§ SIR JOHN KENNAWAYasked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether it is intended that the Ratepayers of London should be kept in ignorance of the amount levied on them for the purposes of the School Board by its being included in the sum charged for the maintenance of Highways under the General Rate; and, what other charges are covered by the General Rate?
§ MR. STANSFELD,in reply, said, that the Question ought rather to have been addressed to the Vice President of the Council, but he (Mr. Stansfeld) had referred to the Education Act, and would give what information he could. The only intention was the intention of the Act itself. On referring to the statute of 1870, he found that it required that the School Board fund should be paid out of the local rates; and that in certain cases it was a charge upon the general rate where there was one. The other expenses charged upon the general rate were what was required by the highways—paving, lighting, sweeping, and watering the roads, and for the establishments connected with these objects. He could give the House this further information—that the parochial authorities in levying a general rate might specify the purpose for which that rate was made, and the amount required for each of these purposes; and in some cases that course was adopted.