§ MR. G. A. HARDY (Suffolk, Stowmarket)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether, in view of the character of the Returns that are periodically issued from Government Departments respecting the debt of local authorities, the Government will consider the desirability of issuing a general intimation to the effect that all future Returns shall differentiate between loans contracted for reproductive and unproductive purposes, or, alternatively, that the 631 value of assets shall in every case be placed against the debt.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSThe only Returns periodically issued by the Local Government Board respecting the debt of local authorities are the annual Local Taxation Returns for England and Wales. In these Returns separate particulars are given of the loans contracted for various purposes, including most, if not all, the undertakings which may be regarded as reproductive.