HC Deb 25 July 1873 vol 217 cc996-7
MR. DELAHUNTY

asked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, after referring to the last annual Report of the Local Government Board of England, wherein at page 49 it is stated that the Board sanctioned loans for sanitary purposes, from the 19th of August 1871, to the 31st of December 1871, amounting to £267,562, and from the 31st of December 1871, to the 31st of December 1872, to £602,271, making a total of £869,833; whether he will still adhere to his statement that the total amount of sanitary loans sanctioned in England during the said period was only £8,693; and, after referring to the annual Report of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland issued last month, wherein it is stated at page 7 that the Treasury sanctioned a loan of £50,000 to be made by them, the said Commissioners, out of the Public Works Loan Fund of Ireland, to the Waterford Corporation for water supply, whether he will still adhere to his statement that the loan was to be made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners of England?

MR. BAXTER

Sir, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to state, in reply to my hon. Friend's Question, that the amount of the loans sanctioned by the Local Government Board for sanitary purposes, from the 19th of August, 1871, to the 31st of December, 1872, was, as stated in the Question, £869,833. The great bulk, however, of that amount was advanced by public companies and private individuals, from whom, until the passing of the Public health Act of last Session, local authorities could borrow on more advantageous terms than from the Public Works Loan Commissioners. The Question of yesterday referred to loans made by that Board with the sanction of the Treasury, and the amount so advanced was £8,389, as stated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. My right hon. Friend, however, fell into a slight inaccuracy when he stated that the £50,000 loan to Waterford was made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners for England. It was made by the Irish Board, but the Treasury consulted the English Commissioners on the subject.