§ MR. DUGDALE (Warwickshire, Nuneaton)asked the President of the Local Government Board, Whether it is the fact that Mr. Chambers, Assistant Boundary Commissioner for Warwickshire, under "The Local Government Boundaries Act, 1887," has intimated his intention to held an inquiry at Birmingham on the 11th proximo,
With a view to ascertain the facts and to hear the wishes of the Public Bodies whose work and jurisdiction may possibly he affected by changes hereafter to be accomplished under the provisions of the Act;whether, with a view to their immediate discussion by the ratepayers, and to the saving of expense in connection with the holding of such an inquiry, the Boundary Commissioners will at once formulate, and send to the Public Bodies interested, the changes which they are prepared to recommend or desire to have discussed; whether any alteration of the municipal boundaries of the Borough of Birmingham is still proposed, notwithstanding the communications which have recently taken place on the subject between the Boundary Commissioners and the Clerk of the Peace for Warwickshire; and, whether the Boundary Commissioners will direct Mr. Chambers not to entertain the above question at his inquiry, so that the Public Bodies interested may be saved the expense which they would otherwise have to incur in resisting such a proposal?
§ THE PRESIDENT (Mr. RITCHIE) (Tower Hamlets, St. George's), in reply, said, that in the opinion of the Local Government Board and the draftsmen who prepared the Boundaries Act, it was not within the power of the Boundary Commissioners to propose any alteration in the municipal boundaries of Birmingham.