§ MR. SUMMERBELLI beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board if he can state the number of authorities in England during the past year that have received permission to raise loans for the purpose of carrying out schemes for providing work for the unemployed; whether, in a number of such cases, it has been stipulated that the money so raised shall be paid back in twenty years; that in such cases an extension of time has been asked for; and, if so, can he state whether it is the intention of the Government to extend the time for the repayment of such loans.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. JOHN BURNS,) BatterseaThe number of local authorities who during 1907 received sanction to raise loans for carrying out schemes undertaken on account of the want of employment in their districts was forty-two. The period sanctioned for the repayment of the loan depended on the nature of the work. In eighteen cases it was twenty years, and in only one of these cases was an extension of this period asked for. In that case, the loan was sanctioned for laying out a public pleasure ground, and the term of twenty years is that usually allowed for the repayment of loans for works of the kind, whether undertaken on account of the want of employment or not. There does not appear to me to be any sufficient reason for extending it.