MR. W. F. D. SMITH (Strand, Westminster)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is willing to re-consider the assessment of the Courts of Law in the parish of St. Clement Danes, taking into consideration the fact that assessments on other house property in the district have greatly increased?
§ SIR J. T. HIBBERTParliament has expressly provided for the rating of the Law Courts property by the Courts of Justice Concentration (Site) Act, 1865. Section 4 provides that the lauds (which means the lands and all that may be erected on the lands)—
Shall continue liable to poor and other rates, but they shall not be assessed to any tax or rate on a higher rateable value than that on which they were assessed on January 1, 1865.There are similar provisions in other Acts of Parliament affecting a considerable amount of Government property.