§ MR. SLOAN (Belfast, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state the number of private burial grounds that exist in connection with monastic and conventual institutions in the United Kingdom; does he from time to time give his sanction for these private burial grounds; and, if so, how many have been sanctioned within the past five-years.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Answer to the first part of the Question is in the negative. The jurisdiction of the Local Government Board under the Burial Acts only extends to England and Wales, and their approval of the opening of a new burial ground is required where the ground is in the Metropolis as defined by the Burial Act, 1852, or within two miles of any part of it, or where there is in force an Order on Council which for 475 the protection of the public health renders such approval necessary. Since the transfer to the Board on January 1st, 1901, of the jurisdiction which the Secretary of State previously exercised in this matter, their approval has been given to the opening of five new burial grounds in connection with monastic and conventual institutions.