§ 88. Mr. CAUTLEYasked the Minister of Health whether he can state what is the present amount of the grant paid to the local taxation account under the provisions of the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, and what it was in 1897; and what is the present total rate collected and spent by the spending authorities under such Act in England and Wales in 1918 and in 1897?
§ Dr. ADDISONThe present amount of the annual grant to be paid into the Local Taxation Account under the provisions of the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, is £1,323,827: in 1897 the amount was certified at £1,331,034. The total amount of rates, to which the Act applies, collected in respect of the year ended March, 1897, for the spending authorities referred to was £20,800,000. The corresponding figure for 1917 (the latest year for which the returns are complete) is approximately £47,800,000. Only a small proportion of the total relates to agricultural land.