* THE BISHOP OF SALISBURY:My Lords, in venturing to put to Her Majesty's Government the question that stands in my name, I should like to ask, by the indulgence of the House, to be allowed to explain why it is that I do so. I do it in the interests of the County Councils themselves as much as of those who have asked for grants from them. My Lords, I recognise fully the difficulty in which these Councils have been placed, especially in the matter of technical education. They have perhaps been rather imperfectly instructed in their duties on this matter by the three Acts of Parliament passed in three recent years; they have had to formulate their principles and to work out their methods in practice as they went along; and, therefore, it was almost inevitable that there should be some little inequalities in their way of acting. 1463 But, inasmuch as unfortunately,—I am afraid it is a matter of general knowledge,—elections to County Councils are conducted more or less on Party lines, it seems reasonable that the light of publicity should be brought to bear on their action, especially in the distribution of large sums of public money. I venture, my Lords, to ask whether it is not a matter of right, rather than of favour, that we should be explicitly informed on what principles and by what persons grants for technical education are either given or refused; and I beg, therefore, to ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is possible to require technical education Committees of the County Councils to publish minutes of their proceedings?
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Viscount CRANBROOK):My Lords, in the absence of my noble Friend (Lord Henniker) I have been requested to answer this question, which would naturally have fallen to him My Lords, the fact is that there is no power to require a Committee of the County Council to publish minutes; nor am I aware that there is any authority for their incurring expenditure for such a purpose. It may be the case that they could admit reporters; but everybody will see that there might be a good deal of difficulty in admitting reporters to consultations of Committees. And, after all, my Lords, the grants are not made by the Committees, but by the Councils themselves.