§ 22. Mr. CLOUGHasked the President of the Local Government Board if he is aware that Sidney Orme Rowan-Hamilton, esquire, barrister-at-law, has been appointed certifying officer, and that he has given notice to hold sittings from 28th September to 2nd October next, for the purpose of certifying for payment of expenses certifiable by a revising barrister in relation to the preparation of the register of electors in the present year, to all the overseers in every township or place in the Skipton Parliamentary Division; whether he will state what fees were paid to the revising barrister for the fulfilment of his duties in the Skipton Division during 1914, and what fees will be paid to this certifying officer in 1915; and whether this certification could have been performed by an auditor of the local authority or of the Local Government Board with equal efficiency at much less cost?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Hayes Fisher)Mr. Rowan-Hamilton has been appointed certifying officer for the Skipton Division and also for the Keighley and Shipley Divisions and the Parliamentary Borough of Bradford. In addition to the certification of expenses in these areas, he is required to assist in the performance of other duties devolving upon the Local Government Board under the Elections and Registration Act. His remuneration is fixed at £120; his remuneration as a revising barrister was £262 10s. As regards the last part of the question, my right hon. Friend considered it desirable to employ for the purpose of the duties referred to persons who had been revising barristers.