§ 69. Mr. DENMANasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can give an estimate of the additional annual sum that would be required if the remission proposed in the Tithe Bill were increased from the excess of one-third to the excess of one-quarter of Schedule B assessments?
§ Mr. ELLIOTAs stated by the Royal Commission on Tithe Rentcharge in their report, no statistics are available showing the annual values computed according to Schedule B of the land subject to tithe rentcharge, and it is not possible to give actual figures. The Royal Commission in 1959 their report estimated that with annuities at the rate of £91 11s. 2d. per £100 (par value) tithe rentcharge, the total annual amount which would be remitted on the basis of the excess over one-third of the Schedule B value of the land would be £200,000, and I see no reason to challenge that estimate. It is clear that, if the remission were increased from the excess over one-third to the excess over one-quarter of the Schedule B value, the amount of increased remission would be greater than that represented by the arithmetical proportion of one-third and one-quarter. For the reason given above, however, I regret that I am not in a position to give an estimate of the actual amount of money which would be involved by such a change.