§ MR. RENDALL (Gloucestershire, Thornbury)To ask the hon. Member for the Crewe Division, as Church Estates Commissioner, what is the total number of houses licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors now the property of the Commissioners; and what additions or reductions have been made during the last twenty years.
(Answered by Mr. Tomkinson.) The Answers given by the hon. Member for the Hallam Division of Sheffield on 8th March, 1906, to a Question put by the hon. Member for West Denbighshire, and on 11th March, 1907, to a Question put by the hon. Member for Doncaster, and the answer given by myself on 18th March last to a Question put by the hon. Member for South Hackney respectively, contain practically all the information asked for by the hon. Member. That. Answer was: The total number of 26 public-houses in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners' estates was 332. Within the last twenty years 100 fully-licensed houses in London alone have been reduced, a time-limit having been given to the tenant, to take effect at the end of the lease. The policy of the Commissioners is to reduce the number of licences on their properties by allowing them to lapse whenever the lease falls in, unless special circumstances and the requirements of the neighbourhood call for their renewal. Beerhouse licences are never renewed.