HC Deb 06 April 1939 vol 345 cc3011-2W
Mr. Granville

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that arrears of tithe rent charge, which do not enjoy the advantages of reduction and limitation allowed to tithe annuities under the 1936 Act, are collected by the new and more stringent methods prescribed by that Act; and whether he will take steps to get this inequitable arrangement altered?

Captain Wallace

The Tithe Act, 1936, provides for the review by the Arrears Investigation Committee of arrears of tithe rent charge with a view to remission or recovery by instalments in appropriate cases. The results of the committee's review were set out in the reply which I gave to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Sudbury (Colonel Burton) on 30th March. As regards the latter part of the question, I cannot agree that the methods of recovery prescribed by the Act are inequitable, or that they call for amending legislation. The Tithe Redemption Commission are always prepared to give sympathetic consideration to any reasonable proposals for payment from those who experience difficulty in meeting their obligations.