In London, during the Christmas holidays, 1911-12, meals were provided out of a sum placed at the disposal of the Chairman of the Council by the General Purposes Committee, from the balance of the account in connection with the erection and management of the Coronation Procession stands. (Minutes of the London County Council, February 13, 1912, p. 2791.) Footnote 295: Report of the West Ham Education Committee for the year ended March 31, 1910, p. 46; _Ibid._ for the year ended March 31, 1911, p. 39. Footnote 296: _Ibid._ for the year ended March 31, 1912, pp. 50-1. Footnote 297: The _East Ham Echo_, August 22, 1913. Footnote 298: At Brighton meals were provided on Saturdays by the Local Education Authority out of the rates till January, 1909, when it was declared to be _ultra vires_. (Report on the Medical Inspection of School Children in Brighton for 1908, p. 99.) The question of the legality of the provision of meals during the holidays out of the rates is, indeed, an open one. The London County Council took counsel's opinion on the point in 1909 and again in 1910, each time receiving the reply that holiday feeding was illegal,[299] but the question has never been settled by a case in the courts. On special occasions the Local Government Board have relaxed their prohibition. Thus, in 1911, Mr. John Burns stated in Parliament that though the Board would not sanction in advance any expenditure incurred in providing meals during the week the schools were closed on account of the Coronation festivities, they would be prepared to consider each case on its merits, and decide whether any surcharge that might be made should be remitted or upheld.[300] And in the spring of 1912, during the widespread distress caused by the coal strike, the Board sanctioned the provision of meals during the Easter holidays. Footnote 299: Minutes of the London County Council, February 2, 1909, p. 121; Minutes of the Education Committee, November 23, 1910, p. 991. Footnote 300: _Hansard_, March 27, 1911, 5th Series, Vol. 23, pp. 1074-5. On several occasions Bills have been brought in by the Labour party to legalise the provision of meals during the holidays, the latest being in April, 1913.[301] So far these efforts have met with no success, though the Prime Minister declared in 1912 that the Government was favourable to the principle,[302] but it has now been promised that the forthcoming Education Bill shall contain a clause enabling Local Authorities to provide meals on Sundays and during holidays.[303] Footnote 301: See Education (Administrative Provisions) Bills, April 14, 1910 (No. 128), February 19, 1912 (No. 18), April 15, 1913 (No. 101), which all contained a clause for provision of school meals during the holidays; Education (Provision of Meals) Act Amendment Bills, July 20, 1910 (No. 265); April 19, 1911 (No. 181); March 13, 1912 (No. 82); April 16, 1913 (No. 109). Footnote 302: