§ MR. CATHCART WASON (Orkney and Shetland)To ask the Secretary for Scotland if, in view of the distress existing in the Highlands and Islands, largely caused by the high rates imposed for services more or less national, rising up to 20s. in the £, he will take into consideration the separate recommendations of Lord Balfour of Burleigh and Lord Blair Balfour appouring in the Final Report on Local Taxation, 1902.
(Answered by Mr. Sinclair.) The severity of the present burden of rates in certain parishes of the Highlands and Islands has been engaging anxious attention. An inquiry into the local finance of the Lews 342 and the Long Island has just been concluded by the Local Government Board, and the Report will be laid upon the Table. The effect of the separate recommendations appearing in the Final Report of the Royal Commission on Local Taxation, if applied to the parishes under review as part of the whole subject, is receiving careful consideration.