§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a summons issued in the parish of Sutton, in the county of Surrey, and returnable on the 14th March, 1907, for the recovery of 5s, part of a rate made by the Overseers of the Poor on the 29th October, 1906, the costs were 3s. 6d., being 2s. 6d. fee to the clerk of the justices, and 1s. to the constable for serving the summons; and, seeing that in the borough of Wandsworth, county of London, the inclusive charge for summons and service is 6d., will he state why so high a fee as 2s. 6d. was allowed to the justices' clerk at Sutton.
§ MR. GLADSTONEUnder a table of fees payable to Justices' Clerks in Surrey, which was settled in 1901, 2s. 6d. is the proper charge for the summons and hearing in a rate case, and 1s. is chargeable by the police at Sutton for serving the summons. No change can be made in the table of Justices' Clerks fees except at the instance of the Standing Joint Committee, to whom any representations on the subject should be addressed. The fees mentioned are not unusual in counties; I have no information as to fees charged in Wandsworth Borough.