§ MR. SEARSTo ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will obtain from each surveyor of taxes an estimate of the percentage of assessments for the past five years which have had to be corrected before and also after issue of notice to pay; and will he furnish the result of such information in tabular form.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) No. Any such estimate would be valueless unless based on a close examination of the records of assessments, and any such examination would occupy the time of the surveyors for several weeks, to the serious detriment of the work of the current year, without serving any purpose of public utility commensurate with the labour involved.