§ MR. H. HOBHOUSE (Somerset, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether there are any instances of any of the adoptive Acts having been adopted in a rural parish with a population of less than 200; and, if so, which of the Acts; and what is the maximum rate levied in such parish for the purposes of the adoptive Act?
§ MR. H. H. FOWLERI am not aware of any case in which the Baths and Washhouses Act or the Public Libraries Act has been adopted in a rural parish with a population of less than 200. The Public Improvement Act, 1860, could not be adopted in a parish with the population referred to. Neither am I aware of any case in which the Lighting and Watching Act has been adopted in a parish with a population of less than 200; but the Act has been adopted in respect of parts of parishes where the population of the whole parish is larger, and I have no information as to the population of the particular areas in those parishes to which the Act applies. There are three Burial Boards acting for rural parishes with a population of less than 200. In one case the burial rate was stated to be 2d. in the £1 in 1892, but in the other two cases the amounts required by the Burial Board were raised as part of the poor rate, and I am unable to state the rate in the £1 in respect of the expenditure of the Burial Board. There are Burial Board districts which include more than one civil parish or parts of parishes, and probably there are cases where some of the parishes thus combined are of small population; but the information in possession of the Local Government Board does not show what are precisely the districts in those cases.