MR. CATHCART WASONI beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland if he has received a petition from the inhabitants of Burra Isle, Orkney, complaining that they are rated by the local authority much higher than they agreed for when the work was first prepared; and whether, under all the circumstances of the case and the poverty of the island he will permit an officer of the Congested Districts Board to furnish a report on the subject, especially with reference to any scheme whereby the working expenses can be decreased or the revenue augmented.
§ MR. SINCLAIRI have received no petition on the subject referred to. The Congested Districts Board gave a grant of three-quarters of the total estimated cost of this work, which has been finished and must be maintained by the county council under the Orkney and Shetland Small Piers and Harbours Act of 1896. I do not think a report such as that suggested by my hon. friend would serve any useful purpose.