§ SIR GILBERT PARKERI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether the Departmental Committee to consider the practicability of a standard form of accounts being prescribed for local authorities, which he announced his attention of appointing at the end of last session, has been appointed; whether it has taken any evidence on the subject; and will he say whether the Local Government Board's system of audit has recently been imposed upon the Corporation of Cheltenham as a condition of the Board's sanction of a loan to pay the accumulated deficits on the electric lighting undertaking.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. WALTER LONG, Bristol, S.)Owing to the illness 576 and subsequent resignation of the Officer of my Department chiefly concerned with forms of accounts I have had to defer the appointment of the Committee. The vacancy has now been filled and I will proceed with the appointment of the Committee as soon as possible. With regard to the Cheltenham case, the town council have applied for a Provisional Order which will give them power to borrow to pay off an accumulated deficit of some £18,000 in respect of their electric lighting undertaking. With a view to preventing the recurrence of an irregularity such as that of the deficit in question, it appeared to be desirable that the accounts of the town council should be made subject to the same system of audit as those of county councils and other local authorities. The town council, who had themselves included in a Bill which they prepared in 1900 a provision for making their accounts subject to this system of audit, accepted the arrangement. They desired, however, that provision should be made for giving them power to incur certain expenditure similar to the power conferred by Parliament on the Plymouth Corporation last year, and I propose to give effect to their wishes in this respect.