§ Mr. AYLESasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is satisfied with the steps taken by the Bristol authority to provide suitable and sufficient elementary school accommodation in their area; and if he will make a statement as to whether any correspondence has taken place on the subject?
§ Mr. LEES-SMITHI regret to have to inform my hon. Friend that the answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. On 16th May, 1929, prior to the accession of the present Government to office, my Department communicated to the authority a report indicating generally the extent to which the authority's programme for 1927–30 was in arrear, especially as regards the provision of school accommodation in the new housing estates. Further communications were sent to the authority on 26th June, 1930, 26th August, 1930, and 12th November, 1930, in regard to their failure to deal expeditiously and effectively with problems of elementary school supply. On 2nd April, 1931, their attention was again called to the conditions of congestion and disorganisation existing in the schools, and also to the fact that the delay in providing the requisite school accommodation was leading to wasteful and uneconomic expenditure on temporary expedients. After consideration of the authority's observations on the position, I was not satisfied that the existence of the admittedly unsatisfactory conditions could be regarded as consistent with the due performance of the authority's statutory duties in the matter of elementary school supply. I was, therefore, reluctantly compelled to inform them, on 27th May, 1931, that I did not feel justified in paying in full the grants conditionally due for the year 1930–31, though I was prepared to give the matter further con- 897W sideration if, in six months' time, I was satisfied with the progress then achieved or in prospect.