§ Mr. Jaggerasked the Attorney-Generd what were the annual surpluses of income over expenditure in the case of the Land Registry during each of the years 1921–22 to 1936–37; and to what purposes have these surpluses been devoted?
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe figures are as follow:
Surplus. Deficit. 1921–22 … — 13,594 1922–23 … 26,082 — 1923–24 … 39,667 — 1924–25 … 43,145 — 1925–26 … 70,217 — 1926–27 … 100,014 — 1927–28 … 82,774 — 1928–29 … 70,742 — 1929–30 … 76,952 — 1930–31 … 44,287 — 1931–32 … 30,973 — 1932–33 … 50,458 — 1933–34 … 84,913 — 1934–35 … 80,216 — 1935–36 … 46,542 — 1936–37 … 43,292 — During the years referred to £203,677 was contributed to the Land Registry Insurance Fund, £136,773 was applied in part repayment of the outstanding capital liability on the Land Registry building and surpluses aggregating £536,230 (of which approximately £358,881 accrued 1990W from the Land Charges and Agricultural Credits Departments and the Middlesex Deeds Department) were surrendered to the Exchequer.
The annual surplus in the Land Registry being greater than was required to give a margin of working safety, the fees in the Land Registration Department were reduced in 1926 and 1930; in the Land Charges Department in 1926 and in 1928; and in the Middlesex Deeds Department in 1928. In all three Departments the fees are in consequence substantially below the pre-war scales.