§ MR. BOWLES (Lambeth, Norwood)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether he can state the expenditure of all the water companies absorbed by the Metropolitan Water Board during the last year of their separate existence, and the total expenditure of that Board during its last completed financial year.
(Answered by Mr. John Burns.) I am informed that the accounts of the Metropolitan Water Board are not yet completed for the financial year 1907–8, but that their total expenditure for 1906–7 amounted to £3,233,042, including £391,454 in respect of capital expenditure. The corresponding expenditure of the water companies absorbed by the Water Board for the last available complete year of their separate existence amounted to £3,496,347, including capital expenditure amounting to £827,045.