§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether he will arrange for copies of the main documents transferring the estate and fortune of the late Mr. G. S. Reade to Greenwich Hospital and of the Bruntisfield Report on the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, Suffolk, to be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingI am arranging for a copy of the will and codicil of the late G. S. Reade, Esq., to be made and for this to be placed in the Library. As to the Bruntisfield Report, it is not normal practice to publish the text of the reports of internal inquiries, but a summary of the main changes which have been made at the school as a result of this report is given in the illustrated brochure which was published to mark the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the school. Copies of the brochure have been available for some six weeks in the Library, as I undertook that they should be in the Answer to the hon. and gallant Member's Question on 16th May last.
§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the date on which the Admiralty decided to start the entry of officers' sons at the Navy's seamen's orphanage at Holbrook, Suffolk, instead of the orphans of poor seamen of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy; what are the reasons for this change what is the number of officers' sons who have since been entered; and what is the rank of the senior officer whose son has been accepted.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingProvision for the admission to the Royal Hospital School of sons of officers as well as of seamen was made in the current regulations for admission to the school which were introduced in 1949 (S.I. 1948 No. 2792 refers). This change was decided upon in the light of the recommendations of the Bruntisfield Committee and of the increasing proportion of officers of rating origin.
The number of sons of officers admitted between 1st January, 1949, and 86W the end of 1961 is 345; the number of sons of ratings admitted in the same period is 1,769. The rank of the senior officer whose son has been accepted is believed to be Captain, R.N.
§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the date on which the Admiralty decided to charge fees for secondary education, which previously had been free, at the Navy's seamen's orphanage at Holbrook, Suffolk; what are the reasons for this change in policy; and what are the maximum fees now charged.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingThe rapidly growing cost of maintaining the school caused us reluctantly to decide in 1956 to make regulations (S.I. 1956 No. 1894) providing for a fee to be charged. The regulations were applied to boys admitted on or after 1st January, 1957. The maximum fee now charge is £100 a year.
§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty if he will state the number of sons of officers at the Navy's seamen's orphanage at Holbrook, Suffolk, for whom a certificate of poverty has been provided, and the number of other boys for whom a certificate declaring the boy to be a proper object for charity has been provided, as required by the regulations of the previous orphanage at Greenwich.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingNone. The current regulations make no provision for the issue of such certificates.
§ Commander Purseyasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty, if he will state the number of boys at the Navy's seamen's orphanage at Holbrook, Suffolk, whose fathers were educated at the orphanage and who are Greenwich Hospital pensioners, respectively, and the number for whom no fees are charged.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-EwingI regret that the form in which records of admissions are maintained makes it impracticable to identify those parents who are old boys of the Royal Hospital School or Greenwich Hospital Pensioners. Of the 638 boys admitted after 31st December, 1956, and eligible to pay fees one pays 87W no fee at all. Reduced fees are paid in 158 cases and the fees for 386 boys are paid in full either by Local Education Authorities or the Royal Navy.