§ MR. FLETCHER (Hampstead)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the grants made by the London County Council to the guardians of the poor out of the Exchequer Contribution Account have steadily increased from £146,377 in 1889–90 to £248,993 in 1905–6; that the£ grants paid by the London County Council to the metropolitan borough councils in respect of sanitary officers have increased from £131 in 1889–90 to £34,440 in 1905–6; that the balance of London's Exchequer Contribution Account, available for the relief of the county rate, has fallen from£203,547 in 1889–90 and£280,721 in 1891–2 to£53,333 in 1905–6, representing a Joss of more than Id. in the pound to the general county rate; and whether, in revising the bases of the Local Taxation Account, he will consider the desirability of providing means to prevent the charges upon London's share increasing in a much greater ratio than the amount of that share itself.
§ MR. JOHN BURNSMy right hon. friend has asked me to reply to this Question. I am not able to follow the precise figures given by the hon. Member, but there is no doubt that the sums paid by the London County Council to boards of guardians and sanitary authorities in respect of grants have largely increased between 1889–90 and 1905–6, and that the balance of the Exchequer Contribution Account available for general county 336 purposes has diminished. As the Government have already intimated, the share which London should receive from the Local Taxation Account will be carefully considered when the Government come to deal with the question of the relations between the Exchequer and Local Taxation as a whole.