HC Deb 30 April 1907 vol 173 cc669-70
MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)

To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state on what estate or estates in Cork County the sum of £831 arrears of purchase annuities which have been deducted from the Guarantee Fund have accrued; how much of these arrears has been paid up since the 31st January, 1907; how is the sum of £4,050, also deducted from the county share of the fund, arrived at; whether adequate particulars with full details of these stoppages are furnished to the respective councils; and what means, if any, do the county councils possess for testing the correctness of the Treasury deductions.

(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) My hon. friend has asked me to answer this Question. For the purpose of computing the arrears to be drawn from the Guarantee Fund, reference is made solely to the deficiency of each county as a whole and not to the various estates within the county. The hon. Member will, however, find in Table 159, on page 144 of the Report of the Land Commissioners for 1906 (Cd. 3113), a statement giving particulars of the case of every tenant purchaser who at the date of the Report was one year and upwards in arrears. Out of the arrears of £831 mentioned in; the Question, the sum of £544 14s. 8d., has since been paid. I understand that the sum of £4,050 represents the proportion chargeable to county Cork in respect of a total charge of £61,877 for deficiency of income. The different items included are as follows:—

£
Unearned dividend on issue of stock 1,554
Advance dividend 893
Interest due but not received 1,015
Unproductive balance 588

Up to the present it has not been considered necessary to inform the county councils of the amounts stopped from the county grants, which have hitherto been inconsiderable, but the amounts of the recent deductions have been fully published, and I am now, in consultation with the Treasury, endeavouring to devise means of letting the county councils know the amount of their liabilities in sufficient time before they strike their rates. I am not aware that county councils possess any means for testing the correctness of the deductions.