§ MR. STANLEY LEIGHTON (Shropshire, Oswestry)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Government will consent to a Return being made of the nature, origin, and extent of Dissenting endowments in England and Wales; and 1095 of the amount of rates and taxes from which Dissenting chapels are annually exempted as places of public religious worship under 3 & 4 Will. IV., c. 30; and of the sum total of Parliamentary and Royal Grants made to Dissenters in England and Wales, to Dissenters and Roman Catholics in Ireland, and to Presbyterians in Scotland from the year 1660 to the present time?
§ MR. ASQUITHAs regards the rates and taxes from which Dissenting chapels are annually exempted as places of public religious worship, it is impossible to say what the amount of the exemption is, as, the chapels not being rated, they are not assessed. With regard to the remaining portion of the hon. Member's question, I can only at present say that the practicability of obtaining such information in a trustworthy form and within a reasonable time is receiving consideration.