§ MR. GIBB (Middlesex, Harrow)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the magistrates have just granted the transfer of a licence from the present Ship Inn, about two miles from Pett village, near Hastings, to a new house about to be built about half-a-mile from Pett village; that Pett village has not at present a public-house in or near it and does not want one; that the parish councils concerned have passed unanimous resolutions against the transfer; that memorials, signed by an overwhelming majority of the householders, were presented at the Court in opposition to the transfer; and whether he proposes to take any steps to prevent the people of Pett having a public-house thrust upon them against their will.
§ (Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) I have obtained a Report on the case from the clerk to the magistrates who dealt with it, and find that the facts on one side are substantially as stated in the Question. The case appears to have been carefully dealt with by the magistrates, who heard what was to be said on both sides. The decision is entirely in their discretion, and I have no jurisdiction in the matter; but I may point out that the grant of the removal of the licence does not take effect unless confirmed by the East Sussex Quarter Sessions, and that it is open to anyone who opposed the grant to oppose also the confirmation.