§ SIR GEORGE FARDELL (Paddington, S.)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the Royal Commission on Local Taxation, in their final Report published in 1901, recommended a now scheme of grants from the Local Taxation Account which would have the effect of raising London's proportion of such grants from about 18 per cent. to over 25 per cent and will he say whether the total increase in the grants to London proposed under that scheme would have amounted to over£1,000,000 per annum.
§ MR. ASQUITHIn the Report signed by the majority of members of the Royal Commission it was recommended that certain new and increased grants should be paid through the Local Taxation Account to the local authorities throughout England and Wales, and it was estimated that the additional cost to the Exchequer would be about £2,500,000 a year. So far as I am aware, the Report did not show how much of this additional relief would accrue to London, or how London's share of the total grants would be affected.