§ 47. Mr. Joynson-Hicksasked the Attorney-General upon what basis the revised fees payable to the Public Trustee under S.R. and O., 1947, 2720, 23 have been arrived at; and whether he is aware that the new fees range up to 1,200 per cent. in excess of those charged by responsible trustee corporations.
§ The Solicitor - General (Sir Frank Soskice)The revised fees payable to the Public Trustee under S.R. & O., 1947, 2720, were fixed, in accordance with Section 9 of the Public Trustee Act, 1906, upon the basis that they should produce an annual amount sufficient to discharge the salaries and other expenses incidental to the working of the Act and no more. The fees payable to the Public Trustee prior to 1st January, 1948, had remained unaltered since 1926. No useful comparison between the fees charged by the Public Trustee and another trust corporation can be made by reference to particular fees but only by comparing the total of the fees charged in cases of a similar nature. I am quite unaware of any case in which the total fees of the Public Trustee would exceed the total fees of another trust corporation by any figure of the order of 1,200 per cent.
§ Mr. Joynson-HicksIs it not a fact that the general level of fees now being charged by the Public Trustee range up to 400 per cent. in excess of those charged by trustee corporations, and is not that itself an exceedingly bad example for the Public Trustee to set, when compared with the fees charged by City interests and private enterprise?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe circumstances of private corporations and the Public Trustee Corporation differ in many respects, but the increase over the 1926 rates is, in the main, something in the region of 33⅓ per cent. It is true that the present difference in the rates between the Public Trustee and private institutions is something like three or four times, but, in 1926, it was already something like two or three times as much, so that the difference in degree has altered very slightly.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftHow does this agree with the Government's policy of keeping prices down?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralA great many people think they get excellent service from the Public Trustee, and that will account for the very great volume of business at the rates which he charges.
§ Sir William DarlingWould the Solicitor-General agree that the charges made by the Public Trustee are worth the extra amount charged as compared with the charges of private corporations?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe Public Trustee gives full value for all the fees which he charges.