§ Mr. Ness Edwardsasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware of the grave hardship to thousands of working-class parents who are now called upon to pay fees for their children in secondary schools for the first time on account of increased household income due to wage increases to meet the increased cost of living; and whether he is prepared to allow education authorities to revise the scales of this means test for the purpose of securing the continuation of secondary-school education for the workers' children?
§ Mr. RamsbothamA number of local education authorities have already approached the Board with a view to revising their income scales for fee and maintenance allowances in secondary schools to meet increases in the cost of living. The Board have found no difficulty in approving reasonable proposals to this end, and they are prepared to consider similar proposals from other authorities. The hon. Member will of course realise that no hardship is involved in requiring payment in respect of fees in cases where increases in wages have been more than commensurate with the increased cost of living.