§ Mr. CLAYTONasked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been 419W called to the issue of forms of return under the Rating and Valuation Act which comprise questions as to the capital cost of the hereditament and of any improvements or additions thereto, questions requiring detailed descriptions of the machinery and plant in industrial hereditaments, and also questions, involving matters of opinion and not of fact, as to the estimated value of the hereditament and the plant and machinery which is to be deemed to form part thereof in accordance with Schedule 3 of the Act; and whether he will take steps to bring to the notice of rating authorities the fact that such questions go beyond the scope of the information specified by him in his Order No. 795, prescribing the matters in regard to which information will normally be necessary, and that, unless more uniform procedure is adopted, unnecessary expense to ratepayers will be occasioned?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINMy attention has been called to certain questions of the nature referred to in the forms of return issued by some rating authorities. I am advised that I am not empowered to limit the discretion of local authorities to ask such questions as may be reasonably required for the purposes of carrying out the Act, and I am not, therefore, in a position to issue directions to rating authorities in the matter. The question of the reasonable necessity of any information asked for is one that could in the last resort only be authoritatively determined by the Courts, though I am confident that any differences of opinion as to the reasonableness of questions should generally admit of amicable settlement by conference between the ratepayers and the officers of rating authorities. I, personally, should deprecate any action which would tend to cause avoidable expenditure in the administration of the Act, and I propose to refer the matter to the Central Valuation Committee for consideration at an early date.