§ Mr. SNOWDENasked the President of the Board of Education if he will give the reasons why the staff at the Education Office are not allowed to become candidates for borough councils; and why it should be considered necessary in his Department alone to have such a prohibition?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANBorough councils are in varying degrees charged with duties and functions under the Education Acts, and are consequently brought into close contact with the administration of the Board of Education. It was, therefore, considered advisable by the Board to extend service on a borough council the rule which was applied throughout the Civil Service to service on a county council by the Treasury Minute of 18th December, 1888, and a Departmental Regulation to that effect was issued in August, 1905. I see no reason to depart from the practice then established. With regard to the last part of the question, I cannot undertake to give the reasons which have actuated my colleagues in not making particular regulations or decisions. But in the absence of a general rule applicable throughout the service matters of this kind would seem to fall within the discretion of the Minister of each Department, having regard to the particular interests and requirements of his own Department.