§ MR. CHARLES ROBERTS (Lincoln)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury if his attention has been drawn to a 1727 case decided on 1st November ultimo, by a Divisional Court of the King's Bench Division, under which it was held that certain hotels at Bedford having drinking bars with a rateable value over £25 were not entitled to claim any reduction in the compensation charge under the Licensing Act, 1904, which had been granted to them by the Bedford justices; whether he has any information showing in how many cases such a reduction has been allowed; and if he will take steps to see that where such exceptions have been granted in error the payments due shall be recovered.
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (MR. MCKENNA, Monmouthshire, N.)The Board of Inland Revenue inform me that they have received no full Report of the proceedings or judgment in this case, although they have observed certain references to it in the newspapers. In these circumstances it is difficult to say as yet what cases mayor may not be analogous to it—or how many of them there may be. In any event I understand it is extremely doubtful whether it would be possible to recover charges not paid in full in past years; although of course care will be taken to insist on full payment in future.