§ MR. HAZELL (Leicester)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, at what date the Old Excise Office in Broad Street was closed, and whether the land was sold at that time or subsequently; and, if so, to whom and for how much; whether he knows of any reason why the annuity of £500 in respect of that property was not redeemed or conveyed to the purchaser at the same time; and whether this annuity, which has now been paid for over 130 years, can now be commuted?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Sir M. HICKS BEACH,) Bristol,322 W. I am unable to ascertain the exact date at which the Old Excise Office in Broad Street was closed. The chief office of the Inland Revenue has been at Somerset House since October 1852. The property was sold in May, 1853, for a sum, including interest, of £108,318 7s. 4d., but I do not know who was the purchaser. The annuity to which the honourable Member refers, which is paid under the Act 8 Geo. III., c. 32, was not a charge upon the property, but on the Revenue of Excise. It could only be commuted by arrangement with the parties to whom it is paid, and I do not know whether any proposal for commutation was made at the time when the property was sold.