§ MR. T. LOUGH (Islington, W.)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the various licence duties which are now contributed in Great Britain to local taxation are collected by Imperial taxgatherers; and whether, as in Ireland, the licences are not devoted to local purposes, he is willing to give over the collection of these licences to the local authorities who now receive the proceeds, and so relieve the 1286 Imperial taxpayers generally and Ireland especially?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (SIR MICHAEL HICKS BEACH,) Bristol, W.The licence duties which are now contributed in Great Britain to local taxation are collected by Imperial officers. This arrangement was part of the scheme under which the allocation of these licences to local taxation was made, and I see no reason at present for disturbing it. The transfer of the collection of licences to local officers would throw a considerable burden on the localities with a very small economy to the Imperial Exchequer. The assignment of local licences in Great Britain to local authorities was in lieu of certain grants in aid of local purposes which were discontinued. There has been no discontinuance of the corresponding Grants-in-aid in Ireland.