BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHEME (CROSSLEY AND PORTER ORPHAN HOME AND SCHOOL) CONFIRMATION BILL. (Hansard, 27 May 1919)

§ LORD STANMORE

My Lords, this is a Bill to confirm a scheme certified by the Board of Education under the Charitable Trusts Act, 1853. The scheme, which was prepared at the request of the governors of the charity, forms the subject of a Report of the Board recently laid before Parliament. It was published, as required by law, in the area of benefit of the charity, and every opportunity was afforded for lodging objections to the scheme. It now comes before Parliament as an unopposed measure with the agreement of all concerned. The charity was founded by the Crossley family in 1868 and, with the further endowments of later date, it is administered by governors incorporated by Royal Charter. Owing to the increasing cost of education and to the rise in the cost of living caused by the war, the charity has recently been able to pay its way only by the aid of generous contributions by my noble friend Lord Somerleyton, who is chairman, and by the governors and friends of the institution; and the main object of this scheme is to enable the schools of the charity to obtain grants from the Board of Education under their secondary school regulations and, with this assistance, to take their proper place as first-rate secondary schools. Confirmation of the scheme by Parliament is required because the Board of Education do not consider that a scheme established by their own authority can in this case legally alter the constitution of the governing body prescribed by the Charter. I beg to move.

§ LORD SOMERLEYTON

My Lords, may I say, as a governor for over forty years and as chairman for over ten years, that this scheme is approved and certified by the Board of Education and has already been passed in another place. It is rendered necessary by the application of modern conditions to a school founded in 1853 under different circumstances. Since 1853 the system of education and all its surroundings have greatly changed. The increased cost of all articles supplied to the children, of the upkeep of the buildings, 860 and, above all, of the higher salaries now so rightly required for all branches of teachers, have rendered a new scheme necessary to maintain the high standard of efficiency which has been reached. The new board of management will be found to have a majority of popularly-elected members and will comprise the best educational authorities of the district. It will also contain a large proportion of ladies whose advice and practical experience in the management of small children, many of whom are orphans, will be of great service. The scheme contains nothing, I believe, of a controversial nature, and it has the full approval of the families of the founders and of the local education authorities, as well as of the Board of Education. I therefore trust that it will receive your Lordships' assent.