§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a supplementary sum, not exceeding £10, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1945, for the salaries and expenses of the Ministry of Education, and of the various establishments connected therewith, including sundry grants in aid, grant in connection with physical training and recreation, and grants to approved associations for youth welfare.
§ 1.30 p.m.
§ The Minister of Education (Mr. Butler)I do not think that it is necessary for me to make any very long ex- 1337 planation of this Supplementary Estimate. It simply represents a slight revision of the estimates of local authorities in an extremely difficult year. That is revealed in sub-head C.1 and D.1 which refer respectively to elementary education and higher education. There have been slight increases due to such questions as the provision of meals and increased costs which have occurred during the year and, in particular, due to an increase of 25 per cent. on salaries of uncertificated teachers, a reform I announced some time ago. The other sub-heads are interesting, for example, D.2, in so far as it represents grants for the training of teachers and indicates that the training of teachers is getting more and more under way. This has particular reference to the fact that certain training colleges now need extra assistance due to the fact that the Ministry of Labour has released certain persons, particularly women, to make a start on teacher training. We are very much indebted to voluntary training colleges for the immense amount of work they do in training teachers. They actually far exceed the number of local education authorities' training colleges and capital grants are to be made to them.
With regard to Youth Welfare (Social and Physical Training), this item indicates a slight increase on what was anticipated, but this is very important work to which reference has been made in a previous Debate this morning. These are the main items of new grants in this Supplementary Estimate which almost balances because the Appropriations in Aid coming from Superannuation accounts of teachers and employers almost balance the extra estimate for which we are asking. It is for a very small sum and I think it right it should be laid before the Committee.
§ Question put, and agreed to.