MOTION FOR A SELECT COMMITTEE. (Hansard, 21 June 1880)

EARL DELA WARR
, in moving that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the operation of the Highway Acts, and also to consider whether it may be desirable to consolidate and amend the same, said, that the present state of matters was very unsatisfactory. The object of the Act of 1872 was to improve the highways and to benefit the ratepayers by the formation of highway districts by the union of parishes, in the hope that the burdens on the ratepayers might be thereby reduced. The result, however, had been not a diminution, but an increase of their burdens; and in many parts of the country there was a movement among the ratepayers to get rid of Highway Boards altogether. Under the Act of 1878, which had greatly enlarged the districts, these were in many cases made so large that it was impossible for the surveyor in charge of the roads of a district to look after them. He would refer to the Newark district, which comprised 50 parishes and 229 miles, and to the Nottingham district; and there were others which were, no doubt, well known to many of their Lordships. Another object of the Act was to take over the management of the turnpike roads, and by the abolition of such trusts these roads had fallen upon the ratepayers for maintenance. The mileage of these roads would go on increasing. In some cases the roads had been thrown upon the counties; but it should be remembered that the same persons paid county rates as those who paid the highway rates. The operations under the Act were unjust in many respects, particularly where the poorer districts had to 406 contribute their proportion to the richer districts. Under the system of turnpikes those who used the roads paid for them; but under the present system those who used them paid nothing, or very little, towards their repair. Many instances might be given. The farmers who used the roads very little had to pay considerable sums; while brewers, and timber merchants, and others, paid scarcely anything. It was a question whether some relief should not be given to the ratepayers by altering the incidence of taxation. It was a matter which involved some difficulty, but, at the same time, it was one deserving the attention of their Lordships; and, if the Bill went before a Select Committee, he trusted the question of re-adjusting the incidence of the taxation, with a view to affording some relief to the ratepayers, would be duly considered.

THE MARQUESS OF HUNTLY
said, that the subject of the maintenance of the roads had caused great dissatisfaction in the country, and he knew of no more burning question than this. He complained of the meagre information that was obtainable on the subject. Only on Friday last, for instance, a Return as to turnpikes had been issued, which only came down to the 31st December, 1877. The amount of rateable area in the rural districts was£57,000,000, and only £33,000,000 had adopted the Highways Acts of 1862 and 1864, so that really the Local Government Board, under the old Acts, had only the right to call upon about half of the parishes to furnish Returns as to the roads under their charge. The Act of 1878 gave a complete form of accounts; but as it had only recently come into operation, the Local Government Board had not yet been able to give the Returns. He believed that the Committee asked for would assist in furnishing the public with the information required as to the operation of the Acts, and he suggested that the Committee should look into the whole matter. It was a subject on which it was desirable to have full inquiry.

VISCOUNT ENFIELD
, in reply, said, that Her Majesty's Government and the 407 Local Government Board saw no objection to the proposal of the noble Earl, believing, as they did, that a great deal of valuable evidence would be collected by the Committee. The Acts in question were manifestly incomplete. He hoped that one result would be that some consolidating Act would be brought forward, and trusted that if their Lordships assented to the proposal of the noble Earl, he would give the Committee the benefit of his ability and knowledge in assisting at their deliberations. Since the passing of the former Acts, the highway and sanitary districts had been made coterminous; but the new system had not been in operation long enough to enable the Committee to make their inquiry complete this year; therefore, he would suggest that the labours of the Committee should be continued next Session, and then they would be able to learn how the Act of 1878 had worked, especially with respect to the financial burdens upon the ratepayers in different parts of the Kingdom.