§ MR. TENNANTasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether any, and, if so, what steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to put in force the provisions of the Rivers Pollution Prevention Act of 1876, and with what results?
§ MR. SCLATER-BOOTHThe duty of putting in force the provisions of the Rivers Pollution Prevention Act of 1876, as my hon. Friend is aware, does not devolve upon the Government, but upon the local authorities. So soon as the Act came into complete operation, which was not until August, 1877, a Circular was issued by the Local Government Board, calling the attention of the local authorities to their powers and duties under the Statute, and applications immediately began to come in from various quarters—firstly, for certificates; secondly, for extension of time; and, thirdly, for consent to proceedings being taken. I may mention, to show that the operation of the Act has been widely spread, some of the places where proceedings have been taken—namely, Salisbury, Canterbury, Barnet, Wigan, Grantham, Isle of Wight, Withington, Hereford. But, perhaps, the most important result of the Act has been the prevention of fresh pollution of rivers, as no loan for sewerage works is now sanctioned unless provision is made or the purification of the sewage.