MR. J. MCLEOD (Sutherland)I beg to ask the Lord Advocate—(1) whether he is aware that certain Parish Council auditors in Scotland have disallowed expenditure on churchyards where a formal deed of conveyance from the heritors to a Parish Council has not been executed; (2) whether the auditors in so disallowing are acting under the direction of the Local Government Board for Scotland; and (3) whether the written consent of the heritors would not be a sufficient compliance with the law?
§ *THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. GRAHAM MURRAY, Buteshire)No expenditure on churchyards has been disallowed in the present audit. In two or three instances the auditor has called the attention of the Local Government Board to the fact that expenditure has been incurred on churchyards, to which the Parish Council possessed no title. The auditors and Parish Councils have been informed that the poor-rate cannot competently be applied to meet such expenses, unless the minute of a regularly convened meeting of the heritors transferring the churchyard (or old burial ground) be obtained by the Parish Council. In a case in which there was only one heritor in the parish, the Parish Council were informed that they must at least obtain a letter from the heritor transferring the churchyard to them.
§ In answer to a further Question,
§ *THE LORD ADVOCATEsaid that the advice of the Local Government Board for Scotland was that there ought to be a regular minute. They did not say a conveyance, but a minute.