§ CAPTAIN CLIVE (Herefordshire, Ross)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state why the Exchequer contribution to the County Council of Herefordshire during the last financial year was less by ££2,150 than in the year ending the 31st March, 1907.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) My right hon. friend has asked me to reply to this Question. At the time when arrangements were being made by the Local Government Board for the payment to the councils of counties and county boroughs of the instalment which was distributed last month, on account of the financial year, 1907–8, out of the sums payable into the Local Taxation Account, as the equivalent of the proceeds of the local taxation licence duties and the estate duty grant, it was found that the amount available for distribution was appreciably less than the amount available at the corresponding period of the previous year. In the circumstances, the councils were generally paid the same sums that they received in March, 1906, on account of the financial Year, 1905–6. In the case of Herefordshire, however, the produce of the local taxation licence duties during the eleven months ended February, 1908, was about £460 less than in the corresponding period of 1905–6, and therefore, in that case, the sum paid was rather less than in March, 1906. In the result the payment made to the county council in March, 1908, was £2,150 less than in March, 1907. A final payment remains to be made to the councils on the same account in respect of the year 1907–8; and the latest returns as to the proceeds of the duties for the year point to the 1072 probability that in the case of the county of Hereford this final payment will be somewhat larger than the corresponding payment made on account of the year 1906–7.