§ (1.) The expenses of and incidental to the exercise by the water board of their powers and duties under this Act shall be defrayed by the councils of the metropolitan counties in proportion to the total annual value of the parishes in each county situate within the metropolitan water area, and supplied wholly or partly with water by any of the metropolitan water companies, but any parish which is not so situate or so supplied shall be exempt from contribution towards those expenses.
§ (2.) For the purposes of this section "annual value" shall mean the value as determined for the purpose of the county rate, or in the case of a county borough for the purposes of the borough rate.
§ *LORD JAMES OF HEREFORDmoved in Subjection (1), after the words "or so supplied shall," to insert the words
unless the County Council resolve that the expenses shall be defrayed as general expenses.He said that by the Bill, as drawn, the expenses of the Trust were thrown entirely upon the parishes supplied with water by the Water Companies. In the course of communications which had passed, it had been ascertained that in some of the counties, especially in one, a few parishes only were supplied with water. Under these circumstances it would be very hard upon those parishes if the expenses were thrown upon them. He had, therefore, introduced the present Amendment, which would enable the County Council to determine whether the expenses should be borne generally by the county, or only by the parishes. He thought that the suggestion contained in the Amendment was a reasonable one.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 7,—