend give an undertaking that Scottish local authorities will in no way suffer in consequence of the diminishing expenditure of education authorities during the war?
§ Mr. WestwoodI am afraid that that question is based on the wrong assumption that educational expenditure is decreasing in England, whereas my advice is to the contrary.