METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS (REPAYMENTS OUT OF CONSOLIDATED FUND). (Hansard, 14 February 1853)

§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
said, that the Resolution which he had to put into the Chairman's hands explained the nature of the Bill which he proposed to ask leave to introduce. The Resolution was to this effect:— That the several sums of money which have been borrowed in pursuance of various Acts of Parliament on the security of the Land Revenues of the Crown, and certain other moneys charged on the London Bridge Approaches Fund, for the purpose of Metropolitan Improvements, shall, with the interest thereon, be charged upon and made payable out of the Consolidated Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. And his first duty was to express his 91 gret, that owing to an inadvertence, the nature of the Resolution was not accurately explained by the entry which stood on the Votes, for that entry was certainly susceptible of the interpretation that it was intended to create a new charge on the London Bridge Approaches Fund in regard to the coal dues levied. Now, there was no intention whatever to make any change, slight or serious, in the position of the Government in relation to the coal dues. The whole change proposed by this Bill was purely a financial arrangement as between one fund which formed part of the revenue of the country, and another resource of the country, namely, the Consolidated Fund; and the simple object of the Bill was by discharging certain sums of money out of the Consolidated Fund, to escape from the payment of the interest to which the Land Revenues of the Crown had for some time been, and were now, liable, in respect of considerable sums of money borrowed from private parties to enable metropolitan improvements to be executed, and which money was secured by assignment, under the name of the coal dues, on the London Bridge Approaches Fund. He hoped that he had conveyed clearly to the House the general purpose of the Bill, which would effect material economy with regard to the public expenditure, by avoiding the burden to which the public was subject by the continued payment of interest; and when the clauses and details of the Bill were before them, he had not the least doubt that the House would be satisfied with its object.

MR. HUME
said, he trusted that the effect of the Bill would not be to bring any additional charge upon the Consolidated Fund.

MR. BLACKETT
said, that having presented a petition that day from his constituents (Newcastle-on-Tyne) on the subject of this Bill, he might say that he was satisfied that the petitioners would be ready to acquiesce in this Bill, provided he received an assurance from the right hon. Gentleman that it would not add a penny more of charge to the London Bridge Approaches Fund.

§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
said, that his anxiety was to let the House know that there would be no additional charge placed on the London Bridge Approaches Fund whatever; but now there was another alarm raised on the part of his hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) with regard to the Consolidated Fund. Now, no new charge would be created upon the 92 Consolidated Fund by this Bill. On the contrary, it would in point of fact afford a real relief, and the deduction would go hereafter to Ways and Means, and so would swell the Consolidated Fund.

§ SIR HENRY WILLOUGHBY
said, he would ask whether any portion of this charge would fall upon the Land Revenues of the Crown; and also what would be the precise amount required to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund to effect the proposed object?

§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
said, that he proposed to exonerate the Land Revenue entirely from any portion of this charge for the future. The operation would take time, because a portion would be liquidated at once, and a portion would require a short notice. The hon. Baronet had asked what would be the precise amount. In answer to that, he said that the precise amount borrowed from the various parties was 895,000l., and that the sum paid up to the present date, for interest, was about 140,000l. Putting these amounts together, they obtained 1,035,000l.; but then there were deductions from that, partly from the sale of Crown rents, and partly on account of considerable sums which would be forthcoming from the produce of the coal dues, about 90,000l.; so that the sum to be advanced out of the Consolidated Fund at present, or within the next few months, would be about 940,000l. or 950,000l.