In 1833 Parliament agreed an annual grant to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education and the British and Foreign School Society, which respectively provided Church of England and non-denominational elementary schools for poor children. In 1837 two inspectors of schools, Seymour Tremenheere and the Reverend John Allen, were appointed to monitor the effectiveness of the grant. Dr James Kay-Shuttleworth, then Secretary of the Privy Council's Education Committee, ensured that the inspectors were appointed by Order in Council to guard their independence.[4]