§ MR. GEORGE WHITELEY (Stockport)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury (1) whether he can give to the House any information as to the progress made in their investigations by the Rating Commission; and (2) whether he can hold out any hopes that the Commission will be able to issue any Report during the present Session?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYThe Commissioners on Local 518 Taxation mot in the autumn, and decided upon the character of the information it was desirable to secure from certain Government Departments and public bodies, and they appointed a committee to arrange the precise form in which the information should be communicated. The information required will be largely composed of statistics from the various departments, and will require considerable time for preparation. The regular sittings of the Commission have been arranged, and they will proceed to hear witnesses at an early date.
§ MR. G. WHITELEYThe right hon. Gentleman has not answered the last paragraph of my question.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURYI thought my hon. Friend would infer from my statement that it is hardly likely the Commission will so far complete their labours as to enable us to deal with their Report this Session.