HC Deb 31 July 1916 vol 84 cc2234-6

Whereas in pursuance of an agreement made in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-two the sum of ten thousand pounds was advanced by the Public Works Loan Commissioners to the Eyemouth Harbour Trustees on the security of the harbour revenues with the collateral security of the Fishery Board for Scotland:

And whereas by an arrangement confirmed by Section three of the Public Works Loans Act, 1901, the liability of the Eyemouth Harbour Trustees in respect of the said loan was extinguished without prejudice to the liability of the Fishery Board for Scotland to repay that loan, and, in consequence thereof, the said collateral security is the sole security for the repayment of the said loan:

And whereas the terms of the said collateral security are embodied in a memorandum of agreement between the Secretary for Scotland and the Public Works Loan Commissioners, dated the eleventh day of March, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, whereby a portion of the "surplus herring brand fees," as defined in Clause three of the said memorandum, was pledged in security for the repayment of the said loan with interest by the instalments and at the times mentioned in the security given by the Eyemouth Harbour Trustees for the said loan, and it was provided that the said portion of the "surplus herring brand fees" of any one year should only be applicable to the repayment of the one-fiftieth part of principal and interest on outstanding principal falling due under the security for the said loan in the same year, and should not be applicable to the repayment of arrears of principal:

And whereas the said portion of the "surplus herring brand fees" so pledged as aforesaid, was in the year ending the thirty-first day of March, nineteen hundred and sixteen, insufficient to discharge in full the instalment of principal with interest which fell due under the security for the said loan in that year, and the principal sum of two hundred pounds, with interest amounting to one hundred and seventy-five pounds fourteen shillings and sixpence, now remains unpaid, and under the terms of the said memorandum of agreement is irrecoverable:

Therefore the said principal sum of two hundred pounds shall be extinguished, and the said arrears of interest amounting to one hundred and seventy-five pounds fourteen shillings and sixpence shall be remitted.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill."

Mr. WATT

Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will be able to explain how it comes about that this sum advanced by the Public Works Loan Commissioners to the Eyemouth Harbour Trustees is written off as a bad debt? Evidently a loan of £10,000 has, been made to the Eyemouth Harbour on the guarantee of the Harbour Trustees and the Fishery Board of Scotland. It appears that neither of them have been able to pay the bank the proportion due this year, and this Clause evidently writes it off as a bad debt. Does the right hon. Gentleman's Department, whenever a debtor cannot pay the proportion of the loan for the year, write it off as a bad debt? I should be glad to have an explanation.

Mr. McKINNON WOOD

I am afraid my hon. Friend does not know the history of this matter. Originally, the loan was advanced on the security of the harbour revenues with the collateral security of the Fishery Board for Scotland, but in 1901 the inability of the Harbour Trustees was extinguished, leaving the collateral security as the sole security for the repayment of the loan. That collateral security is embodied in an agreement dated 11th March, 1892, whereby a portion of the "surplus herring brand fees" of the Board were pledged in security for the repayment of the loan. The operations of naval warfare have interfered with the fishing industry very severely, and I am sure my hon. Friend does not view without sympathy the privations which have necessarily been caused by the constant diminution of the fishing and the herring brand fees. It was arranged that those fees should be used for the purposes of the year, and as there have been no surplus herring brand fees there are no fees to set against this loan. There is no money to help to pay off the loan this year, and, as this arrangement is for the benefit of a Scottish harbour. I am sure that my hon. Friend will be most unwilling to press too severely upon them or to suggest any method of dealing with this matter less generous than that adopted in 1892.

Question put, and agreed to.