E.—l

24

The position of this account haw therefore shown considerable improvement since the previous year. Only two Boards showed a decrease in their credit balance, and one, which at the beginning of the year was in credit, was in debit at the end. The total increases over last year amounted to £8,431, and the decreases to £6,311, a net increase of £2,120. The largest increase was shown by the Wanganui Board -£3,280. Auckland shows the largest credit balance—£7,26l. The next in order are Wanganui, £5,371; Wellington, £3,976; Southland, £3,346: Otago, £3,080; and Hawke's Bay, £3,051. The Buildings Account refers to moneys granted for two purposes, which by parliamentary appropriation and by the terms of the grants made by the Department are quite distinct, namely,— (a.) Moneys granted for the general maintenance and replacement of school buildings out of the Consolidated Fund, and additional sums paid for the rebuilding of schools destroyed by fire, and for the rent of temporary premises during such rebuilding ; (b.) Moneys appropriated by Parliament and granted out of the Public Works Fund specially for the erection of new schools and the extension of existing schools rendered necessary by increased attendance, and for building teachers' residences in certain cases where suitable houses cannot be rented. The moneys so granted in the year 1910 for the respective purposes named are shown in Tables F7, FB, and F9. Table FlO shows the assets and liabilities of the Boards on the combined buildings accounts. The following is a summary :— Combined Buildings Account (;0 and (l>). "// Boards, 31st December. 1910. [Aabilitiee. £ Assets. £ Overdrafts . . . . . . . . 6,203 Cash . . . . . . . . 38,531 Other liabilities .. .. .. 60,709 , Due from all sources .. .. 62,073 Balances .. .. .. .. 35,145 . Deficits .. .. .. .. 1,453 £102,057 ' £102,057 Net balances Ist January, 1911 .. £33,692 The net balances on the Ist January, 1910, were stated in last year's report to be £4,149, a decrease of £34,000 on the net balances of twelve months earlier, and this decrease was accounted for by the fact that the grants distributed to the Boards were in 1909 very much less than the average amount previously distributed. It will be seen that during the year 1910 the Boards increased their credit balances by almost £30,000. The reason is not that building operations were curtailed, but that the grants paid by Government on account of the Combined Buildings Account were more than £40,000 in excess of those paid the previous year. From an examination of the grants made to the Boards for the maintenance and replacement of school buildings—see (a), above—and their returns of expenditure under these heads, it has been found that the School Buildings Maintenance Account should stand as shown in Table Fll, a summary of which is given below : — School Buildings Mcrintewmoe Account, nil Boards, list December, 1910. Liabilities .. .. .. .. 3,244 Assats . . .. . . . . 3,617 Net balance, 31st December, 1910 .. 90,097 Balances . .. .. .. 89,724 £93,341 £93,341 Since the cost of maintenance and repairs of school buildings, as well as the cost of actual replacement, during the year 1910 has been taken into consideration in the above statement, it would appear that there was the sum of £90,097 available