§ 67. Mr. CROOKSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been drawn to the remuneration paid to tax collectors in country districts and the conditions of their work; whether he is aware that for a collector to cover an area eighteen miles in length, comprising a dozen parishes, working four and a-half days per week all the year round, at a total remuneration as collector and assessor of £29 10s., less expenses £8 10s., is a typical case; that, although these men received a 10 per cent, increase last year, their work has been trebled; that they have been urged to expedite the collection of the taxes in the interests of the country; and whether he will consider the desirability of substantially increasing the remuneration of these men, who individually collect thousands of pounds in the course of the year, of having a new delimitation of districts, and of reforming the present methods under which the men have to work?
§ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (Mr. McKenna)I think my right hon. Friend must be under a misapprehension. So far from the case in the question being typical of country collections, I am not aware that any instance of it exists, nor has the delimitation of districts given rise to any difficulty. Unquestionably recent legislation has added largely to the work of collectors. This matter has engaged the attention of the Board of Inland Revenue with the result that the remuneration of collectors throughout the country has been substantially increased.