HC Deb 02 March 1936 vol 309 c1008W
Mr. T. SMITH

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will give the text of the Anson by-law and state how many local education authorities have adopted it

Mr. STANLEY

All school attendance by-laws include a provision that "the time during which every child shall attend school shall be the whole time for which the school selected shall be open for the instruction of children of similar age." The "Anson by-law" in its standard form is a qualification added to that provisions as followsProvided that, where the parent has notified to the managers in writing his intention to withdraw the child from instruction in religious subjects, such time shall be the whole time for which the school selected shall be open for secular instruction only.

The proviso has been adopted as it stands by 142 local education authorities, and in addition 39 such authorities have adopted it with some variation, designed expressly to restrict operation to cases where the children withdrawn from the school during the period of religious instruction will receive religious instruction elsewhere.