MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer how many additional officers have been added to the staff of the Estate Duty Office during the present financial year, when were they authorised by the Treasury, when did the new officers commence their duties, and are they still engaged on them: what additional expenditure, if any, has been authorised during the present financial year for the working of this department; have any changes been made in the methods of collecting the Estate Duty, if so, what are those changes, have they been successful, and are they still in operation.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINSixty-one additional officers, thirteen of whom are temporary boy clerks, have been added to the staff of the Estate Duty Office during the present financial year by the authority of the Treasury, dated 21st October, 1903. The new officers, with the exception of ten who have not yet arrived, commenced their duties at various dates in the months of December and January, and are still engaged on them. No additional expenditure, except out of savings which have been affected out of the Vote for the Inland Revenue Department., has been authorised during the current year for the working of this office. In connection with the assessment of death duties generally, certain changes have recently been made in the distribution of business and in the method of keeping the records of it. It would not be possible to explain these changes within the limits of the answer to a Question, but it may be said that they have been adopted in pursuance of the recommendation of a Committee which 247 sat in 1898–99, and which was presided over by the right hon. Member for Haddingtonshire. The changes only came into operation on 1st January, and it is too soon yet to pass a judgment upon their effect, but there is every reason to expect that they will be successful.