§ MR. HOBHOUSE (Somerset, E.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture if the maximum amount which a County Council can borrow, under Clause 11 (2) of the Small Agricultural Holdings Bill, depends on the amount of the existing charges on the county rate; and, if so, whether he will, before the Committee stage of the Bill, lay upon the Table of the House a statement showing the maximum amount of loan capital which might be raised at the present time by the Council of each county in Great Britain under the provisions of the Bill, assuming such capital was borrowed for 50 years at 3⅛ per cent.; and if he will state the maximum amount which might be raised for every £1,000 of rateable value in the case of a county free from other debts?
§ MR. CHAPLINIt is not intended that the maximum amount which a County Council is to be allowed to borrow for the purposes of the Small Agricultural Holdings Bill should depend on the amount of the existing charges on the county rate. The limit is to be a penny rate in the pound, irrespective of any existing liabilities, and the clause can be easily amended to make this clear, if it is not so, by transposing the words "for the purposes of 1683 this Act." The maximum amount which may be raised for every £1,000 of rateable value is £104 14s. 2d., assuming that the term for which the loan is raised is 50 years at 3⅛ per cent.