§ Mr. Dunnasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education how many small private nursery schools in the country have been closed during the last three years; will he state for what purposes they were closed; whether he is aware that many parents, well-intentioned and anxious to give their children good education, are being defrauded by people financing and operating private schools, not in the interests either of education or the children; and will he institute an inquiry into the matter?
Mr. LindsayI regret that I have no information which would enable me to2366W answer the first two parts of the question. As I stated in the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede) on the 2nd February, the inspection of private schools is one of the matters which the Board propose to discuss with representatives of the local education authorities.