§ Sir FORTESCUE FLANNERYasked the President of the Local Government Board whether his attention has been called to the error in drafting Section 19 of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890, upon the subject of the ownership and responsibility for maintenance of sewers, so that under that section a private drain taking the drainage of more than one house belonging to the same owner is a sewer, repairable by the local authorities, whereas in cases of houses similarly drained but belonging to dif- 2588W ferent owners the local authorities are not responsible for them; whether the Local Government Board have received a memorial asking that a private Bill drafted to rectify this mistake shall be accepted as a Government measure; and whether the Government can see their way to adopt the Bill or to assist it as a non-contentious-measure?
§ Mr. BURNSI am aware of the difficulties that surround the present law with regard to sewers and drains. I have received the memorial alluded to in the question. Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the Private Bill to which reference is made, I may say that I shall be very glad if it is possible to arrive in a non-contentious manner at a settlement of the problem, and I believe that efforts are being made to that end.