§ MR. TILLETT (Norwich)To ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that an application from the Norfolk and Norwich Law Society for the establishment of a local stamping office has been refused; and will he explain why the facilities already granted to towns of the size of Derby and York cannot be extended to the city of Norwich, whose population exceeds 120,000.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) The great bulk of the documents sent up from Norwich for stamping consists of large batches of forms to be impressed with the duty of 1d. Stamping of this kind requires the installation of power machinery on a large scale, and the provision of the ordinary stamping machines in use at provincial offices would not enable it to be done locally. The ordinary stamping work at Norwich is not sufficient to justify the extension to that city of the facilities granted to the other places referred to by the hon. Member.