§ Mr. R. YOUNGasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that a lady member of the education committee for the borough of Swindon resigned, and that the said member was a co-opted member; that the town clerk decided that another lady who was proposed to take her place was not eligible because she was a member of the National Union of Teachers; and whether members of the National Union of Teachers are eligible to be co-opted as members of the committee like all other ordinary citizens?
§ Mr. FISHERSo far as I am aware, there is nothing to prevent a member of the National Union of Teachers being co-opted as a member of an education committee, and, in fact, the scheme for the Swindon education committee provides that one member shall be a representative of the Swindon Sub-Association of the National Union of Teachers, who is a member of the teaching staff in a council or voluntary school maintained by the council. I understand that there is already one member on the education committee qualified in this particular manner, and that the question is whether this circumstance precludes the council from co-opting another person who is similarly qualified to fill a vacancy among the co-opted members. The Act of 1902 gives me no power to determine this question.