§ SIR WILLIAM BULL (Hammersmith)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, seeing that the present scale of duty charged in respect of premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating drinks is higher in proportion to annual value in the case of promises under £100 rental than in the case of premises above that rental, that the charge diminishes in percentage up to the rental of £700, and that the scale is not graduated beyond £700, with the result that premises of an annual value of £2,500 pay no larger duty than premises of £700 rental, he will state what proportions of such premises, both above and below £100 rental, are situated in London and the provinces respectively, and the extent to which London's share of the licence duties has been reduced in consequence of the operation of this scale of duties.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) The number of licensed premises (publicans') (exclusive of beer houses, which are not rated for licence duty purposes on a valuation) in the county of London and provinces, respectively, are: — Rental not exceeding £100: London, 344; provinces, 45,693. Rental £100 and upwards: London, 4,974; provinces 14,626. A higher scale of duties upon the higher value premises would, of course, have increased the total yield of the duties in London to a greater extent than in the provinces. The amount of such increase would necessarily depend, in both cases, upon the precise scale adopted as an alternative.