Mr. DOYLEasked the President of the Board of Education whether he intends to impose a limit and, if so, what limit on the expenditure of local authorities in the year 1922–23 on providing meals for school children?
§ Mr. FISHERThe Government have decided that it is impossible to acquiesce in a continuance of the present arrangement under which, in abnormal periods, a considerable part of the burden of poor relief may be thrown upon the education rate and the Vote of the Board of Education. In the year 1921–22 expenditure has been incurred by local education authorities for the provision of meals on a scale which, I am sure, is quite outside the scope of the Provision of Meals Act as Parliament intended it to operate, and though I greatly appreciate the care and humanity with which local education authorities have met the emergency, the financial and administrative burden which has been thrown on the system of education is much greater than it can or ought to carry. For these reasons the Government have decided that the total expenditure of local education authorities on the provision of school meals which the Board will recognise for the calculation of grant shall be limited to £300,000 in 1922–23, a sum which allows a sufficient margin over previous expenditure in normal years to cover such arrangements as may legitimately be made to meet exceptional circumstances in the current financial year. The Board, of course, assume that every endeavour will be made to secure effective cooperation with Poor Law authorities and other public authorities on the lines indicated in the circular (No. 261) issued by the Ministry of Health on the 23rd November, 1921.