Oral Answers to Questions — Housing. – in the House of Commons at on 30 July 1934.
Mr. VYVYAN ADAMS:
96.asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether notice is given to specified schools before a visit of inspectors from the Board of Education; and, if so, whether such notice will no longer be given, in order to establish a clear test of conditions in the schools?
Mr Herwald Ramsbotham
, Lancaster
In the great Majority of cases visits to schools by His Majesty's Inspectors are paid without previous notice; but in the case of visits to the larger schools by a panel of inspectors for the purpose of a full inspection, previous notice is given. The existing arrange- ments provide for a suitable mixture of visits with and without notice, and my Noble Friend sees no reason to vary the practice.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
