§ MR. GIBB (Middlesex, Harrow)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he is aware that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners claim to be entitled to accept conveyances of glebe land, and allow the same to be used as burial ground, without the consent of the Local Government Board or any sanitary authority, and that this proceeding is now contemplated with respect to glebe lands in the parish of Great Stanmore, notwithstanding that attention has been called to the unsuitableness of the site from a sanitary point of view; and whether he will take steps to assert a right of interference for the protection of sanitary interests, and will introduce legislation to prevent such a method of opening burial grounds without the consent of the Local Government Board.
§ (Answered by Mr. John Burns.) I find that in the case of the parish of Great Stanmore it is proposed to extend the churchyard. In the absence of an Order in Council, which would have the effect of prohibiting the opening of a new burial ground in the parish without the approval of the Local Government Board, no consent on their part, is required. Whether the law should be altered, so as to make their approval to the opening of a new burial ground necessary in all cases, is a point which I will cause to be noted for consideration in connection with any amendment of the Burial Acts.