§ MR. F. E. SMITH (Liverpool, Walton)I beg to ask the Prime Minister whether he can state approximately how many Italian warehousemen, co operative stores, grocers, confectioners, refreshment caterers, and other similar businesses will be affected by the inclusion of off-licences within the provisions of the Licensing Bill as regards monopoly value, local option, and prohibition.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI beg to answer this Question on behalf of my right hon. friend. The Licensing Statistics for 1907, show that out of a total of 25,143 off-licenses, 14,024 were held in respect of premises where other goods besides liquor are sold. This figure would cover the trades indicated by the hon. and learned Member, but I have no information as to the number of off-licences held in connection with each of the trades.
§ MR. BARNARD (Kidderminster)I beg to ask the Prime Minister if he can state how many licensing benches there will be under the Licensing Bill, the population in the smallest five licensing districts under the 1901 census, and how many parishes there will be with a population under fifty to which the local option proposals will apply.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI beg to answer this Question on behalf of my right hon. friend. The Licensing Bill makes no alteration in the number of licensing districts. That number is at present 993. The respective populations of the five smallest districts are 265, 719, 1216, 1217 and 1328. Lastly, I understand that there are 759 rural parishes with a population of less than fifty.
§ MR. BARNARDWill an opportunity be given for discussing this matter seeing that it was precluded by the operation of the closure?
§ *MR. GLADSTONEI must ask for notice.