§ *MR. GILBERT PARKER (Gravesend)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the Government would consider favourably a proposal to authorise local authorities to compel water companies to sell their undertakings, the price to be fixed by arbitration in default of agreement; and whether they would support the repeal of the provisions in the Borough Funds Act, 1872, which require the consent of owners and ratepayers to be obtained to the promotion of or opposition to a Bill by a local authority.
§ *THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD. (Mr. WALTER LONG, Bristol, S.)I am afraid the answer to the first part of the question must be in the negative. With regard to the second part, I am not prepared to say that no consent on the part of the inhabitants of a district should be required for the promotion of a Bill by the local authority, though I doubt whether such consent is necessary in the case of opposition to a Bill. My hon. friend the Member for South Islington has 61 before the House a Bill to amend the Borough Funds Act, 1872, and I am disposed to concur generally in the proposals in that measure.