Mr. M. SCOTTasked the Secretary for Scotland whether he can now state the specific purposes to which the Treasury grant to the Scottish Universities which was made last year has been applied: and whether he proposes to take any steps to secure that in future, in accordance with the policy laid down in the case of statutory grants to Scottish Universities, no portion of the money provided by Parliament shall be devoted to the payment of salaries to theological professors?
§ Mr. MORISONGrants made by the Treasury on the recommendation of the University Grants Committee are block grants, and are not allocated to specific purposes. As stated in reply to my hon. Friend on 11th November last, the grants made last year were emergency grants, intended to assist the Universities in meeting immediate and pressing needs arising out of post-War conditions. The information at the disposal of my right 425W hon. Friend shows that the grants have been applied generally to these purposes. The principles governing future allocation of grants cannot be determined until the University Grants Committee have reported to the Treasury on completion of the series of visitations which they are carrying out at all the University Institutions in the United Kingdom during the present year.