MR. CHANNIKG (Northampton, E.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the Hertfordshire County Council, on receiving a Petition from the inhabitants of Pirton praying that the Allotments Act should be put in force in Pirton Parish, failed to hold a local inquiry into the circumstances as required by "The Allotments Amendment Act, 1890;" and, without such inquiry, decided that the circumstances of Pirton Parish are not such as to make it the duty of the Sanitary Authority to take proceedings under the Allotments Acts; whether such action on the part of the Hertfordshire County Council is a failure to comply with "The Allotments Act, 1890;" and whether he will make a representation to the County Council on the matter?
§ MR. H. H. FOWLERI have been in communication with the Hertfordshire County Council, and I am informed that the Petition referred to was considered by a Committee of the County Council, and 1157 that upon inquiry they came to the conclusion that the circumstances of the parish were not such as to make it the duty of the Sanitary Authority to take proceedings under the Allotments Act, 1887. It is not clear from the reply whether the inquiry was a local inquiry, but I think that the Statute contemplates that in such cases the Committee should cause a local inquiry to be held, assuming that they are satisfied of the bona fides of the application, and I have informed the County Council accordingly.