§ Sir HENRY CRAIK (for Mr. Gardner)asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the diminished consumption of spirits will lead to a reduction in the grants from Customs and Excise Duties made to local education authorities under the Technical Instruction Act; if there is such a reduction, will any aid be given to local education authorities who prepared their estimates for 1909–10 before the Budget was introduced; and, if not, will the local rates Buffer by the limitation of their share of the Customs and Excise Duties to the produce at the old rate of duty?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEIt is not at present possible to say to what extent the diminished consumption of spirits during the current financial year will affect the amount of the payments to local taxation accounts under the Customs and Inland Revenue Act, 1890, still less to what extent any reduction in the payments to those accounts may affect the contributions which county councils are empowered to make out of their shares of those payments for the purposes of technical instruction under Section 1 (2) of the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act, 1890. It would, therefore, be premature to enter into a discussion of the contingencies contemplated in the latter part of the question.