ALTERATION OF SCOTTISH BOUNDARIES.

HL Deb 11 March 1895 vol 31 cc742-4

^*LORD BALFOUR rose— To call attention to the Orders issued by the Secretary for Scotland regarding the alterations of boundaries in the case of the burgh of Stirling and the parish of St. Ninians; and in the case of the burgh of Ayr, and the parish of St. Quivox; and to ask what instructions were issued to the sheriffs who held the inquiries; and whether the Secretary for Scotland will have any objection to making public the reports he received in these cases?'' He said he would state briefly why it was necessary to raise the question. With regard to the burgh of Stirling and the parish of St. Ninians, he knew the whole circumstances of those places intimately, and he considered he was not going too far when he said that there was no necessity whatever for the change which had been made, or was proposed to be made, by the Order issued by the Secretary for Scotland. In the case of the burgh of Stirling, there was absolutely no allegation whatever that any benefit could possibly arise, either with regard to the administration of the Poor Law relief or facilitating the work of the Parish Council in the future. Every authority in the district had objected to the alteration of the boundaries. The Parochial Board and the Kirk Session had objected, and petitions had been signed by over 500 ratepayers in the district against the change proposed. Amongst the anomalies which would be created, if the Order was carried into effect, was, that the Church and churchyard of the parish of St. Ninians would cease to be in the civil parish, and would be transferred to the burgh of Stirling. Many of the inhabitants of the parish believed that their claim to certain local endowments would be seriously prejudiced by the alteration, and a very strong feeling had been aroused in respect to the rate. The Boundary Commission, which was appointed under the Local Government Act of 1889, was asked to make this very alteration, and at that time it was refused. He thought it was a little hard that, without their knowing the reason which had actuated the Secretary for Scotland, so radical and violent a change had been made as to take one-sixth of the valuation from St. Ninians and add it to the burgh of Stirling. The point he wished to put was, if the Order were in accordance with the report of the Sheriff who held the inquiry, surely it would strengthen their hands to publish the report and if it were not in accordance with the report; it appeared to him that that Enquiry was a delusion and a sham. The main question with regard to the burgh of Ayr was very much the same. He did not desire to call in question the alteration of the boundaries of the burgh, but what his friends in the locality did not understand was, why the landward parishes—the parish of Ayr and the parish of St. Quivox—had been united. They were separated throughout their whole length by the river Ayr, and there was no community of feeling between the people of the two landward parishes. It would cause the greatest confusion in educational matters. The county clerk of Ayr had written to him to the effect that in the case of Ayr landward, as denned for School Board purposes, the School Board of that part of the parish, and of the quoad sacra parish of Alloway, were joined together by the Order so far as it related to School Board purposes could not easily be understood.

THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (Lord TWEEDMOUTH)

, in reply, said, that the instructions to the Sheriffs who held the inquiries were purely general. They were requested to hold a local inquiry on terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act into the various applications, and to report upon their general expediency or otherwise, the adjustment of the financial details being reserved for subsequent arrangement if necessary. There was no special instruction to the Sheriffs at all. The Secretary for Scotland did not see his way to publish the reports of the Sheriffs. The Secretary for Scotland was himself responsible for the decision as to the division or junction of these parishes. The reports received from the various Sheriffs and other gentlemen who had conducted inquiries, were confidential documents submitted for the information of the Secretary for Scotland, and had in no case been communicated to the public. The course adopted in these particular cases was in accordance with that which had been followed in other cases where applications had been made to place the whole of a burgh within a single parish. In the case of Stirling, the 40 days' notice within which representations might be received, expired on 6th instant, and representations from St. Ninians Parochial Board, arid from certain ratepayers, were receiving careful consideration. In the case of Ayr (where the Poor Rate was 5d. in Ayr parish, 1s. in Newton-on-Ayr parish, and 1s. 5d. in St. Quivox parish), the 40 days had not yet expired, and certain representations as to the educational aspect of the proposed Order were now under the consideration of the Secretary for Scotland, in consultation with the Law Officers. The reason for joining St. Ninians with Stirling was that at this moment, for all purposes except Poor Law relief, St. Ninians was part of the burgh of Stirling. Stirling supplied it with water, gas, and police, and one street ran down two portions of the burgh and a portion of the one side of the street was in Stirling and a portion in St. Ninians. He could not agree with the noble Lord as to the universality of opinion in favour of St. Ninians remaining separate. On the contrary, he should like to quote the following extract from a letter from the county clerk— To those who are on the spot, and really know how matters stand, nothing would be more ridiculously wide of the mark than the statement that the Order is regarded by anybody as injurious to their interests and those of the poor. The village part of the parish of St. Ninians is already part and parcel of Stirling for every purpose, save only that of Poor Law relief, and it is absurd to suppose that anyone can believe that to make poor Law relief follow every other phase of civic life will prove injurious. So far as the village population is concerned, the real feeling is one of indifference whether the village is merged in Stirling or not. In the landward part of the parish, on the other hand, the feeling in favour of the Order is practically unanimous. There is entire absence of community of interest between the two parts of the parish, and now that elective Parish Councils are about to be established, the landward people desire the management of their own affairs. I am convinced that there is not a case in Scotland in which an Amalgamation Order would be more beneficial. The Secretary for Scotland had other information to the same effect and he (Lord Tweedmouth) was bound to say he thought the proper course had been followed.