§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Strachie.)
THE EARL OF CAMPERDOWNThe noble Lord in charge of this Bill will remember that I gave him notice last night that I should renew a question I put to him then in the hope that he would be able to give me a slightly more favourable answer. It is most desirable, whether in England or in Scotland, that there should be more recognised principles on which Committees may proceed when considering these questions, or indeed on which they themselves might be able to arrive at an arrangement beforehand so as to prevent its being necessary to have these Bills opposed in Parliament. It is quite as much in the interest of the burghs as it is of the counties, but I believe that the Secretary for Scotland only proposes to take this matter up as regards Scotland if the two parties are agreed beforehand. I know that there has been a difference in this matter, but it has been limited to a very few of the burghs. For instance, the City of Glasgow came here last year and obtained a very large extension, but owing to there being no principles on which to proceed I believe the City of Glasgow had to pay a much larger sum than they would have had to pay if this Bill had been applied to Scotland. When the Secretary for Scotland says that he will only undertake to deal with the matter if the parties are agreed, I am afraid that is making almost no promise at all. Surely some pressure ought to be put upon them, and I venture to hope the 1727 noble Lord will give me some assurance that the Secretary for Scotland will take more definite proceedings than those which were indicated here the other night.
§ LORD STRACHIEMy Lords, thanks to the courtesy of the noble Earl, who told me that he meant to raise this question to-day, I was able to put myself in communication with the Secretary for Scotland, and I am authorised by him to say that he is only too ready to go into this question during the autumn and to see whether he cannot get some agreement between the counties and the burghs, as has been the case in England. But I am authorised to go further than that, and to say that the Secretary for Scotland would be quite ready to consider whether it would be desirable to initiate legislation even if the whole of them were not agreed. Supposing the great majority are agreed, or he is satisfied that the circumstances are such that he might proceed although there is not absolute agreement, he would be happy to do so if he was satisfied that by so doing he would be able to remedy the distinct difficulty that exists. I hope that will satisfy the noble Earl.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly.
§ [The EARL of DOSOUGHMORE in the Chair.]
§ Clause 1:
§ Amendment of law as to adjustments on alteration of local government boundaries, and extension of matters in respect of which adjustment may be made.
§ 1.—(1) On any adjustment under section thirty-two or section sixty-two of the Local Government Act, 1888, or under section sixty-eight of the Local Government Act, 1894—
- (a) Any adjustment of the Local Taxation Licences, the Estate Duty Grant, and the residue under section one of the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act, 1890, shall be carried out in accordance with the rules contained in Part I of the Schedule to this Act:
- (b) Provision shall be made for the payment to any authority of such sum as seems equitable in accordance with the rules contained in Part II of the Schedule to this Act, in respect of any increase of burden which will properly be thrown on the ratepayers of the area of that authority in meeting the cost incurred by that authority in the execution of any of their powers and duties as a consequence of any alteration of boundaries or other change in relation to which the adjustment takes place.
§ (2) This section shall apply to any adjustment made (otherwise than by agreement) under any of the said sections thirty-two and sixty-two of the Local Government Act, 1894, whether as originally enacted or as applied by any other Act, or by any Provisional Order, or by any order made or confirmed by the Local Government Board under the Local Government Act, 1888, or the Local Government Act, 1894, and consequent on an alteration of boundaries or other change effected after the passing of this Act.
§ LORD STRACHIEI have a small drafting Amendment in subsection (2), after the word "applied" in the middle of the subsection, to insert "in England or Wales." The object is to make it perfectly clear that this clause applies only to England and Wales and not to Scotland or Ireland.
§
Amendment moved—
Clause 1, page 2, line 3, after ("applied") insert ("in England or Wales").—(Lord Strachie.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clause agreed to.
§ The Report of Amendments to be received on Monday next, and Bill to be printed as amended. (No. 167.)