LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL TAXATION m> '^iii'ii^^ici^^^^^^'^^'^'' "" ENGLAND AND WALES WRIGHT & HOBHOUSE FIFTH EDITION local o^_ ^.^ 4i^ T^<3>. "> Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L-1 l^n^ 1 5 ^^•- rf^ '■J-. r *^^W I s 1933 AUG ^ 1 ^3^ J^n ^ \o>i^1 >l ^6^^^^ FEB 2 3 1950 / AX OTTLIXE OF LOCAL GOVEKNMEXT AND LOCAL TAXATION IN EXGLAXD AXD WALKS (EXCLUDIXG LOXnON) ];Y TlI!'. LATK. SIR EOBEirr S. WRIGHT (sometime a judge of the high court of justice) AND THE RT. HON. HENRY HOBHOUSE CHAIUMAN of THE SOMEKSET COUNTY COUNCII,, M.P. FOB EAST SOMERSET 18K")— 190() FIFTH EDITION 1 » , J . • ' • 43113 LONDON : SAVKET cV MAXWKEL, LTD., .^. Tii wckim Ewk, WP. 2 Ldir I'lilil i>artly of its own members, for the transaction of any business committed to them, subject to the approval of the council itself. Two or more parish councils may also a])])oint a joint committee for any purpose in wliidi tliey are jointly interested.*"' In small rural |):iiishes where there is no council, parish property is to be held l)y the chairman and overseers as a body corporate, and a committee of the jjarisli meeting may be at any time appointed to act in any special matters subject to the a])proval of the meeting. An urban parish has no parish council, bui any powers and duties of a ])arish council may be vested in 1lu> nrl)an distiict council or other rejiresentative body by an ordei' ol th(> Minisdy of TIc;illh. In llic an dis- * 1917, f. r,4, m. MO; 1921, c. 34; 1897, c. 1. " 1899, c. 10. 4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. tricts tlie power of appointing^ overseers lias by such orders been vested in the town council or urban district council. Where no such order has been made, the old vestry still remains the govern- ing" body for nominating the overseers (who are then appointed by the justices), and for certain other civil purposes. By the Welsh Church Act, 1914, the powers and duties of vestries and churchwardens in Welsh boroughs and urban districts were transferred to the borough and urban district councils except so far as they related to the affairs of the Church or to charities. The appointment of the overseers and assistant overseers of the parishes in these borough and urban districts was vested in the borough and district councils.^ In English parishes the ecclesiastical powers of the old parish vestry (common or select) are now transferred to the new parochial church councils constituted by a measure passed by the National Assembl}' of the Church of England and confirmed by Parlia- ment (i).* Overseers. — The principal civil officers of a rural parish are the chairman of the parish council or parish meeting, and the " over- seers of the poor." The overseers are appointed annually in April by the parish council, or, where there is no council, by the annual parish meeting. Under the Poor Law Act of 1601 their number was to be from two to four, and the churchwardens w^ere associated with them ; but the Act of 1894, which divested the churchwardens in rural parishes of their civil duties, provides that two additional overseers may be appointed in their stead. In small parishes, how- ever, there need only be one overseer. In cases of omission to appoint, the guardians of the union are to fill the vacancy. An overseer should be a substantial householder (male or female) of the parish; but where there is no fit inhabitant in the parish, an inhabitant householder of an adjoining parish may be appointed, with his consent. The office is unpaid and is compulsory, subject to appeal, and to various exemptions and disqualifications. The principal duties of the overseers are the collection of the poor rate and other rates, and the preparation of valuation lists for rates. Their other duties include the giving of poor relief in urgent cases and the preparation of lists of jurors and electors (/).^ Assistant Overseers, S(c. — A parish council may appoint one or more salaried assistant overseers to perform all or any of the duties 7 1914, c. 91, ss. 8, 25. 8 1921, (N. A. 1). 9 1601, c. 2; 1744, c. 38, s. 15; 1819, c. 12; 1866, c. 113; 1898-4, c. 73, ss. 5, 19, 50. THE PARISH. O of overseers. The same person cannot be overseer and assistant. There is no g^eneral power for parishes to appoint collectors of rates. But under the Act of 1844 they may, by order of the Ministry of Health, be appointed by the g-uardians of a union for any parish or parishes in the union. Where the guardians have appointed a collector, the parish council cannot appoint an assistant overseer, but may invest the collector with any of the duties of overseers. Assistant overseers and rate collectors must obey the directions of the majority of the overseers, and the overseers are not exempt from an}" responsibility by reason of the appointment of an assistant or collector.^" In a rural parish the parish council may appoint a clerk, who may be either a councillor unpaid, or the assistant overseer, rate collector or other tit person, with remuneration. A councillor or other person may be appointed treasurer without remuneration, and is to give security. The clerk or chairman of the parish council is, as a rule, to take charge of all civil parish documents. ^^ Vestry Clerl-. — In an urban parish with more than 2,000 popula- tion a salaried vestry clerk may be elected by the vestry under an order of the Ministry of Health. His duty is ordinarily to per- form or assist in performing the functions of the churchwardens and overseers. The Ministry of Health has also a general power to remove paid parish officers employed in relation to poor relief {k).^- (3) PURPOSES AND EXPENSES OF PARISH OPGAXIZA- TIOX. — The purposes of parish organization, which had been much diminished by the Poor Law Amendment, Highway District, and Public Health Acts, were (except as regards rural highways) ex- tended by the Local Government Act, 1894. They include the m.anagement of all civil parish property, including village greens, recreation grounds, and allotments; the ]irovision of ])arochial buildings for offices and ))ieetiiigs (/), of recreation grounds and public walks, and of parish chests, books, fire-engines, fire-escapes, &c. ; the utilization of existing sources of water su])ply, and the removal of petty nuisances; the acquirement ])y agreement of, and the consent to sto|)j)iiig- of, lig-hts of way, and (he acce])tance of gifts of ])roperty for the l>enefit of tlie inhabitants ; the appointment of certain trustees of j)arorliial chiuities, and tlu^ audit of such 10 im9, c. 12. s. 7; IMl. c 101, ss. fil, f)'2 ; IfiHC), r. 113. 11 1893-4, 8. 17. 12 18.50, c. .57; 1917. r. CI, h. 17; 18.^1, r. 7r,. s. -18. 6 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. charity accounts; the hiring of land for allotments, and the right of applying to the county council for the compulsory taking of land either by hire or purchase. These powers are ordinarily vested in the parish council, subject in certain cases to the control of the parish meeting. But in a rural parish where there is no parish couiicil they may be exercised, either with or without an order of the county council, by the parish meeting. In an urban parish any of these powers may be vested in the urban district council or other representative body by an order of the Ministry of Health. Certain "adoptive Acts," i.e., those for lighting, and for estab- lishing public baths and wash-houses, burial grounds, recreation grounds, public libraries and museums, may be adopted by the parish meeting of any rural parish for the whole or (in some cases) for part of the parish, and when adopted are to be carried out by the parish council (see Chs. VIII., IX., XIY., XX.). ^^ A parish council or meeting has also a right of complaint to the district or county council in case of unhealthy dwellings, defective sewers or water supply, or the neglect of the district council to enforce in any other respect the sanitary laws, or to repair roads in a parish, or to take steps for providing houses for the working classes, if needed. It has also power (concurrentlj^ with the district council) to guarantee the Post Office against loss incurred in providing additional postal facilities beneficial to the parish. It is the duty of a parish council to acquire land for allotments for the resident labouring population, where there is a demand for them. A parish council may be invested by the county council with powers to acquire land, make bye-laws, &c., under the Open Spaces Acts. A parish council or parochial committee may be empowered to carry out any of the provisions of the Public Health Acts by delegation from the rural district council. The parish council and meeting have no educational powers, except those of appointing one or more managers of any public elementary school serving the parish. (See Chs. IX., XV., XYI.).^* In addition to their organization for the above purposes all parishes must be regarded as forming constituent units of poor law unions (except where the " union " comprises only one parish), and rural parishes must be regarded as forming constituent units of rural districts. Parishes in administrative counties must for cer- 13 1893-4, as. 7, 53. 14 1893-4, ss. 6 (2), 16; 1909, c. 44, s. 10: 1895, c. 18; 1898, c. 18; 1908, c. 36, s. 23; 1899, c. 30, s. 17; 1919, c. 50, s. 22. THE PAEISH. tain county purposes {e.g. tlie levy of county contributions and the preparation of the county rate basis) be regarded as constituent units of the administrative county. The urban parish is now in the great majority of cases conterminous with the borough or other urban district : in only a minority of cases does a borough or other urban district comprise two or more parishes. As organized for the purposes of the overseers the parish is a district for the assessment and collection of the poor rates and certain other rates, and for the preparation of jury lists and lists of parliamentary and local government electors. ^'^ Poor Rate. — The parish rate is the poor rate. It is leviable by the overseers in respect of all rateable hereditaments within the parish, at an equal amount per pound of rateable value, except that the occupier of agricultural land is liable to pay one-half only of the amount in the pound payable in respect of buildings and other hereditaments (see p. 57, note (f) ). The greater part of the poor rate of each parish is levied for purposes other than the relief of the poor and the expenses of the parish council, parish meeting, and overseers. The overseers have to include in the poor rate, and collect, rate moneys required by county councils, boards of guardians, rural district councils, and some other local authori- ties (m). (See p. 53 and Ch. XXI.).^« The expenses of a parish council or meeting are to be paid out of the poor rate, but the rate raised in any one year for parish pur- poses, including debt charges, is not to exceed 6d. in tlie £; but where there is a parish council additional rates may be levied for any of the " adoptive Acts." The consent of a parish meeting is, however, required for incurring a rate exceeding 3d. in tlie £. Some of the "adoptive Acts" (see pj). 81, 163) contain special exemptions for agricultural land as regards liability to be rated. ^^ A parish council may, witli the consents of the parish meeting, the county council, and llic Ministry' of Healtli, raise loans u]) to one-half of the assessable value of the ])arish for purchasing land or buihlings, or for fdlici- |i('niia iiciil works, and may borrow from the county council oi' elsewhere on the security of tlio poor rate (n). All parish accounts are to be audited by tlic dishicl auditors appointed by the ^finistry fif Healtli, and to l)e o|icii to inspection by any elector. (Sec ("li. XXI., p. 183). i'- l'.)J7, c. CA, K. 12, Sched. I. >« If.Ol, c. 2; ISOf), c. IG; 1920, c. 22. '7 189.3-4, H8. 11, 12. 10, 58. 8 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. NOTES. Note (a). — Township and rnrish. — The following note shows the historical relations of the different parochial areas: — (i.) The oldest unit is probably the townshii3 (ty thing or vill) organized for maintenance of the peace under an elected tythingman, headborough, or bors- holder, to which was often attached as a lesser member a hamlet or other dependency. Coke estimated the number of townships at 8,803. (1 Inst. 116a.) (ii.) On the township was sujierimposed the ecclesiastical parish, which sometimes corresponded with the township, sometimes (especially in the South) included only a part of a township, sometimes (especially in the North) included two or more and often many townships, and sometimes had no relation to the township area. It is not known how or when the division of the county into ecclesiastical parishes was made, but it appears to have been nearly complete in the time of Edward I. (Taxatio Ecclesiastica, 1288 — 92, which however is, strictly, a list of taxable benefices, not j^arishes). The area of the parish seems to have been determined partly by townships, partly (as in Liverpool and Berwick) by boroughs, partly by manors, partly by the lands which paid tithe to the church. Places for any reason exempt from tithe were generally also extra-jDarochial. (iii.) During the 13th and 14th centuries the parish remained chiefly an ecclesiastical area and the vestry an ecclesiastical assembly. iNIeanwhile, the civil matters of the locality were usually administered in, and the constables, haywards, and other civil officers appointed by, the manor court, which had in most places replaced the old township organization. From about the year '1535 (when the parish churchwardens became charged by statute with the civil duty of poor relief) the parish may be regarded as a civil unit. This " ancient civil parish " (so called here for distinction from the modern civil or i^oor law parish) coincides in general with the ecclesiastical parish, subject to accidental or customary exceptions. See B. v. Watson, L. R. 3 Q. B. 762, for an instance of a place titheable in one parish, but rateable in another. (iv.) The modern civil or poor law parish, in so far as it adopts the town- ship (see next note), is a revival of the more ancient unit. Note (h). — Foor Law Parish. — The poor law parish differs from the ancient civil i^arish in many cases, jDartly through usages by which townships or other sub-divisions of ancient parishes have acquired a right of appointing separate overseers or of being sejDarately rated for the jDOor, and partly by the opera- tion of certain statutes. Thus by an Act of 1662 there are to be separate overseei's for every "township or village" in the large jjarishes. By an Act of 1819 parishes partly within and partly without a town corporate or liberty are divided for poor law purposes. Acts of 1857 and 1868 provide for the appointment of overseers in extra-patochial places, and for the annexation or incorporation of such places with adjoining parishes, and the latter Act also provides that every riparian parish should extend to low-water mark or mid- stream. Under the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1867, and the Divided Parishes Acts, 1876 to 1882, detached parts of parishes may be merged in the surrounding parish or organized as separate parishes. Under the same Act of 1867 large parishes may be divided by provisional orders of the Ministry of Health, but these powers are now supplemented by the powers given to the county council by the Local Government Acts to divide, unite, and alter parishes by order confirmed by the Ministry of Health. Many detached parts of parishes still remain, some of them incidentally created by the operation THE rAitisii. y of the Local Government Act, 1894. (Census Report, 1911, Vol. I.). For further changes made in parish boundaries by the Local Government Act, 1894, see note (/), below. By the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1844, the creation of new poor law parishes by the appointment of separate overseers is prohibited excei:)t in the cases provided for by the subsequent Acts above mentioned.^'' Note (c). — Ecclesiastical Parish. — The Ecclesiastical Commissioners liave, under the Church Building Acts, 1818 to 1884, and New Parishes Acts, 1843 to 1856. power with certain consents to divide a parish into two or more separate parishes " for any ecclesiastical purposes whatsoever." Where a new ecclesiastical parish is formed under these Acts, separate churchwardens are elected ; but these have never had any poor law or civil functions, and the inhabitants of tiie new parish retain their right to vote for the churchwardens of the old parish (B. v. Stephens, 23 L. J. g. B. 90). Note ((/). — Xumher. — In 1911 the total number of poor law parishes in England and Wales (excluding London) was 14,545, while the number of ecclesiastical parishes was 13,711. In only about 6,000 cases did the civil and ecclesiastical boundaries coincide. The substantial decrease (164) in the number of poor law parishes between 1901 and 1911 is mainly due to the marked tendency to amalgamate all the parishes in a borough or urban district jnto a single parish. On the 1st April, 1920, the number of poor law parishes was 14,427 (a further decrease of 118 since 1911). Note (f). — Totrnships, iff. — The poor law parishes, which are townships or other parts of ancient civil or ecclesiastical parishes, are chiefly in Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumberland, W^estmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire and Durham. The only places that are still extra-parochial for poor law j^urposes seem to be twelve small islands. See Census (1911), Vol. II. p. vi. Note (/). — Boundaries. — In 1893 there were about 700 pai-ishes partly within and partly without urban sanitary districts, but by the Local Govern- rhent Act of 1894 (s. 1), these parts were all constituted separate parishes, subject to any alterations made by order of the county council in pursuance of their powers for the alteration of parishes and other areas. There we)-e also parts of 83 parishes overlapping the boundaries of administrative counties. The Act did not directly constitute these separate parishes, but provided (s. 36) that the whole of each parish should by order of joint com- mittees of the county councils be brought within the same administrative county and, except in special cases and for special reasons, the same county district. Parts of parishes in two or more urban districts also become separate parishes, unless the county council for special reasons should other- wise direct. Note (ij). — Barts of Parishes. — In certain cases a jjavish meeting may be held for a part only of a parish. Thus, where a parish is so large or its population so scattered that it is inconvenient to hohl a single meeting for the election of jiarish councillors, the parish may be divided into wards with a separate meeting for clcclions in each ward. Again, the consent df a paiish i* Wr,2. c. 12: 1819. c. i)o ; IKtl. v. 101, s. 22; 1857, c. 19; 18fi7. c. IOC. s. ■^■, 1868. c. 122, s. 27; 1876, c. 61; 187<), c. 54; 1882, c. 58; 1888, c. 41, 8. 57; 18'.in-4, c. 73, H. 36. 10 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. meeting held for a particular part of a parish may by order of the county council be required for any act of the parish council affecting any sejiarate property or rights belonging to that part; or a meeting held for. a particular pai't may require the j^arish council to act, in matters separately concerning that joart, through a committee on which that part of the parish is specially represented. And a parish meeting may be held for a part of a parish for the purpose of some of the " adoptive " Acts.^^ Note (h). — Voters. — Under the Representation of the Peoj^le Act, 1918, a uniform local government franchise is created for county, borough, district, and parish elections. Broadly speaking, the qualification for a man is six months' occupation as owner or tenant of any land or premises in the local government area for the period ending on the 15th January or 15th July preceding. He must have attained the age of twenty-one, and not be subject to any legal incapacity, e.g., lunatic or alien. The term " tenant " includes occujDiers of unfurnished lodgings and service occupiers of dwelling-houses. A woman is entitled to be registered as a local government elector if she has the above qualifications, or has attained the age of thirty years and is the wife of a man entitled to be registered in respect of premises in which they both reside. Any owner of real jirojjerty, by freehold or any other tenure, is qualified to be elected a member of any local government authority for the area in which the property is situated.^" Note (/). — Vestries. — The ordinary organization of a parish for ecclesias- tical purposes ujd to 1921 consisted of a vestry, either common or select. A common vestry was a meeting of all the rated inhabitants with plural and open voting. The rector or other incumbent, if present, was the chairman. A vestry meeting could be summoned by the incumbent or a churchwarden or overseer. In parishes with not less than 800 rated householders, a select vestry could be appointed instead of a common vestry, if two-thirds of the ratepayers resolved to adopt Hobhouse's Act (1831). A select vestry was elected by ballot, each ratej^ayer having one vote. The select vestrymen, who had to be resident householders with a rating qualification, retired by thirds annually. The rector, or other incumbent, and the churchwardens, were ex officio members. There were also select vestries in certain parishes appointed under local usages or under local Acts. By a measure of the National Assembly (1921, No. 1), the following powers and duties have been vested in the new parochial church councils in England : " (a) The power of making a voluntary church rate ; (b) The financial affairs of the church; (c) The care, maintenance, etc., of (but not the property in) the fabric and goods of the church and of the churchyard ; (d) All other powers of the old vestries relating to the affairs of the church, excepting that of appointing churchwardens and sidesmen and administering ecclesiastical charities ; (e) The powers, etc., of church trustees appointed under the Act of 1868, c. 109. The new church councils have also power to acquire property, to frame budgets, and (jointly with the incumbent of the parish) to appoint and dismiss the j^arish clerk and sexton and to allocate the offertories. Churchwardens, hitherto elected by the vestry, are now to be annually 13 1893-4, ss. 7, 18. 37. 56. 20 1917, c. 64, ss. 3-10. THE PARISH. 11 elected by the vestry and i3arcx;hial church council sitting together, and the sidesmen are to be elected by the parochial church meeting and the incum- bent. A churchwarden must be either a householder in the parish or a person eligible to the parochial church council (i.e., a communicant of the Church of England over the age of eighteen years). A churchwarden may be either a man or a woman. -^ Note (./). — Jury Lists. — The lists of jurors in a county are made out accord- ing to parishes by the overseers, revised by petty sessions, and sent to the clerk of the ])eace, who copies them in a book which he sends to the sheriff to form the jurors' book for the year. With regard to the registration of electors, see p. 169.-- Note (A-). — Other Parish Officers. — The rector or incumbent, besides being chairman of the jsarish vestry, has certain civil duties for the registration of marriages and burials. The parish clerk and sexton, and in rural parishes the churchwardens, have no civil duties. In some parishes there still remain certain ancient manorial offices, such as the haywarden (i.e. guardian of fences), and pound-keeper. With respect to parish constables, see note {a) on p. 99. Note (0- — -^ schoolroom or any rate-supported room in the jiarish may also be used, under certain restrictions, for parish meetings, or meetings of the parish council, or other parochial j^urposes. (See also, as regards parish property and allotments, Chs. XV. and XVII. )-^ Note (m). — Overseers. — During the year 1918-19 the overseers collected poor rates amounting to £40,619,000, and received from other sources (in aid of those rates) £155,000 ; total, £40,774,000. Out of these sums they paid, under precej^t, the following sums as contributions towards the expenses of the local authorities mentioned: — £ £ County councils 12,955,000 Rural district councils ... 2,439,000 Boards of guardians 11,099,000 Parish councils and TowTi councils 11,388,000 parish meetings 76.000 Councils of urban dis- Other local authorities ... 761,000 tricts not being boroughs 1,237,000 Total 39,955,000 The overseers also met, out of the above-mentioned poor rates and otlxer receipts, their own separate expenses, as follows : — Salaries, &c., of assistant overseers, and other parochial £ officers ... Registration of electors* Cost of jury lists* Valuation expenses* Other expenses * Excluding salaries. 496,000 103.000 9,000 4,000 200,000 Total £40,767,000 21 1818, c. 00; 181U, cc. 12, 85: lH:i7, c. 45; 1850, c. 57; 1853, c. C5 ; 1831, c. (JU. 22 1825, c. 50; 1862, c. 107; 1870, c. 77; 1918, c. 23, e. 6; 1919, c. 71. 2'' 1893-4, s. 4; 1908, c. 30, s. 35. 1,Z LOCAL GOVERNMENT. In some jjarishes the overseers collected rates other than poor rates, and paid the proceeds to town councils and other local authorities. The total amount of the outstanding loans of overseers at the end of 1918- 1919 was only £150, apart from sums raised under the Liverpool Churches Act, 1897. Note (»). — Furish Councils and Vurhli Meetings. — About 7,300 of the 12,900 rural parishes in England and Wales are entitled to j^arish councils; but in a normal year only 6,700 have financial transactions. Of the parish meetings in the 5,600 rural parishes which are not entitled to ])arish councils, less than 500 have financial transactions in a normal year. The total annual exjienditure of all parish councils and parish meetings (exclud- ing ca]iital expenditure met out of loans) amounts to between £250,000 and £300,000 in a normal year. During the year 1918-19 only 6,000 parish councils and 350 parish meetings had financial transactions, and the exjjendi- ture was somewhat less (viz., £200,000). Of this £100,000 was met out of the proceeds of local rates (poor rates, lighting rates, and separate burial rates), £60,000 from rents of allotments, and £20,000 from burial fees. Of the expenditure about £20,000 was for lighting roads, £43,000 for purposes of the Burial Acts, £60,000 in respect of allotments, and £7,000 in respect of footpaths and rights of way. The expenditure out of loans, which seldom exceeds £20,000 annually, is for the most part spent in acquiring land for burial grounds. The outstanding loan debts of all joarish councils and parish meetings amount to about £220,000. TIIK POOR LAW rXTO.V. 13 CHAPTER II. THE POOR LAW UNION. (1) Area of " Union." (2) Organization. (3) Purposes and Expenses of Union Organization. (1) AREA. — The present Union org-anization lias been created under the Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834, which established a Poor Law Commission with extensive powers of organization and control. Their Assistant-Commissioners made a progress through the whole country, and grou])ed the parishes as appeared most convenient. The general idea on whi( h the imion was formed was that of taking a market town as a centre, and uniting the surround- ing parishes, the inhabitants of which resorted to its market, sucdi a centre being supposed to be convenient for the attendance of guardians and of parish officers. A limiting principle was, that in the first instance the union shoukl be small enough for the guardians to have a personal knowledge of all the details of its numagement ; and it seems to have been intended that, as tlie business became simplified and understood, the area might be enlarged. The situa- tions of existing workhouses determined the limits of some unions. Various other local circumstances and feelings must have been allowed to modify the general plan. Unions under the former Acts were respected, and only gradually disappeared (a). Extra- paiocliial places could not be included in unions until later legis- lation had made them ])arochial, but are all (with very few excep- tions) now so included. Many single i)arishes were constituted " unions " under separate boards of guardians.^ The result was that unions were constituted of very unequal size, and often irregular form, nor did they respect munici])al, urban, sanitarv. oi' countN- l>ouii(l;iri('^, flie oulv bonndtnN- wliidi tliey never cut being that of the poor-law parish. Alterofion, i'Jt., />f Unions. T'ndei' the Pooi' Tiaw Anu'ndm(Mil Acts, 1834 to 1870, llie ^finistry of TTcalth has power to dissolve any ' 1834. c. 76; 1844, c. 101; 1867. c 100; 1808, c. 122; 1870, <•. 61; 1870. c. 54; 1882, c. .58; 1803-4, c. 73. 14 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. existing union and to add or take away parishes, and to constitute any severed parisli or parishes a separate " union." The same authority may also, under the Act of 1879, with the consent of the guardians, combine any two or more unions for any poor Law pur- poses, and invest a joint committee with any of the powers of guardians over the combined area. Under the Local Government Act, 1888, the Local Government Board was authorized, in the case of a union situate in more than one county, to divide it for the purpose of outdoor relief, while continuing it as one union so far as regarded the indoor paupers.^ The Act of 1894 did not directly alter the union boundaries, but under it the county council (or, where two counties are concerned, a joint committee of their councils) might, by order confirmed by the Local Government Board, j^rovide for the alteration of a union where such alteration seemed expedient by reason of any of the provisions of that Act. But this power seems now to have expired (6).^ Unions and parishes may be, but rarely are, combined into dis- trict.s for pauper schools and (in certain large towns) for asylums for the houseless poor. Joint committees comprising representa- tives of two or more unions may be constituted for the management of poor law institutions. (As to school districts, see Cli. IX., p. 78. There are only two poor law school districts and eleven poor law joint committee districts outside London.) The xA.ct of 1834 also contains provisions enabling a complete consolidation of idl the parishes in a union to be made for all purposes of poor relief, settlement, and rating, but these seem to be now almost obsolete.^ (2) ORGANIZATION.— The administrative authority in a poor law union is the board of guardians. In '" rural " unions {i.e., unions no part of whose area comprises the whole or any part of an urban district), and also in the rural portions of " mixed " unions (i.e., unions partly rural and partly urban), there is no election of g-uardians as such, the rural district councillors, elected as described in Ch. III. (p. 20), being themselves the guardians. In " urban " iinions and in the urban portions of " mixed " unions the guardians are elected by the local government electors and (in case of con- tested elections) by ballot, the elections being conducted according 2 1834, s. 32; 1844, s. 36; 1868. s. 4; 1876, s. 11; 1879, c. 54, s. 8; 1904, c. 20; 1888, c. 41, s. 58. 3 1893-4, s. 36. 4 1834, ss. 33-36. THE POOR LAW UNION. 15 to rules framed by the Secretary of State, aud iu g-eueral accord- ance with the jii'ocedure at municipal elections. A guardian must either be an elector or an owner of property in the parish or have resided during the whole of the twelve months preceding the elec- tion in the union (or, in the case of a parish in a municipal borough, be qualified for election to the borough council). Women, whether married or single, are qualified to be guardians. The term of office is three vears, and one-third of the guardians retire annuallv on the loth of April, except where the county council on the applica- tion of the board of guardians directs in any case that the whole board shall retire simultaneously in every third year, or where (in the exercise of a power vested in the Ministry of Health under the Act of 1834) the plan of simultaneous retirement in every third year was in operation })rior to 1894 (c).^ Prior to 1894 the number of sruardians to be elected in each parish was fixed by the Local Government Board. The Ministry of Health now has power to group small jiarislies for this purpose, subject to the rule that every parish of more than 300 population must have at least one guardian assigned to it. One eifect of this rule has been to make the representation in some cases very dispro- portionate to the population. The Miiiistry of Health has also (under the Acts of 1876 and 1882) ])ower to divide a parish into wards for the election of guardians, and to determine the number of guardians to be elected for each ward (having due regard to the value of the rateable property therein), and to alter the wards. And now the Act of 1894 enables the county council to fix or alter the number of guardians for each parish in its county, and for that purpose to exercise powers of adding ]iarishes together and dividing parishes into Avards, similar to the ])owers vested in the Ministry of Health. In the case of unions lying in more than one county these powers are exercisable by a joint committee of the county councils concerned.*' Every board of guardians is entitled, but not obliged, to elect from outside its own body a chairman, or vice-chairman, or both, and not more than two otlier fpialifiod ]iorsons, as additional guardians.^ The usiml officers of a board of guardians are a cliM-k. a hcasnii'r. relieving officers, registrars of bii'ths mid dealhs fnpiioinlccl \\\ luil not under the control of the j^nardians), one or inoic mrdicil odicers ■' lRO.3-4, 88. 20, 24. 4R; 1000, c. IG. « 18.34, s. 38; 1844, 8. 18; 18r,7, s. 3; -1808, 8. 0; 1870, b. 12; 1882, s. 8; 1893-4, s. 60. ■< 1803-4, 8. 20 (1). 16 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (or " parish doctors"), vaccination officers, and the necessary officers in tlie workhouse. There may also be a paid valuer and poid collectors of rates. The board of guardians must annually appoint from among its members an assessment committee for purposes of valuation. And, on their application, the Ministry of Health may form parishes, which are more than four miles distant from the place of meeting of the guardians, into a district, with a committee appointed by the guardians to receive applications for relief.* The Ministry of Health (as the successor of the former Poor Law Commissioners, the Poor Law Board, and the Local Government Board) has comprehensive powers of control over guardians. Firstly, it is empowered to issue general orders for regulating the meetings and procedure of guardians, the mode and conditions of outdoor relief, the management of workhouses, the appointment, dismissal, payment and conduct of union officers, the accounts of the guardians and of their officers, and generally all matters relating to the execution of the poor laws. Secondly, it issues special orders in particular cases under particular pro- visions of the Poor Law Acts or for enforcing performance of duties. Thirdly, it appoints district auditors, who are civil servants of the State, and who audit, under the control of the Ministry of Health, the accounts of officers employed in the administration of the poor laws, and have power to disallow and surcharge illegal payments, subject to an appeal to the High Court or the Ministry of Health.^ (3) PURPOSES OF UNION ORGANIZATION.— The purposes of the union organization are — (i.) the local administration of the poor laws; (ii.) the supervision of the preparation of the parochial valuation lists on which the poor rate and certain other rates are assessed; (iii.) registration of births and deaths; (iv.) the enforce- ment of vaccination. (See as to these purposes, Chs. VII., XX., XXL). And, as a general rule (though not necessarily), the area of the rural county district coincides with the rural union, or the rural portion of the union, and the sanitary and other matters for which that district exists are administered by the guardians (exclusive of those who either represent urban parishes or are co-opted by the board) in their capacity of rural district councillors. 8 1862, c. 103; 1842, c. 57, s. 7. 9 1844, ss. 32-36, 49; 1848, c. 91; 1849, c. 103, ss. 9-11; 1866, c. 113, ss. 5-7; 1879, c. 6. THE rOOE LAW TNIOX. 17 Rating. — The guardians do not (generall}" speaking) exercise any- direct rating powers. Tliey obtain the rateable contributions they require for their own expenditure, and also the rateable contribu- tions required by countj^ councils, by means of orders upon the overseers of parishes. The poor law expenditure is now almost wholly borne by the "common fund " of the union, which fund was instituted in 183-1 for workhouse and establishment purposes, but on which has since been thrown practically the whole cost of poor relief, yaluation, registration, and vaccination. The burden thrown on the poor rate in meeting the expenditure of the guardians is, however, relieved by means of contributions from the " exchequer contribution account " of the county council in respect of the cost of officers of the union, of pauper lunatics, and of drugs and medical appli- ances supplied by the guardians (r/).^" Guardians may, with the sanction of the Ministry of Health, borrow money up to one-fourth (or by provisional order of the Ministry of Health confirmed by Parliament up to one-half) of the rateable value of the union for any permanent work or object, or anything of which the cost ought, in the opinion of the Ministry of Health, to be spread over a term of years. The maximum period lor repayment is sixty years. ^^ NOTES. Note (a). — Old Unions. — Before 1782 many unions of parishes had been constituted under special Acts, such as that for the Metropolitan counties (1662), those for Bristol and Gloucester in the reigns of William III. and Anne, and certain other incorporations of hundreds, towns, and districts. There were also combinations of small parishes for a common workhouse under an Act of 1723. In 1782, Gilbert's Act provided for the constitution of unions by a^a-eement of jjaiislies, with elected and nominated guardians. Unions under this Act were financially combined for the purposes of indoor relief only, and they did not form consolidated areas, but consisted merely of such parishes within a radius of ten miles from the workhouse as chose to unite. Nor was there any provision for central control. Only seven of these old unions and incorporations now remain. '- Note (h).—Nntnher, ({c.—In 1920 there were 636 unions in England ami Wales (including 28 in London), containing 14,492 parishes, and a jiopula- tion (Census, 1911) of 36,070,000. 1" 18(55, c. 7!), SB. 1, '.); 1888, r«. 21, '2(1. 11 1889, c. 56, B. 2; 18U7. c. 29, a. 1. '2 1662, c. 12: 17%. c. 10: 1723, r. 7. T c 2 18 LOCAL GOVEliNMENT. Of these unions seven (e.. 57, note (r) ). Special expenses are a separate charge on each parish (or "special drainage district" in cases where such a district has been formed out of ])art of a ruial count v district), and aie met by a rate which is levied like a poor rate, but (except where the amount to be met is small) with the same exemptions as are allowed in a general district rate {d). Among special expenses ai(^ those connected willi sewerage and water su])j)ly, and llic provision of ()|)cii spaces, of ,'illot iijcnts, aii(> "special." <•• ]h75, s. 270; lrt).3-4. bb. 25, 20; 1891, c. 4(i, k. 8; iai)8, c. 18. 7 1875, sH. 22!l-2.'{'2; 180^-4, k. 29. 22 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. A private improvemeut rate is leviable in a rural as Avell as an urban district (see p. 25). Tbe rural council lias borrowing powers under various statutes, whicb powers are exercised under the supervision of the Ministry of Health. NOTES. Note (a). — Number, dx.- — ^The following is a rough statement of the number, size, population, and rateable value, in the census years, 1891, 1901, 1911, and 1921, of urban and rural districts (excluding London, but including the county boroughs). Year. Number. Acreage. Population. Rateable Value. 1891 1 1018 U. 575 R. D. ... D. ... 3 millions 34 millions ... nh millions ... 7] millions ... 67] millions. 53] millions. 1901 1 1121 U. 664 R. D. ... D. ... 3| millions ... 33^ millions ... 20| millions ... 7^ millions ... 95 millions. 51i millions. 1911 1 1136 U. 657 R. D. . D. ... 3f millions ... 33] millions ... 232 millions ... 8 millions 117^ millions. 55| millions. 1921 1 1125 U. 662 R. D. ... D. ... 4 millions 33]: millions ... 23i millions ... 8 millions 139 millions. 58| millions. This would give for each rural district in 1921 an average area of about 50,000 acres, jDopulation of 12,000, and rateable value of £89,000. Note (b). — Urban Powers. — Certain urban jrowers under the Public Health Acts are frequently extended to rural districts or to jjortions of such dis- tricts. See p. 66, note (a). Note (c). — Expenditure and Loans. — The sums expended by rural district councils during the year 1918-19 (apart from expenditure defrayed out of loans) amounted to £4,530,000, inclusive of £2,300,000 spent on highways, £530,000 on sewerage and sewage disjwsal, and £460,000 on water supply. This exj^enditure was met, as regards £500,000, out of moneys received from county councils ; as regards £350,000, out of the grant under the Agricul- tural Rates Act, 1896 ; as regards £280,000 from charges for water ; as regards £2,400,000, from local rates for general expenses ; and as regards £990,000, from local rates for special expenses. £13,000 was expended out of loans, chiefly on works of sewerage and sewage disposal. The rural district councils had an outstanding loan debt of £65 millions at the end of the year. Only £500,000 of this sum was owing in respect of moneys borrowed for housing the working classes. For further financial statistics see Ch. XXII. Note (d). — Special Expenses. — The Ministry of Health may direct that any expenses incurred by a rural district council under the Local Govern- ment Act, 1894, which it determines to be special expenses, shall be raised in like manner as general exjienses, i.e., without the three-fourths exemption for agricultural land, &c.* 8 1893-4, s. 2'.) (h). THE URliAX DISTRICT. 23 CHAPTER IV. THE URBAN DISTRICT. (1) Area of Urban District. (2) Organization. (3) Purposes and Expenses of Organization. (1) AREA. — Urban districts are eitlier municipal borouf^hs or districts for wliicli urban district councils are elected under Part II. of the Local Goveniment Act, 1894, superseding the former local boards and improvement commissioners (a). Exclusive of municipal boroughs, (which are treated of in the following- chapter,) the total number of urban districts in England and Wales in 1921 was 797. Their ])opulations vary from 246 (Kirklington-cum-Upsland, Yorkshire) to 165,669 (Willesden, Middlesex) {h). Eormerl}^ their areas used frequently to ciit the area of the poor law parish, and not seldom that of the union [c). The Act of 1894, however, provided for re-adjusting the parish boundaries so that each parish (unless in certain cases the county council should for special reasons otherwise direct) might be wholly within the same county district.^ The Local Government Act, 1888, gives powers io cacli county council to form new urban districts, and to alter existing districts, by order subject to ('onfirmation by the Ministiy of Health. The Ministrv, however, cannot refuse to confirm anv sudi oider unless a petition is j)resented against it by one-sixth of the electors or by any council affected, and a local iiKjuiiT has been held. And under the Public Hcalili Act, 1875, llic Ministry of llcaDli lias vaiious powers of its own tor the alteration or coniliinal ion of existing districts, and the creatiou of new (uies; hut these powcis cau iu ireneral be exercised oiilv wilh the consent of the local antluuities, oi jietition of the i ii lial)il a uls concerncil, oi' by |)io\ isiona I oifhM' coiifiiiiicd 1)\- l*a rl ia hiciil , or under liolli res| rid lon-^."' ' 1893-1, c. 73. KB. 1 (3). 30 (1). (2). 2 1888, c. 41, 8. r,?; J875, c. fiS, hh. 270 301. 24 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (2) OEGANIZATIOX.— These urban districts are g-overned by iiicorporated bodies called " urban district councils," a term sub- stituted by tlie Local Government Act, 1894, for that of '' urban sanitary authority." The name and manner of election were altered by this Act, but the bodies themselves continue to be constituted under the same statutory authority as before, viz. those councils which were formerly called local boards, under the Public Health Act, 1875, and those which were called im])rovement commissioners, under their own local Acts. The Act of 1894, however, removed from the district councils all e.r officio and nominated members. A district councillor must be either a local government elector, or an owner of property in the district, or have resided for 12 months in the district. Women, whether married or single, are qualified to be elected. The electoral franchise is the same as for the parish councils (see p. 10, note (//) ). Contested elections are decided by ballot. The councillors hold office for three years, retiring annually by thirds, unless the county council orders in any case, on the request of the urban district council, that all the members should retire simultaneously in every third year.'^ The urban council must meet at least once a month, and may act to a great extent through committees which need not consist exclusively of members of the council. The '' annual "' meeting is held in April, when a chairman (who is not necessarily taken from within the council) is elected for the year. The chairman (whether a man or a woman) is e,v officio a justice of the peace for the county. Business in whicli two or more district councils are jointly interested may be managed by a joint committee of their members.* An urban district may be divided into wards, when a iiumber of members is assigned to aud separately elected in each ward. The division into wards, or the alteration of the number of boundaries of wards, or of the number of district councillors, or of their apportionment among the wards, can be effected by an order of the county council. '^ (3) PURPOSES OF ORGAXIZATIOX.— The purposes of this organization are : the execution of the Public Health and High- way Acts, and (in cei'tain cases) of the Burial Acts, and the Acts relating respectively to baths and washhouses, allotments, libraries, museums and gymnasiums. Tender the Education Act, 1921, the council of an urban distiict having a ])opulation, according to the 3 1893-4, ss. 21. 23, 48, 56-59. 4 inio, c. 71. - 1888. s. 57. THE IRBAX DISTRICT. 2o census of 1901, of over 20,UU(), is the local education authority for the purposes of elementary education. The council of a smaller urban district has no educational powers in respect of elementary education, except that of appointing- one or more managers of public elementary schools serving the district. The council of any urban district may s])end a rate not exceeding a penny a year in aid of higher education (see Ch. IX.). Urban councils also have powers and duties under the Housiiig of the Working Classes Acts and Open Spaces Acts, and miscellaneous functions under other Acts (see Chs. VIII., X., XII., XIV., XV., XVI., XVIII., XX., XXI.). Subject to the restrictions of the Borough Funds Acts, they may (equally with Ixuough councils) ])romote and o])])ose Bills in Parliament, and ])rosecute and defend legal proceedings at the expense of the rates.'"' The authorities of urban districts with 2''i,000 ])0])ulaiion can under the Stipendiary Magistrates Act, ISG-'J, petition the Secretary of State for a salaried police magistrate, who is ajjpointed by tlie Crown, holds office during the King's pleasure, and is paid ont of the local rate.' E.tpen.He.s. — The expenses of urban district councils (other than the councils of municipal boroughs) are defrayed for the most part out of a rate called the "general district I'ate," whi(di differs from the poor rate in this, that agricultural land, railways, canals, and tithes are assessed at only one-fourth pai't of tlieii' full rateable value, an exemption gi'anted on the ground tliat they may not be benefited equally with houses and manufactories by town improve- ments, &c. (See p. •^)T, iu)te {<■) ). The general district late is leviable by the council itself through its own officers, ami not by mieans of a ])recept to the overseers as is usual in the case of a borough rate.* The expenses undci' the Education Acts of such of llic uiban district councils as adntinisicr those Acts are, liowever, so fai' as they are met out of rates, met out of pooi' latcs, by piccept on the overseers {. \\\ occupier <"' lft72, c. '.n ; UlO.'i. r. 14. 7 180.3, c. 07. « lft75, m. 207-227; IWIO, c 17; 1«)1, v. H.T ; I',)20, c. 22. fl l'.)21. c. 51. K. 124. 26 LOCAL GOVEK-NMENT. holding at a rack rent may deduct therefrom three-fourths of such a rate. Borrowing powers, the exercise of which is subject to the control of the Ministry of Health, are given to urban councils by various Acts; and the loan clauses of the Public Health Act, 1875, which provide for the raising of money by mortgage of the rates, are applied for the purpose of loans under some other statutes (e). XOTES. Note (a). — Other Urban Bodies. — Local boards were the governing bodies of " local government districts " constituted under the Public Health Act, 1875 (or jirevious Acts superseded by it) ; improvement commissioners were the governing bodies of " Improvement Act districts " constituted under local Acts. Together they constituted what were known as " urban sanitary authorities " (for districts other than boroughs) under the Public Health Acts. In 1893, before both these classes of authorities were merged in the new " urban district councils," there were 688 of the former and 31 of the latter. Outside urban districts there are places having a rudimentary urban organization under the Lighting and Watching Act, 1833 (see p. 163). There are also ix>rt sanitary authorities under the Public Health Act (see p. 63). Note {h). — Populatioit. — See p. 22, note («)• Ii^ 1921 (the last census year) there were as many as 155 urban districts (other than boroughs) with popula- tions below 3,000, and 149 others, with populations between 3,000 and 5,000. It is thus apparent that many so-called " urban " districts are really to a great extent rural in character. See also H. C. Paper 119 of 1913, which shows the acreage of agricultural land in each urban district. Note (c) — Brmndaries. — Prior to the passing of the Local Government Act, 1888, 11 boroughs and 32 other urban sanitary districts overlapjjed also the county boundaries. The effect of that Act, however, was to bring every such district wholly within the administrative county containing the largest portion of its population. As an instance of cross boundaries, we may quote the borough of Mossley in Lancashire, which formerly comprised i>arts of four ix)or-law parishes, two unions, and three counties.^" Note (d). — Overseers. — The overseers of parishes in urban districts main- tain their separate existence even where they are appointed by the urban district council (see p. 3). The assistant overseer is in many districts also the collector of the rates levied by the urban district council. Note (e). — Expenses. — The sums expended by urban district councils (for districts other than boroughs) during the year 1918-19 (ajiart from expendi- ture defrayed out of loans) amounted to £14,900,000, inclusive of £2,040,000 spent on highways and bridges, £2,700,000 on education, £2,360,000 on sewerage, sewage disposal, and the removal and destruction of house refuse, 10 1888, s. 50. THE URBAX DISTRICT. 27 £1,600,000 oil gas supply, £880,000 un electricity supply, £520,000 on tram- ways, and £1,100,000 on water supply. About £1,260,000 of the expenditure on education was met by grants from the Board of Education. Other Exchequer grants were relatively small in amount, about £130,000. In some districts there were profits on g-as supply undertakings amounting in the aggregate to £30,000, on tramways undertakings £20,000, and on water supply undertakings £40,000. These profits were applied in reduction of rates. In other districts there were losses on electricity sup])ly undertakings amounting in the aggregate to £90,000, on gas supply undertakings £120,000, on tramways undertakings £20,000, and on water supply undertakings £280,000. These losses were met out of rates. The total amount received by the councils from rates for public local purposes was about £7,830,000. The expenditure met out of loans amounted to £225,000 for the year. The outstanding loan debt of the councils amounted at the end of the year to £30,500,000, of which nearly one-third had been borrowed for purposes of highways, sewerage, and sewage disposal, and more than one-third for works of gas, electricity, and water supply, and tramways. For further financial statistics, see Ch. XXII. 28 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTER V. THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. (1) Area of Borough. (2) Organization. (3) Commission of the Peace. (4) Separate Court of Quarter Sessions. (5) Purposes and Expenses of Borough Organization. (6) County Boroughs. (1) AEEA.— -Municipal boroughs are places which have been so constituted by Eoyal Charter, and are regulated by the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882. Charters of incorpora- tion, under various forms, and conferring various powers and privileges, were from early times granted by the Crown to favoured cities and towns; and a large number of such chartered places were in existence when, in 1835, the first Municipal C'orporations Act was passed as the result of an inquiry conducted by specially-appointed commissioners, with a view to removing the anomalies and abuses which had followed the unsystematic grant of such concessions. The Act of 1835 provided a general system for the constitution and management of boroughs. It applied that system to a number of existing boroughs, which were specified in the schedules to the Act; and it authorized the Crown to extend its provisions to such municipalities as might afterwards be chartered. The Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, which contains the existing law on the subject, is substantially a re-enactment (with some amendments of detail) of the Act of 1835 and its amending Acts.^ There remained, however, a considerable number of old municipal corporations, which, having been neither included in the schedules to the Act of 1835, nor subsequently dealt with by Charter, con- tinued unreformed until, under an Act passed in 1883, such of these unreformed corporations as had not obtained fresh Charters hj the 25th of March, 1886, were abolished. At the jiresent time, therefore, all municipal boroughs are under the operation of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, that Act being extended to 1 1882, c. 50. THE MUNICIPAL BOROUGH. 29 every borougli by its cliarter of iucorporatiou. The only exception to this rule is the City of London, which is still governed by its ancient Charters (a).~ The total number of municipal boroughs on 1st April, 1921, was 328, including eighty-two "county boroughs," which, though they have certain additional powers belonging to counties, are, so far as the Municipal Corporations Acts are concerned, on the same footing as the rest (6). The borough boundaries were not settled upon an}- general principle, and intersected unions, parishes, and counties. As regards the county boundaries, however, the Local Government Act, 1888, required the whole of every municipal borougli (other than a county borough, which was altogether talcen out of the administrative county,) to be included in that county which con- tained the largest part of its population. And by the Act of 1894 (as mentioned in the preceding chapter) parish boundaries were required to be so adjusted as not to cross (unless under exce})tional circumstances) the boundaries of urban districts. The boundary of a borougli can, after local inquiry, be altered by the Ministry of Health, by Provisional Order confirmed by Parliament, and the order can make any consequential alterations in the number and arrangement of councillors and wards (c). Boroughs are usually divided into wards, and the number and boundaries of the wards, ciud distribution of councillors among them, can be altered by Order in Council on petition. Xew boroughs are constituted by Charter from the Crown, and all necessary arrangements as to wards and distribution of councillors, &c., are made in the first instance by the Charter (d).^ (2) ORGrAXIZATION. — Boroughs are governed by corporations, composed of a mayor, aldermen, and burgesses (or citizens (e)), acting by a council, often called the "town" council, consisting of from 9 to 141 members. The burgesses or voters, pro])crly called "local government electors," ordinarily consist of person.s (including married and unmarried women) (|ualified by occupation as owners or tenants of land or ])remises of anv value within tlie borough, or as wives of ])ersons so f]ualiti(Ml. (Sec |i. 10, iidtc (A).) The burgesses elect couiifillors annually by l)al](il. ;ind llic (•(•unci! choose the mayor and aldcnncn . To be cIccIimI ;i coiincilloi-, a person must (a) be enrolled and cnlith-d to he ciiidllcd as a burgess, and must have llic (|ua]ification of £1,000 propcily or I'-'iO rating in the (jase of a borough divided inio foui- o?' more watds, and I'oOd 2 1883, c. 18. •■' 1888, c-. 41, h. 54; 1882. h. 30; 18'.).'), c. 0. 30 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. property or £15 rating in any other boroiigli, or (b) must have resided within the borough during the whole twelve months preceding election, or (c) must be the owner of property held by any tenure within the area of the borough. Women are eligible for election whether married or single. If the borough is divided into wards, the councillors are apportioned among and separately elected in the several wards, but need not be qualified in their ward. The term of office is three years, one-third of the councillors retiring annually; and it is required that the number allotted to each ward should be three or a multiple of three. The mayor and aldermen are chosen from among the councillors or persons qualified to be councillors. The mayor holds office for one year, the aldermen for six j^ears, one-half retiring triennially. The council appoints a town clerk, a treasurer, and other necessary officers, and may appoint general and sj>ecial committees of its own members; but the acts of every committee have to be submitted for the approval of the council.* The town clerk of a parliamentary borough (among other duties) has now to act as registration officer for his borough, and, as such officer, is responsible for the preparation and revision of the voters' lists and registers for both parliamentary and municipal elections. He also acts as returning officer under the sheriff or mavor at parliamentary elections.^ (3) COMMISSION OF THE PEACE.— In every Iwrough the mayor and last ex-mayor are justices for the borough; and the mayor of a borough other than a county borough is also a justice for the county. Women can now be ea- officio justices. Moreover, a separate commission of the peace has been granted to the majority of boroughs, and may be granted to anj' others. A separate commission does not involve any exemption from the county rate, nor from the jurisdiction of the county justices to act in the borough in petty sessions, or to act in matters concerning the borough at the county c|uarter sessions. It merely enables the borough justices under the commission to act in the borough as if they were county justices acting in and for a separate petty sessional division. But in practice, where there is a separate com- mission, the county justices do not ordinarily sit in the borough. Where there is a separate commission for a borough, a clerk to the 4 1917, c. 64, ss. 3, 4, 10; Scheds. VI., VIII. ; 1882, c. 50, s. 11; 1914, c. 21; 1907. c. 33. 5 1917, c. 64, ss. 12, 30. THE MUNICIPAI, BOROUGH. 31 borough justices is appointed. Every boroufi'li with a separate commission of the peace is a separate licensing- division for liquor licences.*' A salaried police magistrate nuxy be apjjoinled in any niunicii)al borough by the Crown on the application of the council.' (4) SEPAEATE QUARTER SESSIONS.— In addition to a separate commission of the peace, the Crown may grant to a borough a separate court of quarter sessions, which involves a salaried recorder (appointed by the CroAvn and holding office during good behaviour) as judge of the court, a clerk of the peace, and (except in a quarter sessions borough with a population of less than 10,000 in 1881, or a borough receiving a separate court of quarter sessions since August, 1888) a coroner, who must appoint a deputy. The court is held, not, as in a county, by the justices, but by the recorder as sole judge (/) (fj) (/;)•" (5) PURPOSES OF BOROUGH ORGANIZATION.- The principal functions of the council are, under the Municipal Corporations Act, the acquisition and management of corporate land and buildings ; the maintenance of those bridges in the borough which the borough, and not the county, is liable to main- tain ; the making of bye-laws for the good rule and government of the borough; and, in boroughs which have a separate police force (g), the management of that force through the watch com- mittee of the council. The council of a borough has also, in its capacity as district council, all the j)0wers and duties of such a council mentioned in the last chapter. As regards some other of the functions of local g'overnment, the position of the boroughs is not uiiifoim. In some cases, a borough is made a distinct unit, and the borough council is nuuh' the local authority, with respect to matters which elsewhere are dealt with by the county council. Thus, a borough council is a local authority \inder the Inebriates Acts ;ind the Shop Acts. Some, but not all, (juarter sessions boroughs of more than 10,000 inhabitants, as well as the county boroughs, are separate units for the |)i'ovision and management of lunatic asylums, while all other boroughs aic Ici- tliat purpose merged in the county.^ In ;i (|n;iiter sessions Imiongh willi :i [io|inl;ii inn oxci' 10,000 the council li;is certain poweis ninh r (he Acts I'claling to reloiinalorv and indn^(ii;il siliooU, ;ind (o ex phisi \-cs, iiiid <';in retrnhiie iitid ••• ]0U», c. 71 ; 1RH2, hs. \r,\, 158. ^ iftft2, s. 1()I. « 1888, sfi. 37, .^8. • 1888, bs. 36-30. 32 LOCAL GOVEllNMENT. make bye-laws respecting the use of locomotives on roads in the borough. A borough with a population over 10,000, whether with or with- out a separate court of quarter sessions, is a separate unit for the administration of the Diseases of Animals Act and Destructive Insects Act, for the inspection of gas-meters, and in some cases for the enforcement of the law relating to adulteration and to weig'hts and measures. The council of a borougdi with a population of over 10,000 according to the census of 1901 is a separate local education authority for the purposes of elementary education, whereas in smaller boroughs the council can only appoint a proportion of the managers of public elementary schools. The council of any borough can give rate aid to higher education, but in the case of a non-county borough the rate for the purpose must not exceed one penny in the pound per annum. (See Ch. IX. )^" Exyenses. — Expenses under the Act of 1882 and under the Education Acts are ordinarily defrayed out of the borough fund, which is svipplemented by a borough rate, leviable on the same basis as or out of the poor rate (see p. 53). In some boroughs the council levies a separate watch rate over the whole borough, or over particular parts of it. In most boroughs the " sanitary " expenses of the council {i.e., generally, expenses incurred for the purposes mentioned in Ch. VIII.) are defrayed out of a rate similar to the general district rate leviable by other urban councils, with the exemptions to the extent of three-fourths of their value for agricul- tural and other special kinds of property. This rate is generally levied by the council directlv, instead of bein^ raised (as is the borough rate in most cases) by means of a ]n*ecept to the over- seers (?). Some boroughs have large corporate estates, and some derive large revenues from such undertakings as gasworks and w^aterworks. Corporate lands cannot be sold, mortgaged, or (except for certain limited terms) leased without the consent of the Ministry of Health or an Act of Parliament. Returns of receipts and expenditure must be annually sent to the Ministry of Health, and an abstract of them is laid before Parliament. Accounts are audited by three auditors, of whom two are elected by the bur- gesses and one is appointed by the mayor (/'). In addition to the borrowing powers under the Public Health and other Acts, the Municipal Corporations Act enables the council of a borough, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Health, 10 1921, c. 51, ss. 3, 70. THE MUXICIPAL BOKOUGH. 33 to borrow iiiouey on the security of any corporate laud or of the borough fund or rate for the purchase of land or erection of buildings. (6) COUNTY BOROUGHS.-" County boroughs" are the creation of the Local Government Act, 1888. Speaking generally, those boroughs which have a population exceeding 50,000 are county boroughs (A-) ; and the Ministry of Health by Provisional Order confirmed b}- Parliament may constitute any borough with that population a county borough. Their councils have, in addition to the ordinary powers of a borough council (/), most of those attaching to a county council, mcluding the powers of a local education authority for both higher and elementary education (see Ch. IX.); and they are, for most purposes, treated as being separate and dis- tinct from the county in which, geographicalh', they are situated. The count}^ borough, however, is g-enerally uuder the jurisdiction of the county sherift' it has to contribute to the costs of assizes in the county, and (if it has not a separate court of quarter sessions) to the costs of the county quarter and petty sessions. For militia purposes, also, for the service of jurors, and making of jury lists, the county borough is included in the surrounding county. A county borough not having a separate covirt of quarter sessions is within the jurisdiction of the county coroner, but the borough council has, usually, through a joint committee, a voice in the election of a coroner for a district comprising the county borough. Those county boroughs which, iu 1888, contributed to the county lunatic asylum were allowed to continue the existing arrangement." The contributions of a county borough to the county are raised, not by the direct levy of a rate by the county authorities in the borough but through an order from the county treasurer to the borough council for the whole sum due {in) [n). NOTES. Note (w to pO[)ulation and area and ihc lionndaries ol horouglis and other county districts, and arc now >nlijcct to altcialion by lli(> Sccictarv 7 1888, c. 41. K. '50; 11)17, r. M, hk. Hi, .'50. « 1887, c. 71 ; 1888. c. 41, s. 5; 1021. c. 30. 9 1828, c. 43; 1836, c. 12; 1850 (2). c. 05. 42 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. of State. Tlie county electors are tlie persons on the Local Government register. (For qualifications, see p. .10, note {h).) The elections are conducted by ballot, and the expenses of the returning officer are paid out of the county fund. A person is qualified for being a member of the county council if he owns property in the county or has resided within the county for the whole of the twelve months preceding the election or is qualified to elect to the office of councillor. A woman may be a councillor or alderman or chairman of the council.^" . The county council must hold at least four meetings in a year, including the annual statutory meeting, at which the chairman, vice-chairman, and county aldermen are chosen. The chairman (whether a man or a woman) is e.v officio a county justice. The council appoints a county treasurer or accountant, one or more county surveyors, county coroners, inspectors of weights and measures, certain analysts, education secretaries or directors and other officers, a county medical officer of health, one or more land agents, and inspectors of midwives and shops, and gas examiners. ^^ The council must a})point committees for finance, education, agriculture, public health, child welfare, lunatics and mental defec- tives, and may delegate to these committees any executive powers except those of raising rates or loans. The council may appoint any other committees for general or special purposes either out of its own members, or jointly for matters of joint concern with other councils of counties or county boroughs. For certain purposes {c-g. the supervision of midwives and tuberculosis) it may appoint persons not members of the council to serve on the com- mittee. The council may also delegate powers to district councils and employ them as agents for administrative matters in their districts. The ^^owers of a county council for the licensing- of theatres and cinematographs, or the execution of the Explosives Acts, can be delegated to the justices in i)etty sessions (//).^' Under the Education Act of 1921 the council must appoint one or more education committees constituted under a s( h»me approved by the Board of Education. Every scheme is to j)rovide for the inclusion in the committee of women and educational experts, and the majority of the committee are as a rule to be members of the council. The committee is to deal with all educational 10 1888, c. 41; 1891, c. 68; 1917, c. G4, ss. 1-19; 1921, e. 34; 1914, c. 21; 1907, c. 33; 1919, c. 71. 11 1888, s. 75 ; 1900, c. 13 : 1919, c. 71 ; 1920, c. 28. 12 1888, ss. 28, 80-82; 1893-4, c. 73, s. 64; 1909, c. 44, s. 71 ; 1913, c. 28. THE COUNTY. 43 matters except tlie raising of a rate and borrowing money, and maj' be made executive by the county council.^"' Under tlie Ministry of Agriculture Act, 1919, the council must appoint a countj- agricultural committee, to be constituted by a scheme framed by the council, with the approval of the Ministry. Such a committee must include a majority of members of the council, and a minority of representatives of agriculture and other rural interests appointed by the council, together with additional members appointed by the Minister. (As to their powers and duties, see Ch. XVI.) For police and certain other purposes a standing joint com- mittee is appointed by quarter sessions and the county council, consisting of an equal number of members of ea(di body. This committee is, both administratively and financially, practically independent of the appointing bodies, though it reports to them both and has to raise its money througdi the county council. It appoints the chief constable, and the clerk of the peace, who is also e.v officio clerk of the county council. ^^ Powers and Duties. — The princi])al powers and duties of the county councils relate to county finance, assessment and rating, housing, pauper lunatic asylums, county bridg-es and main roads, locomotives, motor cars, reformatories and industrial schools, weights and measures, ag-riculture, diseases of animals, allotments and small holdings, drainage, elementary and hig-her education, midwives, child welfare, tuberculosis, venereal disease, mental defectives, wild birds protection, employment of children, closing of shops, the arrangements for registering and ])()lling parlia- mentary and county electors, and the alteration of the various administrative areas within their county. They have certain sanitary duties, mainly by way of control over the district sanitary authorities under the Elvers Pollution, Housing of ilic Working Classes, Isolation Hospitals, and Public Health Acts. Tliey may make bye-laws for the good government of tlioir cdunty, including the suppression of nuisances; also with regard lo highways and locomotives and the regiilation of advertisements. Tliev nia\- under certain restrictions jjioniolc or opposo TJills m I'a i lianienl , may take legal proceedings against railway coni|)anics and otliri- bodies on behalf of the inhabitants of thoir connlv. and may |)ay the expenses of in(|uirics by the Cliarily ( '(unniissioncis into charities approjtriated foi' the benefit (if the counly oi any part of it. They may also exercise snch jiowcis of GovernnKMit De-part- is l'J21, c. 51, 8. 4. '* 188R, B. no. 44 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. ments as may be transferred to tliem by Provisional Order or Order in Council, e.g., the collection of dvities on local taxation licences. (See Clis. VIII., IX., X., XII., XIII., XVI— XIX., XXII.) Tbe standing joint committee, and not the county council, deals with county property and officers partly of a judicial character, e.g., shire-halls, police courts, and the salaries of justices' clerks. Each administrative county is divided into county districts, urban and rural (see Chs. III., IV.) [h). Every municipal non- county borough is an urban district. A county council may employ the council of any district in their county as agents for administering business affecting that district.^' But the powers of the county council with respect to boroughs and other urban districts are not so extensive as in the case of rural districts, e.g., the county council cannot make a bye-law for the good govern- ment of a borough, or an order affecting the boundaries of a borough or the apportionment of councillors in a borough, while in sanitary matters there is as a rule no appeal from an urban authority to the county council (?). Froyerty and, Finance. — The county council is a corporation for the purpose of holding and managing all county property, subject to the control of the Ministry of Health. At the beginning of every local financial year [i.e., on or after the 1st of April) an annual budget must be submitted by the finance committee to the council. The accounts of the county council, the visiting committees of lunatic asylums, and of all joint committees are annually audited by district auditors appointed by the Ministry of Health (see Ch. XXI., p. 183). Abstracts of the audited accounts must be published and sent to the Ministry of Health and to guardians of unions.^'' County Rate. — The ordinary expenditure of the county is defrayed out of the county fund, which is supplied principally out of a county rate largely supplemented by contributions from the Imperial Exchequer and sometimes from adjoining county boroughs [j). The county rate is levied according to an assess- ment made by the county council, not on individual properties, biit on the several parishes in the county. A committee of the county council ascertains the- total of the annual value of each parish (for which purpose it is not bound by the poor rate valuation, see Ch. XXI., p. 179), and apportions the whole amount required according to the assessable values, and precepts for the 15 1893-4, s. 64. 16 1888, ss. 64-74. THE corxTY. 45 amoiiut required from a parish are sent to the g-uardians of the union in which it is included. The guardians pay the amount to the county treasurer and recover it from the overseers, who raise it in the parish by poor rates. ^^ For '* general county purposes " a general ((uuity rate is made over the whole administrative county. For a " special county purpose " (one by which a part of the county is not benefited, and from contributing- to which it is exempt) a special rate is made over the area liable to contribute. In many counties special rates are levied for police, education, lunatic asylums, coroners and other matters. Areas may be exempt from contributing to some special county purjaoses and be liable to contribute to olhors. For each group of areas contributing in common to a special county ])urpose a separate rate must be levied and a '' special county account " must be kept by the county treasurer (l:).^'^ County councils have general powers for borrowing- money, with the sanction of the Ministry of Health, for the purchase of land or erection of buildings, or for other permanent works, or for consolidating their debts, or making advances to parish councils or other bodies. Whenever their total debts amount to one-tenth of the annual value of property rateable to the county rate (without the reductions allowed by the Agricultural Rates Act), a Provisional Order confirmed by Parliament is generally required. ]iut borrowing for the purposes of the Education, Small Holdings and certain other Acts or of lending again to parish councils is excluded from this limit. The term for borrowing is ordinarily limited to thirty years. For the m.odes of borrowing by county stock, mortgage of rates or debentures, see Ch. XXIII. (/).^' NOTES. Note (a). — Ancient and Administrative Counties.— The " administrativo county " (i.e. the area for which a county council is elected) differs from the ancient county mainly in the exclusion of the " county boroughs," i.e. of all, or nearly all, municipal boroughs with a population of 50,000 or ujnvards, and a.lm of a few with a poinilation below that limit (see ]>. 35, uolv (A))- There were formerly 43 boroughs and urban districts situated in more than one ancient county, but all these are now included, both for administrative and judicial pui-jjoscs, in the county which contained in 1881 tlie larger portion of the population. Two of tlu; new administrative counties (Isle of Ely and Soke of Peterborough) were formerly liberties, and have (with lli« '7 1852, c. 81; 1858, c. 33; 180(1, c. 78; 1877, c. (10; 1888, c. ■IJ, sh. 3, 8, 21. '« 1888, 8. OS. 19 1888, s. 00. 46 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. exception of a common lord lieutenant and a common sheriff) a separate judicial as well as administrative organization from the counties of Cam- bridge and Northami3ton. The Isle of Ely has a separate custos rotulorum from the county of Cambridge. The ridings of York and the divisions of Lincoln have also as heretofore a sejaarate judicial organization, except for sheriff and assizes, and (in the case of Lincolnshire) for lord lieutenant and militia. Suffolk and Sussex have each a single lord lieutenant, custos rotuloi'um, sheriff, and commission of the peace for the whole county, but in both counties quarter sessions are held in each division, jurors are summoned separately, and a justice does not usually act outside his own division. The Isle of Wight was constituted a sejjarate administrative county by a Provi- sional Order Act of 1889, but for other than administrative jjurposes still forms i^art of the county of Southampton (Hampsliire). The Scilly Isles have a separate council, but are not technically a separate county. Warwick- shire is divided into two divisions (Warwick and Birmingham) for assize circuit commissions only.-** Note (b). — Liberties. — There were formerly many detached parts of counties, and also many liberties independent of any county. But by various Acts these are now nearly all merged in the adjoining counties. Of the liberties the Isle of Ely and the Soke of Peterborough are now separate administrative counties. There is, however, a separate commission of the peace and quarter sessions for the liberty of Ripon, in Yorkshire. And a commission of the peace is issued for the liberties of the Cinque Ports, but the justices, who act only in the liberties of tlie Cinque Ports of Dover and Sandwich, are not empowered to hold quarter sessions or to grant licences. -^ Hundreds, &c. — The ancient division of counties into hundreds, lathes, wapentakes, &c., is nearly obsolete ; but the jjarliamentary and petty sessional divisions of counties are sometimes founded upon it, jury lists have still to be arranged by hundreds, and the hundred is sometimes still separately liable {e.g. in Lancashire) for its own bridges and main roads, and for the expenses of certain courts. In these latter cases, the county council may levy a hundred rate. The appointment of high constables for hundreds was practically abolished (with certain savings) by an Act of 1869.22 Note (c). — Other "Counties." — Other kinds of counties are: — 1. Begistration Counties, which are only aggregates of registration districts, containing one or more poor law unions, and formed for the registration of births and deaths, the census, and other statistics. Of 636 registra- tion districts, as constituted at the beginning of 1903, about two-thirds (419) were each situated within a single administrative county, and 22 each within a single county borough ; whilst 165 were each included partly within two administrative counties, or within an administrative county and a county borough, 27 within three, two within four, and one district within five, of these administrative areas. 2. Tarlinmentarii Counties are the areas mentioned in the ninth schedule to the Representation of the People Act, 1918. The English and Welsh parliamentary counties are, as a rule, conterminous with administrative counties, excluding the parts comprised in parliamentary boroughs ; 20 1888, ss. 31, 46, 49, 50, 59, 100; 1865, c. 37; 1904, c. clvii. ; 1889, c. clxxvii. ; 1890 c. clxxvi. 2i'l811, c. 36; 1830, c. 87; 1844, c. 61; 1850, c. 105; 1883, c. 18; 1888, c. 41, sa. 48, 59. 22 1825, c. 50, s. 12: 1865, c. 37, s. 13; 1878, c. 77, s. 20; 1888, ss. 3, 11, 47;- 1869, c. 47. THE COUXTY. 47 but Rutknd is joined to the Kesteven Division of Lincolnshire and the Soke of Peterborough to Northants. 3. Counties of Cities and Tmrns. See p. 36. 4. Count If Bifroughs. See j). 33. 5. Police Counties, i.e. the administrative county, excluding boroughs or other areas maint^iining a separate police force, and subject to a power of transferring outlying areas from one county to another for police purposes (see Ch. XI., ]'• 94). The expenses of the county police (so far as they are payable out of rates) are payable out of rates which are raised in a similar way to the rates raised for other county purposes, but leviable only over the areas policed by the county. 6. Education Counties. — For the purpose of elementary education (Part I. of the Education Act, 1921) the areas of every borough witli a {)opula- tion over 10,000, and of every urban district with a pojjulation over 20,000 are excluded from the administrative county. The populations under this Act are ascertained according to the census of 1901, but a subsequent extension of the borough or district may result in its exclu- sion from the elementary education county. The same areas are excluded for the purposes of the provisions relating to the employment of children in the Education Act of 1921. For purposes of education other than elementary the areas are the administrative counties and county boroughs. The county councillors of a borough or urban district, excluded as above, are prohibited from voting on matters of elementary education. (See Ch. IX.) Note (d). — Sheriff. — Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire liave a common sheriff chosen alternately from either county. Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have each a single sheriff. The sheriffs of Cornwall and Lancashire are respectively appointed by the Duke of Cornwall and tlie Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In counties of cities and towns and tlie county Iwrough of Oxford sheriffs are appointed by the town council. -•'' Note (e). — Justices. — There are also some county justices ex officio or by Act of Parliament or by Charter, e.(j. the Commissioners of Metropolitan Police are justices for several counties. Judges of the High Court and Privy Councillors are ex officio justices. The chairmen of the county council and of each district council within the county are ex officio justices for the county during their term of office.-* See as to General and Quarter Sessions in Lancashire, the local Act, 1798, c. Iviii. ; as to Sussex, 1865, c. 37 ; Berwick-on-Tweed, 1836, c. 103, s. 6 ; Hertfordshire and St. Albans, 1874, c. 45; Kent, 1814, c. civ. ; Suffolk, 1904, c. clvii. Previous to the Act of 1906, county justices were required to have a quali- fication consisting either of an estate in ]X)Ssession of £100 a year, or of one in reversion, &c., of £300 a year, or of two years' assessment to the inliabited house duty at £100. A qualification by residence in or witliin sevi'ii miles of the county is still retpiired. Any justice (wheliicr ex officio or not) is removable by the Lord Chancellor. Coiinty justices are now ordinarily appointed by the Lord Chancellor on the recommendation of an advisory committee of which the Lord Lieutenant of the county is a member. Disquolifiefttions of .7 i/.sffVr.s.— Justices who are members of Local Governing Bodies are as a rule disqualified from acting in cases (<() in wliich they hav»^ 2-'' J887, c. 55, 8B. 32, 33. 24 185G, c. 2; 1888, c. 41, 8. 2; .1893- 1. c. 73. s. 22. 48 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. actually voted for or otherwise promoted or authorized the institution of legal proceedings, or (h) in which they have a substantial interest as members of the body authorizing the proceedings (see Lord Alverstone, L.C.J. , in B. v. Meyer, 1 Q. B. D. 173; B. v. Ileulcy, 1 Q. B. 504; li. v. Farranf, 20 Q. B. D. 58). But this disqualification is removed as regards proceedings under the Public Health Act, 1875, and under the Salmon Fisheries and some other Acts. No similar provision occurs in the Local Government Acts, and there- fore members of county and district councils are as a rule absolutely debarred from sitting as justices on the hearing of proceedings ordered by the council itself. It would seem, however, that a justice who is a member of the council may act in matters which are delegated to an executive committee or sub- committee, or to an officer of the council or of the police (e.g. school attend- ance, diseases of animals, dog licences, weights and measures), if he is not himself a member of the committee or sub-committee. -^ It is specially provided by an Act of 1867 that a justice shall not be incap- able of acting on the trial of an offence arising under Acts to be put into execution by local authorities, by reason only of his being one of several ratepayers or any other class liable to contribute to any fund of. which penalties payable in respect of the offence will form part. A similar provision occurs in the IMunicipal Corporation Act with respect to borough ratepayers acting as justices.-*^ Note (/). — Coroner. — The county coroner has a freehold office and is paid by salary out of the county fund. He appoints a deputy who is ordinarily paid by fees, and must be approved by the chairman of the county council. He can act notwithstanding the death of the coroner. ^^ A large county is usually divided into districts, by Order in Council made on petition of the county council ; and a separate coroner is then appointed by the county council for each district, and as a rule acts only within his district, but is coi^oner for the whole county. In some places " franchise coroners " are appointed for manors, hundreds, parishes, etc., by lords of manors or other persons, and such coroners are often paid out of the county fund or local rate. Coroners for quarter sessions boroughs are appointed by the council, and paid by fees.-* Note (f/). — Committees. — Where a central body and distress committees have not been established by the Ministry of Health for the whole of a county under the Unemployed Workmen Act, the council must appoint a special committee to collect information with respect to the conditions of labour. The powers of this committee have now, however, been practically superseded by those of the labour exchanges (see p. 55).^' There seems to be no general power to delegate executive powers to commit- tees. The council can only delegate executive powers when such delegation is expressly authorized by statute. Thus, e. circumstances may re(|iiiie." The duration of the Unemployed Workmen Act was originally limited to three years, but it is now cont inucd aiiiiii;illy. Since 1011, however, the powers of the above-mentioned Inxlies to establish labour exchanges and em])loynient registers liave In-cn practically superseded bv those of the Ministiy of Tiaboiir under the Tiabonr 11 1905, c. 18. 56 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Escliange.s Act, 1909 (r/). Land may be acquired by local authorities for works of public utility under a specially expeditious procedure if the state of unemployment warrants. (See Cli. XXI., p. 154.)'^ NOTES. Note (a). — Common Fund. (i.) The following expenses are now all chargeable on the common fund of a union : — workhouse and establishment charges, relief of poor (both indoor and outdoor), vaccination and registration expenses, expenses of assessment committees, election of guardians (general expenses), prosecutions by guardians, charges of j^auper lunatics, settled in or irremovable from the union, (ii.) Among the few items of expenditure connected with the administra- tion of the poor law which are still chargeable to separate parishes are : — salaries of parish rate-collectors and assistant overseers, special expenses of contested elections of guardians. ^^ The expenditure on pcKn- law relief in 1918-19 amounted to £11,100,000. Note (h). — CompoumVDUi. — Poor rates and other local rates are ordinarily paid by the occupier of the lands, &c. on which they are leviable. But in the case of small house projjerty, it has been found necessary (in order to save excessive inconvenience and expense) to make the owners " com^Dound," i.e. pay rates instead of the occu))iers, on being allowed a reasonable reduc- tion. Thus under the Act of 1869, as amended by the Act of 1920, owners of tenements the rateable value of which is not more than £10 (higher limits are allowed in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham) may by agreement compound at a reduction of 25 2:>er cent., or may be compelled to compound at a reduction which may amount to 30 per cent. {i.e. 15 per cent, if the rates are only jDaid on occupied tenements, with a further ded.ictioii not exceeding 15 per cent, more, if the owners agree to jaay rates on all their tenements whether occupied or not). In an urban parish the agreement is made with or the compulsion is exercised at the direction of the vestry or the body (usually the town or urban district council) to whom the powers of the vestry in the matter have been transferred by order of the Miiiistry of Health under the Act of 1894. In a rural jaarish the local authority in the matter is the parish council or (if there is no council) the parish meeting. !■* The Act of 1869 ajiplied only to the poor rate ; but its provisions for com- pounding were afterwards applied to highway rates, and somewhat similar jjrovision is made with respect to the general district rates by the Public Health Act.i-^ 12 1909, c. 7, s. 1 (4); 1919, c. 57. 13 1834, s. 28; 1861, s. 6; 1862, ss. 38, 39: 1865, ss. 1, 9; 1890, c. 5, ss. 286, 294; 1893-4, c. 73, s. 48 (4). 14 1869, c. 41; 1920. c. 17, s. 16. 15 1882, c. 27; 1875, c. 55, s. 211; 1020, c. 17. POOR LAW ADMIXISTEATIOX. 57 By the Act of 1869, occupiers for terms of not more tlian three months may deduct poor rates paid by them from their rents, and by the Rating Act, 1874, occupiers of mines are allowed to make similar deductions. Owners are rated directly in the case of sporting rights severed from the occupation of the land, and in respect of tithe rent charge. ^"^ Note (c). — Exemptions. — There are some exemptions from liability to the poor-rate. (i.) See — 1814, c. 170, s. 11, as to the power of justices with the consent of the overseers to excuse indigent persons. 1833, c. 30, as to churches and certified chajiels, so far as used exclusively for religious services or for Sunday or charitable schools. 1843, c. 36, as to certified scientific and literary societies. 1863, c. 65, s. 26, as to volunteer storehouses. 1869, c. 40. Power to rating authorities to exempt premises used exclusively for Sunday or ragged schools without profit. 1897, c. 5, s. 3, as to non-providod public elementary schools. 1920, c. 22, s. 1 (2), as to ecclesiastical tithe rentcharge owners, (ii.) Lands acquired for burial grounds under the Burial Acts are not at any time to be assessed at a higher value tlian their assessed value when so acquired. "^ (iii.) Lands, &c., in the occupation of the Crown or Government are not rateable, but contributions in lieu of rates arc annually made out of money voted bj- Parliament, (iv.) Some local Acts contain jjarticular exemptions. Several of the above exem^stions extend to other rates besides the poor rate. See also the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 (and many similar provisions in local Acts), by which railway and other companies and promoters (including local authorities) are bound to make good deficiencies of rates during the progress of their works. ^^ Note ('/). — Distress Commiitces. — The expenditure of Distress Committees during each of the two financial years, 1919-20 and 1920-21, amounted to between £10,000 and £15,000. In 1921, the position of these Committees wis sijecially consideied in relation to the unemployment ))revailing during the year, but it was decided that the legistration of unemj)loyed j>ersons at the employment exchanges made it unnecessary and inadvisable for Distress Com- mittees to open their registers. Tlie Government further decided tliat grants towards the cost of works undertaken for the relief of unemployment should be given only to the sanitary authorities. iG I860, c. 41 : cp. 1875, c. 55, s. 214: 1874, c. 54 17 1855, c. 128, s. 15. 18 1845, c. 18, s 133. 58 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTER VIII. PUBLIC HEALTH. (1) Sanitary Antliorities. (2) Port Sanitanj Authorities. (3) County Councils. (1) SANITARY AUTHORITIES.— The various matters administered by tlie councils of county boroughs, and by urban and rural district councils, as " sanitary authorities " under the Public Health Act, 1875, and amending Acts may be roughly classified as follows : — ii.) Sewerage and drainage, (ii.) Water supply. (iii.) Inspection and prevention of nuisances. (iv.) Inspection and regulation of lodging-houses and cellar dwellings. (v.) Provision of hospitals, cemeteries, and mortuaries, and powers in respect of infectious diseases. (vi.) Cleansing and improvement of streets. (vii.) Town improvements (new streets, bridges, parks, markets, &c.). (viii.) Lighting. (ix.) Regulation of traffic, hackney carriages, fires, &c. Of these matters those numbered (i.) to (v.) are administered by both urban and rural councils, the remainder by urban councils (including county borough councils) only, except where such powers have been by Order conferred on certain rural councils [a). These matters are administered under an elaborate code of laws, of which only an outline can here be given. (i.) Sewerage and Drainage. — These councils have full powers, and it is their duty to provide a proper system of sewerage, and to enforce the drainage of houses and the provision of proper sanitary conveniences.^ 1 1875, c. 55, ss. 13-41; 1883, c. 37. PUBLIC HEALTH. 59 (ii.) Water. — Tliey may provide a water supply, and cliarg-e water rates, or supply water by measure, and may require houses to be supplied with water. ^ (iii.) Nuisances. — It is their duty to make inspection of their districts for the detection of nuisances, and to put in force as occasion may arise the powers with which they are invested so as to secure the proper sanitary condition of all premises within their districts. They may make bye-laws for the removal of house refuse and cleansing of foot pavements by occupiers, or the}- may, and if required by the Ministry of Health must, undertake this work themselves. They have summary powers for the abatement of nuisances (including the prevention of overcrowding in houses and the emission of smoke in excessive quantities from buildings other than dwelling-houses).^ These summary powers can be enforced (subject to appeal to quarter sessions) by order of a court of summary jurisdiction, which, in addition to imposing a fine, may require the discontinu- ance or prohibit the recurrence of a nuisance, and direct the execution of any works necessary for either of those purposes, and may further, by a " closing order," prohibit the use of any building for human habitation until it has been rendered fit for that purpose. These councils have also to prevent the pollution and chokiiig-up of streams and the use of unwholesome drinking water. Under the Rivers Pollution Prevention Act, 1876, they are required to afford facilities for drainage from manufactories into their sewers.'* They are also required to provide for draining off acid from works to which the Alkali, &c., Works Regulation Acts apply, at the request and expense of tlie owner; and tlioy may complain to tlie Ministry of Health as to nuisances arising- from such works, and apply for an additional inspector. (See also Ch. XIX. for powers in respect of drainage.)^ (iv.) Lo(Jy ilio Public Health Acts or l)y the Infectious Disease Prevention Act, 1S90. It is also an authority for enforcing the Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1910. IS 1875, 8. 216. 19 187.5, fis. 220, 230, 277. 20 187.5, 88. 287-202; 1885, 8. 3; 1870, c. 36, s. 11. 64 LOCAL GOVEE^NTMENT. Subject to the order, the expenses are defrayed as other sanitary expenses, or, where there is a joint board, out of a common fu.nd to which the riparian authorities contribute in proportions fixed by the Ministry of Health {f)r^ (3) COUNTY COUNCILS.~In addition to the powers of the above-mentioned sanitary authorities, there are extensive powers and duties of a sanitary nature vested in county councils. These include the prevention of pollution in rivers {jj), the enforcement of the Eats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919, important duties under the Milk and Dairies Act, 1915 (at present suspended), the medical inspection and treatment of school children, supervision of the Adulteration Acts and of the Housino^ Acts (see Chs. IX., XYIII., XX.). Under the last head, and in other sanitary matters, the council of a county has to consider the complaints of parish councils against defaulting rural district councils, and to take action if they consider the complaints justified.-" Isolation hospitals for infectious diseases may on the application of an urban or rural district council in a county, or of not less than twenty-five ratepayers in a "contributory place," be provided by the county council for specially formed hospital districts, under the management of " hospital committees " representative of the county council and of local areas included in the district. The expenses, so far as they are not defrayed by the patients, are charged on the particular district; but the county council may contribute out of the county fund if it thinks it expedient to do so for the benefit of the county. A hospital which has been provided by a district council may, with the sanction of the Ministry of Health, be transferred to the county council and may be adapted as an isolation hospital.-'' The Ministry of Health may declare the county council to be one of the authorities to enforce its regulations made under the Public Health Act to prevent the spread of cholera and other infectious diseases on the rivers and waters, as well as on land. The Ministry of Health have made regulations requiring county and county borough councils to take steps to prevent the spread of venereal disease and to submit to the Ministry a scheme in that behalf. The Ministry of Health repay to such local authorities 75 per cent, of the approved expenditure incurred under the V.D. regulations. 21 1896, c. 20. 22 1890, c. 70, s. 45; 1893-4, c. 73, s. 16. 23 1893, c. 68; 1901, c. 8. PUBLIC HEALTH. 65 The balance of the cost is to be defrayed in tlie case of a county council as for general county purposes, and in that of a county borough council as part of their expenses in the execution of the Public Health Acts.-* County and county- borough councils also provide institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis and such other diseases as the Ministry of Health with the approval of the Treasury may appoint. These councils may make any arrangements in this behalf with the sanction of the Ministry of Health, and grants from the Treasury are made to them for these purposes. Joint committees or joint boards of any local authorities (not being Poor Law authorities) may be constituted by the Ministry of Health for the provision of sanatoria and other institutions. The expenses of county and borough councils, so far as not defrayed out of the grants made by the Treasury, are defrayed out of the county or borough fund, being charged on counties as expenses for general county purposes, unless otherwise ordered by the Ministry of Health.-^ Under the Midwives Acts, 1902 and 1918, the council of a county or county borough are the local supervising authority for midwives within that area. Their duties are to investigate charges of mis- conduct, suspend, and exercise general supervision over all mid- wives practising within their area, subject to the regulations of the Central Midwives Board, They also keep copies of the midwives' roll and notify the Central Board of all changes. They may delegate their powers and duties to a committee con- sisting wholly or partly of members of the council. The expenses are defrayed out of the county or borough fund. The Housing Act of 1909 requires every county council to appoint a full-time medical officer of health, and empowers the Ministry of Health to prescribe his duties (//). The district medical officers of health are to give him all information which he can reasonably require. Every county council has also to establish a public health and housing committee, and to refer to it for report all matters, which are not urgent, relating to public health (except powers of rating and borrowing), and may also with like exceptions delegate to the committee any of the council's powers and duties. Since the establishment of an efficient county organization for public health ])ur])oses, there has been a tendency for legislation to Z'l 1875, 8. 130; 191.'5, c. 23, s. 2; The Public Ucallh (Nciurcal Diseases) Eegulations, 1910; see also 1917, c. 21. 25 1911, c. 55, 8. CA; 1911, c. 48, s. 10; 1913, c. 23, s. 3; 1921, o. 12. L.G. 5 66 LOCAL GOVERNMEIS'T. give the county councils more extended supervision over the minor authorities, especially the rural district councils.^" Under the National Insurance Act there has now been established in every county and county boroug-li an Insurance Committee, which has important functions in relation to public health (Ch. XX., p. 165)." NOTES. Note (a). — Urhan Powers in Rural Districts. — Urban powers have been conferred on rural councils in a large number of cases by order formerly of the Local Government Board and now of the Ministry of Health : the average annual number of such orders made in recent years has been 100, the principal powers conferred relating to the cleansing and watering of the streets and the making of bye-laws for nuisances and new buildings. Note (h). — Bates. — The Public Health Act, 1875, contains the following special provisions as to rates : — (i.) In a borough in which the " sanitary " expenses were, before 1875, jjaid otherwise than out of the borough fund or rate, they are (subject to the 23rovisions of local Acts) to be paid out of a general district rate. But in other boroughs constituted before 1875, they are to be paid out of the borough rate without the three-fourths exemptions.-** (ii.) In an improvement Act district in which such expenses have been paid out of a rate in the nature of a general district rate leviable over the whole district, they are to continue to be so paid. (iii.) In an urban district, if the wliole district is without public works of paving, water supply and sewerage, roads are to be maintained out of a highway rate. If part is without such works, the roads in that part are to be maintained out of a special highway rate on that part.-'-* (iv.) In an urban district, where the expenses are not payable out of a general district rate, the Ministry of Health is authorized on appli- cation to declare them, by provisional order, to be so payable, subject to the exceptional highway provisions.^" (v.) Private improvement rates are also authorized to be levied on indi- vidual occupiers both in urban and rural districts. ^^ Note (r). — Contributory 'place. — Any area consisting of several parishes or parts of parishes may be constituted by the Ministry of Health a separate "contributory jilace " (also called a "special drainage district"), and becomes sejjarately chargeable with " si:)ecial expenses. "^^ 2fi 1909, c. 44, ss. 69-71 ; 1921, c. 23. 27 1911, c. 55, s. 59. 28 1875, ss. 6, 207. 29 1875, s. 216. 30 1875, s. 208. 31 1875, ss. 21.3, 232; of. 1892, c. 57. 32 1875, ss. 229, 277. PUBLIC HEALTH. 67 Note (i/). — Special Expenses. — " Special expenses " may now in certain cases be defrayed, if the Ministry of Health so directs, in like manner as general expenses, i.e. without the three-fourths exemption for certain kinds of property. ^^ Note (e). — Expenditure. — See, as to general and special exj^enses in rural districts, Ch. III., p. 21. Note (/). — Port Sanitary Authorities. — In 1918-19 there were in England and Wales (excluding London) 59 {wrt sanitary authorities, 29 being joint boards. Their total expenditure amounted to about £48,000 for the year ending March, 1919. New regulations were issued in 1920 by the Ministry of Health conferring further powers and imposing additional duties upon port and riparian sanitary authorities, and a Government grant-in-aid of 50 per cent, of the approved net expenditure of the authorities became avail- able as from 1st August, 1920. Note (g). — Bivers FoUution. — The Rivei-s Pollution Prevention Act, 1876, is enforceable bj' county councils as well as by sanitary authorities, and a joint committee of county councils can be appointed for tlie jireservation of a river passing through several counties.^* In the West Riding and several parts of Lancashire and Cheshire special powers in addition to those conferred by this Act are by local Acts conferred on joint committees of the councils of counties and county boroughs concerned for better pi-eventing the pollution of rivers. ^^ Note (h). — County M.O.Hs. — An Order of the Local Government Boaid (dated July, 1910) prescribes that the County M.O.H. shall inform himsvlf as far as practicable respecting all influences affecting, or threateniJig to affect, injuriously public health in the county; shall enquire into and report upon the hospital accommodation for infectious diseases ; shall consult with the district Jtl.O.Hs. and communicate to, and obtain from them, information as to the health statistics of the county ; shall make an annual report to the county council, and, when directed by the Board (now the Ministry of Health) or the council, a special report on any matter appertaining to his duties. 33 1893-4, s. 29. 31 1888, c. 41, s. 14. 35 1892, c. cxci. ; 1894, c. clxvi. 68 LOCAL GOVEUNilENT. CHAPTER IX. EDUCATION. (1) Public Elementary Schools. (2) Higlier Education. (3) Poor Law Scliooh. (4) Industrial and Reformatory Schools. (5) Libraries and Museums. Previous to the year 1870, education was not a matter of Local Government concern, being left to tlie voluntary- action of private persons or societies aided by grants from the Government. The Elementary Education Act, 1870, was passed to ensure the proper provision of public elementary schools and the efficient education of children at them. For that purpose school boards were elected in any district where the public school accommodation was found insufficient after enquiry by the Education Department. The school district was ordinarily the municipal borough and elsewhere the poor law parish, but many parishes were united by the order of the Education Department to form school districts or contributory districts. The Education Act, 1902, altered the whole organization of elementary education, and the Education Act, 1918, varied and extended the powers and duties of local education authorities in respect of both higher and elementary education, and provided new means for carrying out and enforcing them. The Education Act, 1921 has now consolidated nearly the whole law on the subject. The Education Act of 1921 is not yet (March, 1922) in opera- tion, and large portions of the Act of 1918, e.g. those relating to raising the school age, day continuation schools, etc., have never been generally operative. These suspended sections, or the corre- sponding sections of the Act of 1921, may be from time to time made operative on days appointed by order of the Board of Education. [/f must he observed that this chaptej' sets out the complete laiv as it stands on the Statiite Booh whether it is vow in operation or not. But the parts not yet iyi operation are, as far as possible, indicated by an asterish,'] EDUCATION. 69 (1) PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.— The wliole of England and AVales is now divided into areas under local education authorities, which for the purposes of elementary education are (1) the councils of county boroughs ; (2) the councils of boroughs with a population of over 10,000; (3) the councils of urban districts with a population of over 20,000; and (4) else- where the council of the administrative county. Arrangements may be made between any of these authorities for the management of schools and they may co-operate or combine together for any educational purpose. Alternatively, the Board of Education may on the application of any two or more such authorities establish or incorporate the applicants into a federation for such purpose. A scheme constituting such a federation may be modified or repealed by a further scheme on the a})plication of any council concerned. The council of a non-county borough or urban district may, with the approval of the Board of Education, agree to relinquish any of its powers and duties under the Act to the county council (a).^ Every local education authority (L. E. A.) must appoint an education committee and refer to it all educational matters, except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money, and may (with the same exception) delegate to the committee with or without restric- tion any of the council's powers. The education committee is constituted in accordance with a scheme made by the council and approved by the Board of Education. This scheme ordinarily provides for at least a majority of the committee being members of the council, the remainder being persons experienced in education or acquainted with the needs of the various kinds of schools. Women as well as men must be included among- the members of the committee. An education committee may appoint sub- committees, consisting wholly or })artly of its own members. - It is the duty of the L. E. A. to maintain and keep efficient all public elementary schools within their area which are necessary, iiud to |)i()\ idc such additional school accommodation as is necessary ill the o|iiiii(iii of 1lie Board of Education. Adequate provision must be iiiiidi- 1)y iiicaiis of central schools or otherwise by every L. E. A. for ap])ro|)riaie iustructioii in cookery, huui dry- work, housewifery, dairywork, h;iiidiciiifls and gardening and (lu" lik(> io be given in I heir ^(hools^ ;iiid llicy nmsl provide adxniwed instriicl ion for i he nniic loiu;ii(| (diihircn. A iiangcniciils must be )i);idf' lor co-o|)ci:il inu' wilh li. I']. A."s I'oi' I he purposes of Higlier I'ld in-:il ion , ^o ih;il (diildrcu in (dcmcnlary scliools nniv be liiiincd » 1021, r. r,\, HM. ;}, r,, o, 7. ^ I92i, s. 4. 70 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. for and transferred at suitable ages to scliools other than elementary, and so that the supply and training of teachers may be adequately maintained (h). Any L. E. A. may submit a scheme for carrying out these duties to the Board of Education, and if they do not do so the Board can require a scheme to be submitted. The Board will thereupon consider the scheme, and if it be approved it at once becomes binding on the submitting authority, who must enforce it. If it be disapproved and agreement upon its modification be impossible, there are provisions for conference and, if need be, public inquiry. If agreement is not reached the remedy of the Board lies in their power to withhold or reduce grants payable to the authority (see p. 73). In the event of final disagreement a report of the whole matter must be laid before Parliament by the Board with the reasons for any action they may take. This procedure applies to the submission and consideration of any scheme submitted for any purpose under the Act of 1921, except that schemes relating to the medical inspection or treatment of scholars are to be submitted to the Minister of Health. Various notices and proceedings are required in order to establish a new school, the decision in case of disagreement lying with the Board of Education.'' All public elementary schools have to be conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Board and to be open at all times to inspection by the Board's inspectors. Any religious observance or instruction in these schools is subject to a conscience clause.* There are at present two classes of public elementary schools : — (1) the "provided " or "council " schools, the buildings of which were originally provided by public funds or have since been transferred to the L. E. A.; and (2) the "non-provided" or "voluntary" schools, the buildings of which have been provided wholly or mainly by private funds, and are now maintained by private persons or societies. The provided schools are wholly under the control of the L. E. A. When this authority is the council of a county borough or other borough or urban district it appoints all the managers. In a county the county council appoints two-thirds of the managers, the remaining one- third being appointed by the "minor local authority," i.e. in a borough or urban district the borough or district council, and elsewhere the parish council or parish meeting of the area served by the school. In a provided school, undor what is called "the 3 1921, ss. 8, 12, 14-20. 4 1921, s. 27. I EDUCATIOX. 71 Cowper-Temple clause,'' no religious formulary distinctive of a particular denomination is allowed to be taught.^ In nun-provided schools the buildings (other than the teacher's dwelling-house) are maintained by the managers subject to a pay- ment for wear and tear by the education authority, who also bear all other expenses of maintenance. The secular instruction in the school (including the number and qualification of the teachers) is controlled by the L. E. A., but the teachers are appointed and dismissed by the managers subject to the consent of the authorit}'. The use of the school buildings by the authority only extends to the ordinary school hours and in some cases to three evenings a week for evening school purposes. The religious instruction in the non-provided school is not subject to " the Cowper-Temple clause," but is regulated by the trust deed of the school and is under the control of the managers. The managers in a non-provided school ordinarily consist of four foundation managers, appointed under the trust deed or by the owner of the school, and two representative managers appointed by the L. E. A. In a count}^ one of the latter is appointed by the minor local authority. But if any school in the opinion of the Board of Education is organised for the sole purpose of giving advanced instruction to older children, it may be managed in such manner as may be approved by the L. E. A. and, in the case of a non- provided school, also by the managers of the school. Any class conducted in premises provided for classes in practical or advanced instruction for children attending from more than oiie school may be managed in such manner as may be approved by the L. E. A."^ (Schools may be grouped for the ])urposes of management by the L. E. A., but non-provided schools of different denominational characters can only be grouped with the consent of the managers, Xoii-provided schools of the same denominational diaiacter in the same locality can with the consent of the Board of Education be jointly re-organised or grouped under one body of managers by the L. E. A., subject to the right of ilic managers of any sucli school to demand ;i |»nl)lic i)i(|iiii\- before (lie ((inseiii of the Board is given. ^ Expenses. — The expenses of clciuentary education aio dcfiaycd in a county oni of tlic coiiiiiy fund, ilic rates foi- Ihis purpose l)eiiig levied over llie whole coihiIn-, excliidinij' aiiv boi^ouyli oi- (iistrict which ])as a scjiarate local cdiic;!! ion ;iii( lioiiiy. The county eoiiiu-il may ehiirge ;i jiortion, iiof iiioie IIkhi I iiree-foiiiilis, of llie (Mpitiil expeiises oi' leiil iiiciiiicd for (lie |ii(i\ision oi' i ill | U'oxc- •'• l'.m, 8H. 28, 30. '• r.)'21, ss. -2'.), 30. ' I'.l-il, sr. 33, 34. 72 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. ment of a school, or in providing means of conveyance for teachers and children attending thereat, on the parish or parishes served by the school, and a similar charge is made for loans or rent incurred for any schools transferred to the council from a school board.* Expenses in a borough are paid out of the borough fund or rate, or, if no borough rate is levied, out of a separate rate assessed and levied like the borough rate. Separate accounts have to be kept by the borough council, as its education accounts are audited by Government and not by municipal auditors. The expenses of an urban district council are paid out of a fund raised out of the poor rates of the parishes in the district, the rates being levied by overseers on a precept from the district council. Any L. E. A. may borrow on the security of the fund or rate out of which its expenses are payable, and educational loans are not to be reckoned as part of the total debt of the authority for the purposes of limitation of debt under the Acts of 1875 and 1888.'' Parliamentury Grants. — The funds raised by rates are supple- mented by annual parliamentary grants. The whole system of such grants was remodelled by the Act of 1918. It is now the duty of the Board of Education to draw u}) regu- lations for the payment to L. E. A.s of " annual substan- tive g-rants " and "deficiency grants." The regulations lay down the conditions under which grants may be obtained, and fix their amount. Normally a grant must amount to half the recognised expeiiditure of an authority. If a substantive grant calculated on the formula laid down in the regulations does not amount to the prescribed minimum, a deficiency grant must be made by the Board of Education to the authority concerned of such amount as to bring the total grant paid up to the prescribed minimum. Under the regulations in force in January, 1922, a grant is conditional on the Board being satisfied that the authority have performed their duties under the Education Act, 1921 ; have complied with the regulations of the Board for public elementary schools, special schools, and other special services; that they have supplied punctuallj^ such information and returns as the Board require ; that the authority have paid their teachers the minimum rates prescribed by the Board; and that the L. E. A. have adequately and efficiently provided for the needs of elementary education, not in a merely local sense, but having regard to the 8 1921, s. 122. 9 192], ss. 123. 124, 132; 1875, c. 55, s. 234; 1888, c. 41, s. 69. EDUCATION. 73 development of a satisfactory national system of elementary education. If the Board is not satisfied on any of these matters, they may withhold or make a deduction from the grant, and any such deduction shall not be the subject of a deficiency grant. If for any reason the total grant made to an authority falls short of the normal minimum grant by £500, or the amount which would be produced by a |d. rate, whichever is tlie less, the Board must lay before Parliament a report stating all the circumstances. Any regulations made by the Board must be laid before Parlia- ment as soon as may be after they are made.^° Xo grant is made in aid of building, enlarging, or fitting up a school or on account of any religious instruction. Grants in respect of medical inspection or treatment are paid by the Ministry of Health. L. E. A.'s have no longer any power to charge fees at any public elementary school, except for medical treatment or meals. But for a period of five years from 1st April, 1919, the managers of non-provided schools, at which fees were charged immediately prior to that date, will receive special grants to compensate them for the loss. In some cases the funds of elementary schools are supplemented by endowments. The Board of Education may make contribution orders where children resident in the area of one authority are attending the schools of another.'' Xon-provided schools are exempt from local rates. The L. E. A. may accept transfers of schools, and take land b\ agreement and otherwise, for the purpose of erecting elementary schools; but land can only be taken compulsorily under a provisional order made by the Board of Education and confirmed by Parlia- ment. An L. E. A. may provide a school on land outside their area for their own childien if the Board of Education, after consulting the authority of the area wherein the land lies, consents.'^ The powers of an L. E. A. include the cleansing of verminous school cliildren, the provision of vacation schools and other means of recreation, and the ])ower to make arrangements, with Hi" sanction of the lioind (if Ivlncal ion, foi' holiday or school camps, centres, and i'(|Mi|iiii<'ii1 for physical (raining, |)l;iying fields, school baths and swimming ballis, mid oilier facilities foi- social and physical tiaining in llic (la\- or evening. An L. Iv A. mnst make, witli llo' <;iii(tioii of llic .Minisliv of Tlcaltli, ari'angcmenls for attending 1o llic licultli jiinl |)li\'sic:il condiiion of scIkhiI cIi i lili'cn. Tt ni;i\- -iilihiil ;i sclicmc iii (li;il I'cliulf lo llic Miiiisliv of llciillli, "" 11)21, H. 118. II l'.»21. SH. ;!7, lis, IJO, I'ls, ICT. '2 11121, HS. 17 (2), 38. 10'.MI2. 74 LOCAL GOVERXMENT. wlio may, if need be, require a scheme to be submitted. An authority must consider how far it can utilise the services of private doctors in carrying out its duties, and a general domiciliary service of treatment by its own doctors must not be established. It is also its duty to provide for medical inspection as may be directed by the Ministry. No parent is bound to submit his child to medical inspection or treatment, but where treatment is provided repayment of the cost is to be required from all parents able to repay." Meals may be provided for school children at the expense of the i)arents, or, if necessary, free of charge, both in and out of term. If an L. E. A. consider *it necessary, they may, with the approval of the Board of Education, arrange for ^ children to be lodged and boarded out and otherwise provided for on such terms with the parents concerned as the L. E. A. may deem right. They may also aid elder children with scholarships and the like. An L. E. A. may also supply or assist in the supply of nursery schools, and attend to the health and nourishment and physical welfare of children attending them. But there is no compulsion for anyone to attend, or cause a child to attend, such a school. Xursery schools may be assisted with grants. ^^ Attendance. — It is the duty of the parent of every child to cause him to receive efficient elementarv instruction; and it is the duty of the L. E. A., after duly warning the parent, to secure regular attendance at school of all children between the school ages not exempted, and not receiving efficient elementary instruction at an approved place elsewhere." Every authority must make and enforce bye-laws for their area respecting the attendance of children at school. These bye-laws can only come into force with the approval of the Board of Education, and after the prescribed publication and notices. The Board can make and enforce bye-laws in default of the L. E. A. Bye-laws must be made in compliance with the statutory provisions as to attendance and employment of children. These were amended by the Act of 1918, and are now (generally speaking) as follows : — *The standard period of compulsory elementary education for the normal child is between the ages of five and fourteen years. No normal child may be exempted from school attendance between these ages. *The leaving age may be raised to fifteen for all children by a bye-law at the will of the L. E. A., who may, if they choose, exempt from its provisions children over fourteen 13 1921, ss. 16, 22, 80, 81, 86, 87. i-* 1921, ss. 21, 23, 24, 82-84, 119. 15 1921, ss. 42-44. EDUCATION. 75 engaged in any specified occupation or individual children on such terms as the authority consider right. ^"^ No child under the age of twelve can he employed at all, and over that age the hours during which children may be employed are rigorouslj^ restricted to prevent interference with their education. No child under the age of fourteen may be employed in street trading *or in certain specified occupations. Subject to these general rules, an L. E. A. may make bye-laws regulating the employment of children and young persons, and may grant licences for children to take part in entertainments. They may also prohibit, if they think fit, any particular child from being employed, either conditionally or absolutely. Bye-laws are enforced by orders of a court of summary juris- diction. The following are reasonable excuses for not complying with a bye-law : (a) that the child has been prevented from attend- ing school by sickness or any other unavoidable cause, and (b) that there is no public elementary school open which the child can attend within a distance, not exceeding three miles, to be fixed by the bye-laws, and that the local authority have not made provision for the conveyance of the child. ^^ The education of children on canal boats is enforced by the local education authority of the place in which the boat is regis- tered, with the aid of the Government inspectors under the Canal Boats Acts.i' The local authority has to provide suita))le instruction for blind and deaf children residing in their area until they attain the age of sixteen, and the attendance of such children may be enforced as if it were required by the bye-laws requiring the attendance at school of normal children. For the purpose of making this provision an L. E. A. may establish or acquire and maintain a school certified by the Board of Education as suitable. Altei- natively the L. E. A. may contribute, subject to the a})proval of the Board, lo the establishment, enlargement, alteration, and maintenance of an existing certified school. Tln^ Board of Education may make icgnlnt imis foi- tlic ;^iviiig of grants out of |iiil»lic i'liiid- lo ;tiiv certified schools. The pmriils of ;i ])liii(l oi- deaf cliild in;i\- ;iUo 1)(" ic(|iiir('d (o colli libiilc lo the cosi (d' lis instruction.''' in 1921, 88. 46-48. '? 191ft, c. 'V.), B. 14 ; l'.)21, 88. 40, 4".), '.)(), 91. 92, 94, 95, 101. '« 1921, H. 50. »« 1921, 88. 52-09. 76 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. An L. E. A. is bound to ascertain what children in their area ore mentally or physically defective or ejjileptic (not being idiots or imbeciles), and 'there are similar provisions for the suitable iLstruction of such children as for the blind and deaf. It is now compulsory on an L. E. A. to provide for their education. A board of guardians may contribute to the maintenance of schools for defective or epileptic children. (See Ch. XIII.) 20 (2) HIGHEE EDUCATION.— The local education authorities for elementary education are also the authorities for higher education (" other than elementary "), except that the area of the coirnty council for this purpose extends throughout the adminis- trative county. The larger non-county boroughs and urban districts are consequently not local authorities for higher education, but the council of every non-county borough and urban district has concurrent power with the county council to aid the supply of higher education, though the amount of aid given, so far as it is derived from rates, must not exceed the proceeds of a penny rate.^^ *The duty of L. E. A.s in respect of higher education has been considerably enlarged by the Education Acts of 1918 and 1921,' and is now laid down in the following terms : — " With a view to the establishment of a national system of public education available for all persons capable of profiting thereby, it shall be the duty of the council of every county and county borough, so far as their powers extend, to contribute thereto by providing for the pro- gressive doA^elopment and comprehensive organisation of education in respect of their area." Such authorities must establish and maintain continuation schools supplying suitable education and physical training free of charge for all such young persons resident in their area as are bound by law to undergo such training. ^^ They have the like powers as local authorities for elementary education as regards the physical and social training and the medical inspection and treatment of scholars, the acquisition of land, and the co-operation, combination, or federation with other councils for the performance of their duties and the exercise of their powers under the Education Act, 1921. Their remaining powers include the training of teachers, the supply of any technical instruction or education not given at a public elementary school, the provision of scholarships within or without their area and 20 1921, 6S. 53-69, 127 ; 1913, c. 28, s. 13. 21 1921, ss. 3, 70, 71. 22 1921, ss. 11, 75. EDUCATION. (T with or without maintenance allowances, the aiding- of research by- scholars or teachers, and the right of sending at the public expense representatives to conferences on education. They have also ])ower to accept transfers of schools and institutions for science and art.-^ They niay submit schemes for the execution of any of these powers and duties to the Board of Education, who may, if need be, order the submission of such a scheme, which will be dealt with under the same provisions as a scheme submitted by a local authority for elementary education {ante, p. 70). In framing such a scheme regard must be had to the existing supply of efficient schools and colleges, and to the inclusion therein of arrangements for co-operating with universities in the provision of lectures and classes. An L. E. A. may also pay or contribute to the cost of the inspection of secondary schools by the Board of Education or a university, and may make arrangements, subject to the approval of the Board, for giving to boys and girls under eighteen years of age assistance, information, and advice with respect to the choice of suitable employment.-' Attendance. — *The Edvication Acts of 1918 and 1921 have intro- duced a new idea into the education laws of this country by laying down the broad principle that every person under the age of eighteen whose parents are no longer bound to cause him to receive elementary education (now called "a young person ") shall attend such continuation school as the L. E. A. shall require. The young persons excepted from this general rule, ])roadly speaking, are: — (a) young seamen; (b) persons over sixteen wlio have matriculated or who have received full-time instruction until the age of sixteen; (c) persons under satisfactory full or ])art time education elsewhere; and (dj persons over fourteen on the " appointed day." There is also special provision for the automatic exemption of persons during the first seven years from the " appointed day " — namely, fa) persons between the ages of sixteen and eighteen ; and (b) persons attaining the age of sixteen within that period. Young persons bound to attend continuation schools under tliese provisions must do so for a iota! of 320 liouis a year at such times and on such days as mav be fixed liy the L. E. A., who must seek to meet local convenience in so doing. During the fiist sev(Mi years fiom tlie " ai)j)(jinted day " iliey Tuay reduce tlu; number ol' hours of attemhince to 280. 'I'here is ])rovision for ])reserving to s(diolars their religious and industrial freed*jm and (heir noiinal liolidays. 2'' 1021, HH. G. 71, 73, 74, RO, 80. 100-112, 126. -■» 1021, HK. 11, 13, 14, 107, 134. -•' 1021, kh. 7C., 77. 170. 2S 78 LOCAL GOVEENMENT, Tlie expenses of technical instruction were primarily chargeable on the local taxation (customs and excise) residue fund, a fund raised since 1890 by an additional tax on beer and spirits, and paid by the Local Government Board to the councils of counties and county boroughs. This fund has since 1902 been appropriated to higher education, and has since 1910 been replaced by a fixed annual grant from the Exchequer equivalent to the proceeds of the residue fund for the financial year 1908-9. Parliamentary grants are made for the maintenance of .secondary, technical, and continuation schools, and for building as well as maintaining training colleges and hostels under the same provisions as apply in the case of elementary schools. Further sums without limit may be spent out of the county or borough funds or rates, according to local needs. The council of any county may, after giving notice to the overseers, charge any expenses incurred for higher education on any parish served by the school or institution (c). But if the area sought to be charged lies within a borough or urban district whose council is an elementary education authority, such council must be consulted before the charge is made, so that their views may be heard. ~*^ Under the School Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918, super- annuation allowances are granted to school teachers by the Board of Education out of the Imperial Exchequer. Governing bodies of institutions established for technical instruction and other kindred purposes are given special facilities for acquiring land and making bye-laws for their management. ^^ (3) POOE LAW SCHOOLS.— The education of pauper children is provided for in public elementary schools, or in schools established by the guardians either in connection with the work- houses or separately, or else in schools established under the poor law in special school districts. These "school districts" for the education of pauper children may be formed by the combination of unions and parishes not in union. They are formed and altered by order of the Ministry of Health with the consent of the majority of the guardians in each union or parish, and may be dissolved by order without consent. The schools are now inspected by the inspectors of the Board of Education. The authority of a school district is a district board composed of the chairmen of the boards of guardians and of qualified ratepayers elected by the guardians. 26 1890, c. 60; 1910, c. 8, s. 88; 1921, ss. 118, 122, 123. 27 1892, c. 29; 1918, c. 39, Sched. II. EDUCATIOX. . 79 1 be establislimeiit expenses of llie schools are cLarg-ed on the constituent unions and parishes in proj^ortion to their rateable values (d).-^ Poor law guardians may contribute to such expenses of the provision, enlarg-ement, or maintenance of any public elementary school as are certified by the Board of Education to be incurred in respect of pauper children sent by the guardians. They may also pay the expenses of pauper children sent to other schools certified by the Ministry of Health as suitable for pauper children."' (4) IXDUSTEIAL AND KEIORMATOEY SCHOOLS.— "Industrial schools," certified by the Secretary of State, are provided for the reception and maintenance of children under fourteen years of age found begging, wandering- or destitute, or in bad company, or out of control. Children committed to these schools receive industrial training, and may be detained, if so ordered, until they attain the age of sixteen years. The local authority for elementary education of the district in which the child resides is responsible for his reception and maintenance, unless he is sent by the poor law authority, or is a wandering child, or the child of convicted parents. But even in these cases the local authority may contribute to or provide for his maintenance.^" An industrial school may be provided either by an education authority, or by other persons or bodies with whom the authority mav contract. It may be either dav or residential, but not both. " Day industrial schools " are only certified where the Secretary of State is satisfied that they are necessary or expedient owing to the circumstances of any class of the population in an area. Poor law g-uardians may contribute towards the cost of children sent to a certified school on their application. Industrial schools originally provided by county or borougfh councils are, since 1908, vested in the local education authoiity." "Reformatory school^," ccit ificd l)y llir S(M-rctary of .State, for the indusii'ial training- of yontliiiil olTcnders, wlio may be com- n)itted to lliciii fiom twelve (o sixteen years of nfj;o, aio j)rovided eitlicr by hjcal authorities {i.e., the councils of counties and 28 1844, c. 101, 8H. 40-40; 1848, c. 82; 1868, c. 122, ss. 10-12; 1003, c. 10; 1004, c. 20. 20 1021, s. 127; 1882, c. 58, b. 13. 30 1008, c. 67, Hs. 44-00; 1021, c. 4. •"" 1008, 8. 74. 80 LOCAL GOVER^STMENT. county boroiig-hs), or by otlier persons or bodies. The local authority of the county or county borough where the offender resides is responsible for his reception and maintenance. He may be detained in the reformatory school, if so ordered, until the age of nineteen years. All certified industrial or reformatory schools are under the supervision of the Home Office and subject to regular inspection by the inspectors of that Office. The expenses are mainly defrayed out of Treasury grants, but those incurred by local authorities are paid, in the case of industrial schools, as expenses incurred for the purposes of elementary education, and, in the case of reforma- tories, out of the county or borough fund. Any local authorities may take land and raise loans for the purposes of these schools with the consent of the Ministry of Health. Local education authorities may combine, with the approval of the Secretary of State, and appoint joint managers of schools (e). (5) LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS.— The Public Libraries Acts may be adopted for any county, borough, or urban district by a special resolution of the county, borough, or district council, and for any rural parish by the parish meeting, but in the latter case a poll must be taken. The library authority for executing the Acts is the county, borough, district, or parish council, or in a rural parish without a council commissioners appointed by the parish meeting, or, with the consent of the county council, the parish meeting itself, which can appoint a committee for this purpose, as can also an urban council.'^" Any library authority, except the council of a county borough, may relinquish their powers and duties to the county council upon such terms as may be agreed upon and approved by the Board of Education. ^^ A library authority which is also a local authority for higher educa- tion may (and if it adopts the Library Acts after 23rd December, 1919, must) refer all matters relating to the exercise of its powers in respect of libraries (except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money) to its education committee. Any such authority may, with the like exceptions, delegate their powers to the education committee.^"* Such authorities may purchase land compulsorily for libraries in the same manner as for other 32 1892, c. 53; 1893, c. 11; 1893-4, c. 73, ss. 7, 11, 12, 19, 53; 1901, c. 19; 1919, c 93. 33 1919, s. 2. 34 1919, s. 3. EDUCATIOjN'. 81 objects of higher education. When the Acts have been adopted," all or an}^ of the following institutions, viz., public libraries, public museums, and art galleries, may be provided, and the library authority may make bye-laws regulating their use. Before 1919 schools for s(?ience and art could be provided by the library autho- rity; these are now provided by the authority for hig-her education. Payment may be required from persons not belonging to the library district for the use of a lending library. Power is also given to libraiy authorities to combine together, and also to obtain bv agreement the tise of libraries not belonging to them. Money may be borrowed, and expenses are payable in a county out of the county fund, in a borough out of the borough rate, in any other urban district out of the rate applicable to sanitary expenses, and in a rural parish out of a rate from which agrictiltural land is exempt to the extent of two-thirds. There is now no limit on the amount of the rate which may be levied. A county council may, after g-iving reasonable notice to the overseers of the parish concerned, and in the case of an area situate within a borough or urban district after consultation with the council of the borough or urban district, charge any expenses on stich parish if in the opinion of the county council it is being served by any institution provided by them under the Library Acts. In a rural parish the expenditure has to be referred in every tenth year to the parish meeting for its sanction. In the year 1919-20 fifty-six parish councils and one parish meeting had financial transactions under the Public Libraries Acts. Their total receipts in that year under these Acts amounted to £3,000, and the expenditure to £2,800 (f).'' The Museums and Gymnasiums Act, 1891, authorised the council of any borougli or \irban district, which by special resolution adoi)tp(l tlie Act, to provide museums or gymnasiums, or both, according to the terms of the resolution. But the Public Libraries Act, 1919, takes away the ])ower of providing museums under the Act of 1891 without prejudice to the right of maintaining museums already established. Any such museums are now managed and maintained by the library authority of (he district wherein they are situate as if they li:i). — Default. — If a local education authority fails to fulfil its duties under the Act or to provide such additional public school accommodation as is in the opinion of the Board of Education necessary, the Board after holding a public enquiry may make an order compelling the authority to fulfil its duty, and such order may be enforced by mandamus. In such cases the Board is also able to bring pressure to bear on defaulting authorities by withholding money grants. (See pp. 72, 73.) The Board may also in case of default make orders recognizing persons as managers of elementary schools and repaying tlieir expenses, recovering such expenses from the authority in default.^'' Note (r). — Wales. — In Wales and Monmouth the Welsh Intermediate Education Act, 1889, has been practically superseded by the Acts of 1902, 1918 and 1921. But wherever a Welsh county continues to levy a ^d. rate for higher education, contributions are made by the Treasury up to an equivalent amount in aid of the intermediate schools established under the Welsh Act. A scheme under that Act has constituted the Central Welsh Board for intermediate education, a body on which the various county ■■'6 1891, c. 22; 1919, c. 93, s. 9. " 1921, ss. 150, 151. EDUCATION. 83 councils are represented and which exercises a general supervision over the public secondary schools of the Principality. A sum, to be calculated in the manner laid down by the Act of 1918, is to be substituted for the yearly sum payable under the scheme to the Central Welsh Board.^^ Note ((/). — Pool- Laic Schools. — In 1915 (the last year for which particulars are available), 12 unions and parishes not in union provided for the educa- tion of their pauper children wholly or partly in workhouse schools, 66 in separate schools, and 22 in district schools, while in 505 unions a majority of the children attended public elementary schools. These figures include London. In 1915 there were only two poor law school districts for areas outside London. Note (c). — lieformatories. — In England and Wales at the end of 1920 there were 37 certified reformatory schools, 125 certified industrial schools, of which 9 were short-term industrial schools, and 6 certified day industrial schools. These figures include London. The numbers of children in these schools on December 31st, 1920, were as follows: — 4,058 in reformatories, 10,409 in industrial (including short-term) schools, and 736 in day industrial schools. Note (/). — Libra ries. — The Public Libraries Acts had on March 31st, 1911, been adopted in 67 county boroughs, 130 other municipal boroughs, 205 urban districts (not being boroughs), and 61 parishes under parish councils and parish meetings. Library Commissioners were appointed in one of the last- mentioned i^arishes. In addition, in a few places, local authorities had provided public libraries oi;herwise than under the Public Libraries Acts (see H. of C. Return, 266 of 1912). •■'« 1889, c. 40; 1921, c. 51; 1918, c. 39, s. 42. 84 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTEE X. HIGHWAYS. (1) Ordinary Highways. (2) Main Roads. (3) Bridges. (4) Minister of Transport (5) Locomotives. (6) Motor Cars. Speaking generally, there are two classes of roads repairable at the public expense: — (1) The ordinary "highway," and (2) the " main road " (a). Those of the first class are, in both urban and rural districts, managed by the district councils (&). For those of the second class, the county councils (or, in county boroughs, the county borough councils) are responsible. In 1918-19 there were in England and Wales (outside London) about 150,000 miles of roads repairable at the public expense, including about 28,000 miles of main roads. ^ (1) ORDINARY HIGHWAYS.— It is the duty of highway authorities to keep their highways in proper rejDair. The ancient remedy for non-repair of a highway was an indictment of the inhabitants of the parish liable to repair it, and that remedy is still applicable. Modern statutes, however, have provided other and more summary methods of procedure; and orders for the execution of repairs may be made both b}^ the petty sessions and by the county council, and may, if necessary, be enforced by the appointment of a person to execute the w^ork, the cost being charged to the defaulting authority. If, however, the liability to repair is disputed, the question must, under the Act of 1878, be settled by a jury on an indictment (c). Parish councils are expressly authorized to bring complaints to the county council of any failure on the part of the district council to keep the highways in good repair." 1 1835, c. 50; 1862, c. 61; 1864, c. 101: 1878, c. 77; 1888, c. 41, ss. 11, 85: 1893-4, c. 73, s. 25 ; 1920, c. 72. ■ 2 1835, ss 94-99; 1862, ss. 18, 19; 1878, s 10; 1893-4, s. 16. HIGHWAYS. 85 The hig-liway luitliorit}^ may take stones and gravel for the repair of their highAvays from any common or waste land in the parish, or, if necessary, from another parish which has more than sufficient for its own roads. If the common and waste lauds do not afford sufficient materials, they may be obtained from any other land in the same or an adjoining- parish by agreement with the owner, or by licence from the justices, compensation being paid for the materials taken and for damage done in the taking.^ The Acts contain a number of provisions for the maintenance, repair, and regulation of highways, and for the prevention of obstructions and encroachments and the proper conduct of traffic thereon. The erection of sign-posts at crossways may be enforced by petty sessions. The county councils also have certain powers for making bye-laws, chiefly with regard to the weight of loads, the form and skidding of wheels, and the erection of gates on highways.* Provision is made for the widening of highways where necessary, and the compulsory acquisition of land for tliat ])urpose. High- ways may be diverted, and, if unnecessary for the ])ublic use, may be stopped up, under certain restrictions and (if rural highways) subject to the consent of the parish council or meeting being obtained. The highway authority may also, if so authorized by order of petty sessions, subject to appeal to quarter sessions, dis- continue the maintenance of an unnecessary hig-hway {d).^ Xew highways may be dedicated to the use of the ])ublic, and taken over by the highway autliority by agreement, or by decision of petty sessions subject to appeal to quarter sessions.*^ In an urban district which is rated for works of paving, water supply, or sewerage, the highway expenses of the town or urban district council are ])aid out of the general district rate (with 11ic three-fourths exem])tion for agricultural land, &c.); but where llir whole or a part of the distiict is not rated for sucli works, the highway expenses (either throughout the district or in tliat part, as the case may be) are met by a sepaiate highway rate, which is levied (III I lie >;iiii(' basis as the poor lale. In some boroughs, liowevci, tliese expenses are payable undei- local Acts out ot tlic borougli rate or other rates. Tlie liigliway expenses of a luial distriil council arc, by the IjociiI f io\ci nnictit Act, ISDI. icquircil to lie (Iflrnyed as general •■» 1835, B8. 51-55. ■» 187ft. Bfl. 20, .^5; 1888, k. 85. •■» 1835. 8H. 82-02 ; 1803-4, hh. 13, 10; l.s78, k. 24. «■• 1835, ss. 23, 62, 03; 18G2, hk. 35. .'W ; 1804, s. 24; 1875, c. 55, bh. \U\. I 18. 86 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. expenses {i.e., out of tlie "common fund" of tlie district, to which all the parishes comprised therein contribute uniformly on the basis of assessable value under the Agricultural Rates Act, 189G), subject to this exception — that, if the council thinks it just to do so by reason of natural differences of soil or locality, or other exceptional circumstances, it may, with the approval of the county council, divide the district into two or more parts, and charge each part separately with its highway expenditure (e)/ Where extraordinary expenses are incurred through damage caused by any excessive weight or extraordinary traffic passing along a highway, the highway authority is entitled to be reimbursed by the person causing the damage/ A county council may, if it thinks fit, contribute to the expenses of any ordinary highway in the county. County councils and highway authorities may also enter into agreements with one another in relation to the construction, alteration, or improvement of highways (including main roads). Any highway authority may, for the protection or better enjoyment of a highway, be authorized by the Ministry of Health to contribute to the execution or maintenance of drainage works. ^ A parish council may undertake the repitir of any of the public footpaths in the parish, other than such as are at the side of a public road.^° (2) MAIN EOADS.— A "main road " is either (1) a road which has ceased since the 31st December, 1870, to be a turnpike road, or (2) any road which the county authority, on the application of rural district councils or other highway authorities, has declared to be a main road on the ground of its being a medium of communication between great towns or a thoroughfare to a railway station, or otherwise (/). The whole duty and cost of maintaining a main road attaches lyrivid facie (subject to any existing private liabilities to repair such a road) to the county council, which for that purpose has all the powers of a highway authority. The county council may, however, contract with the highway authority for the maintenance of a main road by the latter authority, or may oblige that authority to undertake the maintenance in con- sideration of such annual sum as may be agreed on, or settled by the Minister of Transport. Any urban highway authority might within twelve months of the appointed day under the Act 7 1893-4, s. 29; 1878, s. 7. « 1878. s. 23; 1898, c. 29, s. 12. s 1888. s. 11 (10); 1891, c. G3, s. 3; 1918, c. 17, s. 5. 10 1893-4, s. 13. HIGHWAYS. 87 of 1888, and may now, witliin twelve months after the creation of a new main road witliin their district, claim to retain the power and duty of maintaining- it, the county council making an annual payment (as agreed on or settled by the Minister of Transport) " towards the costs of the maintenance and repair, and reasonable improvement connected with the maintenance and repair " (,9).'^ The Minister of Transport, on the application of the county council, and in tlie case of a road within a municipal borough, with the consent of the town council, can by order " dismain " a road and reduce it to the rank of an ordinary higliway. In Lancashire the main-road expenditure is a separate charge on the several hundreds, but in g-eneral the expenditure is charged equally over the whole of a county. (3) BRIDGES. — At common law the inhabitants of a county at large were prima facie liable to repair all public bridg-es in the county. (2 Coke, Inst. 700.) But by usage, prescription, or ancient tenure, hundreds, parishes, townships, corporations, or individuals may be liable to repair. (See R. v. Hendon, 4 B. & Ad. 628; /?. v. Ecclesfield, 1 B. & Aid. 359.) Thus, r.y., in Lancashire, many bridges are repaired at the cost of the hundred rate.^" Under the Statute of Bridges (22 Hen. VIII. c' 5), and the amending Acts, the general liability to repair public bridges, if outside cities and towns corporate, was imposed upon the inhabi- tants of the county, if inside, on the inhabitants of such city or town. But the liabilities of the inhabitants of a county are now transferred to the county council. In a county the county council, ;iiid ill a municipal borough the town council, superintend the repair, widening, improvement, and rebuilding of such bridg*es, and may borrow money for these purposes. The ('X})enses are charged and loans secured on the county and borough rate resjiec- tively. No bridge built by a private person or corporation af((>r 1803 could ])ecome a county bridge, unless bnili under the su]»(Miii- tendence of the county surveyor, or (in the case of a bridge built before 1878) accepted by the county authority. Now, liowever, the councils of counties and ol couiily boiouglis may jmnlinsc or take over bridges on terms agreed on, and may 11 1878, c. 77; 1888, s. 11 ; 1800. c. 9; Derby C. C. V. Matlock, Ti. I!. IS9C.. A. C. 315; liedn. C. C. v. Bedford, L. U. 18',)4, 2 Q. B. 78() ; 18i)l, s. 4. '2 1297, c. 15; 1530, c. 5; 1702, c. 12; 1739, c. 29; 1741, c. 33; 1803, c. 59; 1812, c. 110; 1814, <: 90; 1815, c. 143; 1835, f. 50, ss. 21, 22; 1870. c. 73: 1878, c. 77, 88. 21, 22; 1880 (2), c. 5; 1882, c. 50, k. 119; 1888, c. 41, ss. 3, 34, 78 (3), 79; 1891, c. 63, H. 3; 1919, c. 50, s. 2. 88 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. erect new bridges ; and county and district councils may enter into agreements for the construction or alteration of bridges in wliicli they respectively are interested. The approaches to any public bridge, for the space of 300 feet on each side, are repairable by the same authority as the bridge, except in the case of bridges built after the 20tli March, 1836, when the approaches and road over a bridge (unless it is a main road) are repairable by the highway or other authority or person previously liable to repair the road.^^ Where a turnpike road has become a highway, the bridges become county bridges. Bridges carrying main roads are in general repairable by the county council.^* County councils and other highway authorities may, with the consent of the Minister of Transport, purchase by agreement and manage existing ferries within their area, either by themselves or jointly with another such authority. ^^ (4) MINISTETi OF TRANSPOET.-^The national authority for highways is now the Minister of Transport, on whom have been conferred the powers in this liehalf of every other Government Department, including all the powers of the Eoad Board. He is assisted with advice by the " Eoads Committee," on which local authorities, as well as other interests, are represented. The Minister of Transport may, subject to the approval of the Treasury, make advances out of sums provided by Parliament to county councils and other highway aiithorities for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of roads, bridges, or ferries. Such advances may be either by way of grant or loan or l)oth. But the Minister mav not impose any conditions upon a local authority which might entail expenditure without the consent of such local authority or of the Minister of Health. After consultation with the Eoads Committee and the local authorities affected the Minister may, for the purpose of advances for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of roads, classify them as he thinks fit. This classification is now (1922) in progress, and will probably, when complete, supersede the old division of roads into main roads and divstrict roads (/?). The Minister also has powers to make advances for similar pur- poses from the "Road Fund." He may himself, with the approval of the Treasury, construct and maintain new roads, and contract with the highway authority of the district for their maintenance and 13 1888, s. 6: 1891, c. 63. n 1870, s. 12; 1888, s. 11. i5 1919, c. 75. HIGHWAYS. 89 repair, the expenses hein^ defrayed out of the " Eoad Fund." The expression "roads," for all the purposes of Part II. of the Act of 1909, includes hiido-es, viaducts, subways, road-ferries, and footways. ^"^ The "Eoad Fund" was established by the Act of 1920, and, subject to Treasury regulations as to accounts and investments, is under the manag-ement of the Minister. The money standing to the account of the road improvement grant has been transferred thereto, and all sums received by the Minister under Part II. of the Act of 1909, and all sums formerly payable to that account in respect of duties on motor spirit, are now ])aid to the Road Fund. In addition, it receives anniially from the Treasury a sum equal to the amounts collected by coimty councils for licences for mechani- cally pro])elled vehicles, less a sum of about £536,000. After making out of the Road Fund several annual statutory payments, the Minister applies the balance for the purposes of Part II. of the Act of 1909.'" Where under the Act of 1909 the Minister proposes himself to construct, or authorizes a highway authority to construct, a new road, or nnikes advances to a highway authority for the improve- ment of existing roads, the Minister or the authority (as the case may be) may acquiie laud, eitlier bv agreement under the Lands Clauses Act or (if necessary) compulsorily imder an order of the Development Commissioners. Roads so constructed by county councils are to be "main roads." ^* The Minister, and with his approval local aiithorities, can exercise special ])owers of acquiring land for authorized new roads or the inij)rov('7ucut of existing roads, if the Minister of Labour considers tbat Ihc state of iinenijiloynient warrants such action.^'' (5) LOCOMOTIVES.— ^A separate set of Acts regulates the use of locomotives on hig])A\ays, prescribing the limit of weight and of speed, llic breadth and ])attern of wheels, and other matters, providing for the security and convenience of the ordinary traffic, enabling the Minister of Transport and county and borough councils to make icguhiiions and l)ye-laws respectively, and rcipiiiinn' (lie licensing wwd legistraiion of, and th(> levying of duties n])(in, loioniol ives by couniy for county borough) councils.-" i« ]010, c. .50, sfi. 1. 2, 11, 17. 22. 24: 1000, c. 47, ss. 8-10, 13; 1020, c-. 72, rr. 3, 4. '7 1020, 8s. 2, 3; r.llO, c. 8, s. 00; 1020, c. 18, rs. 02, 12. "* 1000, H. 11. I-' 1020, c. 57, Hs. 2, 4. ^" 1801, c. 70; 1805, c. 83; 1878, c. 77. Pari 11.; 1808, c. 20; 1003, c. 3r. ; 1010, c. 50, BR. 2, 10, 11 ; 1020, c. 72, kr. 1, 7, 12, 15, 20. 90 LOCAL GOVERJnTMENT. Lights. — Tlie carrying of lights on veliieles is no longer enforced bv county bye-laws, but by the general provisions of the Ac^of 1907. The council of a borough may, however, by order approved by the Minister of Transport, exempt from the operation of this Act vehicles carrying inflammable goods or in places where inflammable goods are stored. The council of a county may by order exempt from the same Act vehicles carrying farm produce in the course of harvesting during certain periods of the year,^^ (6) MOTOR CARS.— The use of motor cars, their construction, identification, speed, etc., and the obligations of their owners and drivers, are regulated by the Motor Car Acts, 1896 and 1903, and the Roads Act, 1920. The Ministry of Transport has power to inake regulations for various purposes under these Acts; and cars are registered, their drivers licensed, and the duties upon them levied by the county (or county borough) council.' 22 XOTES. Note (a). — Turnpike Bonds. — A third class of road, the " turnpike road," is now, as such, extinct. Turnpike roads were managed by trustees, and their expenses used to be chieflj- defrayed out of the tolls ; but consequent on the creation of railways and the diversion of traffic to them, there was a falling off of this source of income and many turnpike trusts became insolvent. By Acts jjassed in 1841 and 1863 the justices in special sessions were empowered to order contributions from the highway rates towards the rei^air of turnpikes with insufficient tolls. For a long series of years annual Acts were passed providing for the winding up and dissolution of an increasing number of these trusts ; and until 1878 turnpike i-oads ceasing to be so became ordinary highways chargeable to the local highv/ay areas. The Act of 1878 provided that turnpike roads disturnpiked after 31st December, 1870, whether before or after the passing of the Act, were with certain exceptions to be "main roads." The number of turnpike trusts in England (exclusive of the Isle of Wight) and in North Wales at the end of 1864 was 1,047, comprising 20,189 miles of road ; in 1882 the number had diminished to 71, with 2,180 miles of road. The last surviving trust exjDired in 1896. Note (5). — Former HigJuray Authorities. — Formerly there were four principal kinds of highway areas and authorities: — (1) the highway parish with its surveyor of highways ; (2) the highway district, constituted under the Highway Acts of 1862 and 1864, consisting of a collection of parishes, and administered by a highway board, the members of which were partly the resident justices and partly waywardens elected by the several parishes; (3) the rural sanitary district and sanitary authority, which authority might be substituted for the highway board wherever the highway and 21 1907, c. 45 : 1919, c. .50, s. 2. 22 1896, c. .36; 1903, c. .36; 1919, c. 50, ss. 2, 10, 11; 1920, c. 72, ss. 1, 7, 12, 20. HIGHWAYS. 91 sanitarj' districts were conterminous ; (4) the urban sanitary district, in which the highways were in every case, as they continue to be, managed by the urban sanitary authority (now the district council). The Local Govern- ment Act. 1894, provided for the transfer of all the powers, duties, and liabilities of any highway authority in a rural district to the district council. The first two of the above-mentioned authorities, therefore, — ■ the surveyor of parish highways and the highway board — have wholly disappeared.-^ Note (c). — Liability for repair of highicaijs. — A highway at common law was repairable by those who had the use of it, i.e. the public, and each parish repaired the highways within its limits, the inhabitants providing the necessary labour and materials. The creation of the office of surveyor (in 1555) made no difference in the liability, but merely regulated the labour, and after a time money payments (rates) came to be substituted for personal labour. (The Acts regulating the performance of personal labour, or " statute duty," were only repealed in 1835). The first departure from the highway jiarish as the area of administration was made by the Sanitary Acts in 1848 and 1858. In 1862 highway districts ad hoc were first invented, but until 1878 the parishes in a district remained separately chargeable for the expenses of repair. Through all these developments the technical obligation of the inhabitants of a parish to repair their highways and the remedy by indictment continued ; and a highway in a highway district, on being dedicated to the public, was still, under the existing Acts, said to become repairable by the parish in which it was situate. Some highways are repairable, ratione tenurce or otherwise, by private persons and not by the public. Note ((/). — Improvements. — The Highway Act of 1864 gave powers to highway boards for the improvement as distinct from the ordinary maintenance and repair of highways, and for borrowing money for that purpose. These powers are apparently now exercisable by those rural district councils which have taken the place of highway boards. Urban councils can exercise similar powers by virtue of the Public Health Act. Improvements can also be made and loans i-aised by road authorities under the Local Grovernment Act and other Acts.-* Note (r). — (Jost of rural /lif/Zurai/.s. — The following table shows the mileage and cum{>arative cost of maintenance (excluding expenditure out of borrowed money and for improvements) in 1891-2, 1903-4, 1910-11, and 1918-19 of the ordinary rural highways and of those main roads the maintenance of which was delegated to rural highway authorities by county councils : — Muin Roads maintained on behalf of County Councils by Rural District Councilfl or their Predecessors. Ordinary Highways in Rural Districts. Year. Mileage. Cost of Repairs. AveniKt! ('ost of l{epairs per Mile. Mileage. Cost of Uciwirs. Averaffc Cost of UopairH IHjr Mile. 1891 2 1903-4 1910-1 1918-9 0,97:5 7,001 5,842 4,332 £ 325,117 42r,,210 472,989 35(),()4C) £ .s. d. 4() 12 (5 (;o IS 80 19 3 82 (•) (•) 99,8()2 95,177 9.5,077 94,422 £ 1,33().945 2,015,510 2,312,584 1,799,9(59 £ s. d. 13 7 9 21 4 24 (•> (') 19 1 3 2-' 189.3-4, c. 73, 8. 25 2'* 18G4, 88. 47, .50; 1875, n. 233; 1888, c. 41, hh. 11, (lU ; I'.M)',), c. 44, HchvA. IV. 1909, c. 47, Tar) II.; r.M'J, r. .50: 1020, r. 72. 92 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. In addition to the main roads maintained by rural district councils on behalf of county councils there were, in 1918-19, 19,414 miles of main roads which were maintained in rural districts, at a cost of about £1,800,000, by county councils. Cost of urban highways. — In urban districts (other than county boroughs) there were, in 1918-19, about 4,300 miles of main roads, which were maintained at a cost of about £990,000, and about 16,800 miles of ordinary highways, which were maintained at a, cost of about £1,360,000. In county boroughs there were 10,873 miles of public roads and streets, which were maintained at a cost of £1,670,000. For further jjarticulars respecting highway expenditure, see Chapter XXII. Note (/). — Moining of roads. — The power to declare ordinary highways to be main roads is still in use. Some county councils have made extensive use of it, and so (i) have brought nearly all the highways in the county under their control, and (ii) have made the cost of maintenance a county instead of a district charge. In the administrative county of Huntingdon, for example, there are in all about 570 miles of highways, of which about 540 miles are " main " roads. In most counties, however, the power has been used sparingly. Note (g). — Main Boads. — Until the creation of county councils, main roads continued under the control of the highway authorities, but the county paid half the cost on the certificate of the county surveyor that they were properly maintained. During the period between 1882 and 1889 there was voted annually by Parliament a grant specifically in aid of the cost of the maintenance of disturnpiked and main roads. The grant was at first equal to one-fourth and afterwards to one-half of the cost of maintenance. It ceased to be voted on the coming into operation of the system of " assigned revenues " provided for by the Local Government Act, 1888. There is no provision for the direct allocation of any specified part of those revenues towards the cost of the maintenance of roads, but the portion of those revenues not allocated to specific services (amounting to about £1,000,000 annually) is (with some unspecified part of the grant of £450,000 paid annually to councils of counties and county boroughs under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896) applicable by councils receiving it to main road and other purposes. In 1918-19 the repair of nearly three-quarters in length of the main roads in England and Wales had been undertaken by the county councils themselves. Note (h). — Classificatio7i.- The roads in England and Wales have recently been regrouped bj^ the Ministry of Transport into three classes: — Class I. Roads, Class II. Roads, and Other Roads. The provisional classification, which is subject to revision, of roads in England and Wales (outside London) resulted as follows : — Class I. Roads 17,488 miles. Class II. Roads 11,064 miles. Other Roads 121,697 miles. Total 150,249 miles. It is proposed by the Ministry of Transport, with the approval of the Treasury, to make grants from the Road Fund during the financial year 1921-22 to highway authorities to the extent of fifty per cent, of their approved HIGHWAYS. 93 expenditure on ordinary maintenance and improvement of Class I. roads, and twenty-five per cent, of the expenditure in the case of Class II. roads. These grants are estimated to absorb in Great Britain about £7,000,000 of the revenue of the Road Fund during the financial year 1921-22. (See House of Commons Paper, No. 245 of 1921). The receipts credited to the Road Improvement Fund and the Road Fund during the twelve months ending 31st March, 1921, amounted to upwards of £9,400,000. 94 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTEE XI. POLICE. (1) Ancient Police. (2) County Police. (3) Borough Police. (4) Other Police Forces. (5) Special Constables. (1) AXCIENT POLICE.— The ancient police org-anization of the country consisted of (i.) a high constable for each hundred or other similar area; (ii.) petty constables (or headboroughs, tithing-men, or borsholders) for townships, &c. ; and (iii.) watch- men appointed in towns under the Statute of Winchester, or appointed in any place by justices of the peace virtute officii. In more modern times the appointment and duties of parish constables were provided for and regulated by several statutes. The whole of this organization is now' practically obsolete (a).^ The modern police organization consists mainly of police forces established since 1839 under the County and Borough Police Acts. (2) COUNTY POLICE.— The county police area is, generally speaking, the administrative county, exclusive of those municipal boroughs which have a separate police force [b). In a few instances, however, the same person is appointed to be chief constable for two or more administrative counties, and in such cases the police forces are sometimes managed, to a great extent, as a single force, though technically they are distinct (c). There are also powers for transferring detached and outlying areas from one county to another for police purposes; and this course has been taken in some instances {e.g. with regard to certain parishes in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, and other counties) {d).^ 1 See 2 Hale, P. C. 96. 97. 2 1839, c. 93; 1840, c. 88; 1856, c. 69; 1857, c. 2; 1859 (2). c. 32; 1865, c. 35; 1888, c. 41, ss. 24, 30: 1919, c. 84; 1916, c. 31. POLICE. 95 The police force for u county consists of a number of officers and men fixed (subject to the consent of the Home Secretary) by the standing- joint committee of the court of quarter sessions and county council, a body substituted for this purpose by the Local Govern- ment Act, 1888, for the quarter sessions alone. (As regards the constitution of this standing joint committee, see p. 43). But while the control of the police was in this way given jointly to the justices and the county council, acting through the joint committee, it was expressly declared that nothing in the Act was to " affect the powers, duties, and liabilities of justices of the peace as conservators of the peace, or the obligation of the chief constable or other constables to obey their lawful orders given in that behalf." ^ The appointment, the general disposition and government, and the dismissal of the divisional superintendents, inferior officers, and men of the county police, are vested in the chief constable, who himself is appointed (subject to the approval of the Home Office), and is removable, by the standing joint committee. He is subject in his management of the force to the lawful orders of that committee. Appointments made by him have to be approved by justices in petty sessions. A superintendent is appointed for each petty sessional division or such other district as may be ordered by the joiut committee; the superintendents report to the chief constable, and he sends monthly returns and makes <[uarterly reports to the committee.^ Constables may be required either by the joint committee, or by the quarter sessions, or by the county council, to perform any duties connected with the police, in addition to their ordinary duties (c).^ Ea-penses. — The expenses of the county police force are paid partly out of the exchequer contribution account (see ]). 197), partly out of a special grant from the Home Office, partly out of county contributions {kp. rates) to which all ilie parishes in llie county ])olice area conlriljutc uniformly on the basis of assessable value, ]);ir(ly out of the g-rant under the Agricultural Rates Act, 189G, and pmlly out of fees iind oIIkm' receipts. Since the year 1919-20 each county council has annnally ])aid ont of its exchequei' con- tribution accoiini 1() flic j)olice account oT llu" county fund a s\ini ef|ii;il <() the amonni paid in (liai bclialf in respect of the year ending the 31st March, 1915. '• 'I'lic anion iil by wliicli sncli sum, togetlicr widi flic ^'•iiiiil in tcspccf of police jxmsions, falls shoi'l of one lialf of 1 lie iicl ex pciid i< lire on police f i ncl iid iii^' |)(Misions) in 3 lft88, s. 9. 1 IH;U), kh. 4, f.. s 1856, s. 7; 1888, s. '.) (2). « 1840; 1866; 1888, s. 68; 1019, c. 46, b. 8. 96 LOCAL GOVERiVMENT. respect of the year is payable to the local police authority as a special grant by the Home Office. Formerly each separate police force had a "pension fund," but such funds (except in the divisions of Lincolnshire) are now abolished. Pensions and allowances to constables on retirement through length of service or bodily injury or infirmity (or in case of death to their widows, children or dependants) are now granted under certain conditions out of the police fund. A rateable deduc- tion of 2^ per cent, is made from each constable's pay, and together with certain fines and other sums, and a proportionate payment out of a sum of £150,000 which was granted by Parliament in 1890 to be annually distributed for assisting the then existing pension funds, is paid into the police fund. The grant is not payable unless the police force has been certified to be efficient. There are special rules concerning the payment of pensions to police-women, and police-reservists called up for service with a police force. There is also a series of statutes dealing with allowances, pensions and the like of police reservists (and their dependants) called up for service in the Army or Navy at any time, and of other police ofiicers serving in the Great War. A police authority may also contribute out of the police fund to approved provident funds.'' Central Control and Inspection. — Though the standing joint committee is the police authority in the county, it is subject, in respect of nearly every part of its police jurisdiction, to the control of the Secretary of State. His consent or approval is necessary for fixing or altering the numbers of the men and officers, in the selection of the chief constable, for establishing rules for the duties of the force (these rules must also be laid before Parliament), and for fixing scales of fees and allowances. He may, after consultation with representatives of the Police Federation, chief officers of police and local authorities, make regulations as to the government, mutual aid, pay, allowances, pensions, clothing, expenses and conditions of service of members of all joolice forces. These regula- tions are binding on every police authority. Moreover, he appoints inspectors, who report to him on the numbers and discipline of the force, and if satisfied he issues a certificate of efficiency. If this certificate is withheld as respects any county police force, the whole or \)?iYi of the subvention from the exchequer contribution account and the grant from the Home Office may be forfeited and paid into the exchequer (/).* 7 1921, c. 31; 1890, c. 60, ss. 1, 4; 1907, c. 13, s. 17; 1914, cc. 34, 80; 1915, c. 41; 1916, c. 31; 1917, c. 36; 1918, c. 51; 1919, c. 46, ss. 5, 9. s 1919, c. 46, s. 4; 1888, s. 25. POLICE. 97 The Police Act, 1919, established the *' Police Federation," a body constituted of all the lower ranks of every police force, with the object of enablinf^ its members to bring to the notice of police authorities and the Secretary of State all matters affecting their welfare and efficiency.® (3) BOEOUGH POLICE.— By the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, the watch committee of the council of every municipal boroug'h was required to provide for a sufficient niimber of police for the borough. This requirement is, however, subject to important limitations. It has been the policy of the Police Acts to encourage a partial consolidation of county and borough police. With this view the County Police Act of 1840 enabled a municipal borough to agree for combination on the terms that the county chief constable should have the direction and dismissal of the borougdi police; and by the Act of 1856 it was added that such an agreement could not be terminated without the consent of the Secretary of State, and that a borough with not more than 5,000 population should not receive any Treasury subvention unless it had so consolidated; and that, on the application of a borough, terms of consolidation might be imposed on a county by Order in Council. Since 1877 no new borough with less than 20,000 inhabitants has been allowed to establish a separate police force. And the Local Government Act, 1888, went a step further by extinguishing the police force of every borough with a population, according to the census of 1881, of less than 10,000. At the present time there are about eighty boroughs with a po})ulation above that limit which are ])oliced by the county.'" In a borough having a separate police force, the watch committee fixes the number and salaries of the police with the approval of the town council; the watch committee or any (wo justices can suspend a constable from duty, and the watcli committee has the power of dismissal. There is no officer or person standing in relation io the l>r)rough jiolicc in ilie same position in wliich the chief constable stand.s to the county police. There are the same provisions as to {tensions ;inil Ilic like as prevail in (lie counly ])()licc, and the Secre- tary of State has similar ])owers of making regulations for the government, mutiml nid, pay, etc., of borough ])olice as for county jxilicc. Tlie expen.ses of <1h' 1)()rough jtolicc me pnid ou( of llic liorougli tuiid (If tiitf, or in certain i)l;ices out of a walcli rate. » 1010, c. 46. 8. 1. •" 1882, c. 50, 88. 190-200; 1840, b. 14; 185G, ss. .5, 20; 1888, s. 39. L.c;. 7 98 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. There is now no limit on the amount of any rate raised for the purposes of police. The boroughs receive a subvention from the exchequer contribution account and a grant from the Home Office for the maintenance of their police in the same manner as the counties, and on the same condition of their police being certified as efficient by the Government inspector. In the case of forfeiture by a non-county borough for inefficiency, the amount of the subvention is retained by the county council, and applied for general county purposes (/).^^ In addition to their ordinary duties, the borough police may also be employed to discharge the duties of a fire brigade. Every police authority may make regulations in respect of street collections, whether charitable or not.^^ (4) OTHER POLICE FOECES. Metropolitan Police.— The Metropolitan police and the City of London police are governed by their own statutes. The whole of Middlesex, the county boroughs of Croydon, East Ham and West Ham, and parts of Surrey, Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire, are within the Metropolitan police district, and the constables of that force have power to act within these counties and also in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, and on the whole of the lower Thames. The Royal dockyards also are in charge of a branch of the Metropolitan police (g). Canals. — By an Act of 1840, on the application and at the cost of the " company of proprietors of any canal or navigable river," two justices or the watch committee of a borough may appoint persons " to act as constables on and along such canal or river." Their powers are defined, but they do not appear to be subject to any public authority. There are also river police forces under local Acts, e.g. on the Tyne. (5) SPECIAL CO?s^STABLES.— To assist the regular police in times of disturbance. Acts of 1831 to 1838 provide for the appointment of special constables by county or borough justices in cases where riot or felonies have taken place or are apprehended. And the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, provides for the annual nomination of special constables in boroughs to act when so required by warrant of justices in cases of emergency (h).^^ 11 1919, c. 46, s. 7; 1888, s. 25 (2). 12 1893, c. 10, s. 2; 1916, c. 31, s. 5. 13 1831, c. 41; 1882, c. 50, s. 196. POLICE. 99 NOTES. Note («). — High and Parish Constables. — As to High Constables, see The High Constables Act, 1869. which provides for the abolition of the office, with certain savings. As to Parish Constables, the Parish Constables Act, 1872, provides that for the future no parish constable shall be appointed unless by justices on the resolution of the vestry (now the parish council or parish meeting) in a rural parish, or by order of quarter sessions, and that if any are so appointed they shall be under the chief constable of the county. Where they are appointed on resolution of a vestry, a salary may be assigned to them by the vestry and is charged on the poor-rate. Parishes may combine for such appointments. The Lighting and ^yatching Act, 1833, enabled a parish in which the Act was adopted to provide itself with police officers and watchmen, but the County Police Acts have rendered this procedure obsolete. Note (b). — County Boroughs Policed by County Police Forces. — County boroughs (as well as non-county boroughs) may be policed by county police foi-ces under agreements. In the year 1920-21 the county boroughs of Bourne- mouth, Burton-upon-Trent, Bury, Darlington, Gloucester, Smethwick, West Bromwich, and West Hartlepool were so policed. Note (r). — Chief Constables. — Cumberland and Westmorland have a single chief constable between them, as have Northamptonshire and the Soke of Peterborough. One chief constable is appointed for the whole of Lincolnshire, although each of the thi-ee divisions thereof (viz., the Parts of Holland, Kesteven, and Lindsey) is a separate administrative county with a separate police force ; the three police forces are managed jointly, and there is still a joint pension fund. Note (d). — Police Districts in Counties. — The standing joint committee have power also (and when required by Order in Council are obliged) to divide their county into police districts, with a specified number of police in each district. When a county, or part of it, is so districted, the police expenses of the districted area are divided into the two heads of "general expenditure" and " local expenditure." The local expenditure is to include pay, clothing, and such other expenses as the joint committee may direct, and is to be defrayed by the district in and for which it is incurred. The remaining or general expenditure is to be defrayed in common by all the districts. The exercise of these powei's is subject to the control of the Secretary of State. ^* Note ('). — Additional Constables. — Besides the regular police in counties, jjnnision is made for the appointment by the chief constable of a county, with the approval of the standing joint committee, of " additional constables " on the application and at the cost of companies or persons. Such police are under the direction of the chief constable of the county. They numbered about 1,600 in 1920. i' Note (/). — Statistics of County and Borough Police. — On 29th September, 1920, there were in England and Wales (excluding the Metropolitan police district and the City of London) 60 police forces of counties and 129 police !■» 1840. 8. 27; 18.56, s. 4; 1850, s. 1. 15 1840, 8. 19; 1847, c. 80, s. 7. 100 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. forces of boroughs (including county boroughs). 77 boroughs of more than 10,000 population were on that date policed by county police forces. Since then the police forces of five boroughs have been amalgamated with those of counties. Four of these boroughs had po2)ulations of more than 10,000. The total authorized strength of all the county and borough forces in the same year was 36,033, exclusive of " additional constables " (see note (e) ). In the census year 1911, the average ratio of constables to population through- out the counties and boroughs was one to 899 (as compared with one to 942 in 1901 and one to 1,008 in 1891). The ratio is considerably higher in the boroughs than in the counties. The total cost of the county and borough police (including pensions and police stations) for the year ended 31st March, 1919, was £6,320,000. Note ((/). — Police in London. — The total authorized strength of the Metro- politan police force in 1920 was 19,372, and of the City of London police 1162 (exclusive in each case of " additional constables"). The cost of the Metro- politan police (excusive of police for purely imjjerial or national services) for the year 1918-19 was £3,780,000, and of the City of London police £250,000. The niijht population of the Metropolitan police district, according to the census of 1911, was 7,231,701, and, according to the census of 1921, was 7,462,462 ; that of the City was 19,657 in 1911, and 13,706 in 1921. The day population of the City, however, on the 25th April, 1911, is stated to have been 364,061. Note (h). — Biots. — Under the Riot (Damages) Act, 1886, compensation for injury, stealing, or destruction of property caused by riotous and tumultous assemblies, is to be fixed by the county council, and paid out of the police rate.^*^ . 16 1886, c. 38; 1888, c. 41, s. 3 (xiv.). LICENSING. 101 CHAPTER XII. LICENSING. (1) .Intoxicating Liquors. (2) Other Matters. The areas for licensing are, speaking generally, tlie county and tlie borougli, the county being divided into petty sessional divisions. The county and borough councils, however, are not invested with licensing powers, so far as the sale of intoxicating liquors is concerned. (1) IXTOXICATIXG LIQUORS.— In counties (including all boroughs not having a separate commission of the peace) the licensing authority for intoxicating liquors are the justices. The justices of each licensing district {i.e. each petty sessional division) hold a general annual licensing meeting, and an adjourned meeting for the grant of new licences, and for the renewal or the removal from one place to another of existing licences, and also several special sessions a year for the transfer of licences from one licensee to another. The annual meeting has to be held within the first fourteen days of February, and the adjourned meeting within a month afterwards. Appeals against refusals to renew or transfer licences are heard by the justices in quarter sessions. Xew licences and orders sanctioning removals of licences have to be confirmed by the county licensing committee appointed from among themselves by llie justices in ([uarter sessions.' Ill horoiijihs having a separate commission of the peace the borough justices are the licensing authority, and Die whole borough is the licensing district. Where there are ten or more justices, a committee ajipoinlcd l)y the wlmlc l)ody hold the genera! annual licensing meetings and sessions for transfers, wliih' (li(> whole body in special sessions confirm the new licences and i(Mn(i\als. In boroneli- \\ iUi Ic-- l]i;iii icn justices new licences, &c., are granied I 1800, c. 27; 1872, c. 'Jl; 1874, c. 49; 1880, c. G ; 1902, c. 28; 1910, c. 24; 1921, c 47. 102 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. by the whole body, and new licences and removals are confirmed by a joint committee of six justices, three appointed by the borough justices and three by the licensing committee of the county. In all boroughs appeals against refusals to renew and transfer lie to the quarter sessions of the county [i.e. in the case of county boroughs the geographical county), and not to the recorder, who has no licensing jurisdiction,^ The present chapter deals only with justices' liquor licences (or "certificates," as they are called in some of the Licensing Acts); but excise licences are also required, these latter licences, however, being issued as a matter of course on the justices' licence (where necessary) being obtained, and the excise duty being paid {a). A justices' licence or certificate is always required to authorize the sale of liquor by retail, except where an excise licence is taken out by a wine or spirit dealer for premises exclusively used for the sale of intoxicating liquors or mineral waters, and except also the sale of liquor in licensed theatres, passenger vessels, canteens and railway restaurant cars.^ The licensing justices had previous to the Act of 1904 discretion to grant or refuse any new licence, renewal, transfer, or removal, subject to appeal in the case of renewals and transfers, and with certain exceptions in the case of beer and wine- houses licensed for sale for consumption on the premises on May 1st, 1869.* But since 1904 the powers of the licensing justices in the case of renewals and transfers of on-licences have been considerably curtailed. They can now only refuse renewals or transfers of such licences on one of three grounds, the principal of which are that the premises have been ill-conducted or are structurally unsuitable {h). In any other case the question of renewal must be referred 'together with the justices' report to quarter sessions, who can only refuse renewal subject to the j^ayment of compensation under the Act. The compensation fund is formed by quarter sessions imposing an annual charge on all on-licences existing on August 15tli, 1904, to be levied with the excise duties. The limits of the rates of charge are fixed by the Act. Quarter sessions may also borrow on the security of the compensation fund. New on-licences may now be granted for any term not exceeding seven years instead of annually, and without being subject to renewal during the term. In granting new on-licences the justices 2 1882, c. 50. s. 165. 3 1910, ss. 65, 111. 4 Sharpe v. WakeneM. 1891, A. C. 173. LICENSING. 103 may attach conditions as to payment, tennre, &c., and must secure to the public any " monopoly value " arising from the grant of the licence/ Quarter sessions ma}- divide their area into districts for the purposes of compensation, and in a county the quarter sessions must appoint a licensing committee to deal with new licences and renewals. Each non-county borough with a separate commission of peace may appoint an additional member of this committee. In a county borough the licensing committee refers cases of licences to be refused subject to compensation to the whole body of borough justices instead of to the^ county quarter sessions (c)." Subject to the limitations imposed by the Act of 1921, the licensing justices may fix the hours of opening of licensed premises (not including clubs) situate in their licensing district.^ (2) OTHER MATTERS. BiUiards.—EYeij place (except an inn or public-house) where a public billiard table is kept must have a billiard licence, which is granted, renewed, &c., in the same way as a liquor licence, but does not require confirmation; nor is there any appeal against a refusal to grant or transfer.* Clubs. — All clubs at which intoxicating liquor is supjjlied have to be registered on a register kept by the clerk to the justices of the petty sessional division.^ Theatres. — The council of every county and county borough is the authority for licensing buildings for the performance of stage plays (outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Chamberlain, which extends to London and a few other places), with power, however, to delegate this function to the justices in petty sessions. The licensing authority is to make suitable rules for ensuring order at the theatres licensed by it. The same authorities may license and inspect premises for cinematograph exhibitions.^" Music, ^c. — Any place in Middlesex or within twenty miles of the cities of London and Westminster which is kept for jniblic dancing, music, or other })ublic entertainment of the like kind (exclusive of theatres), must have a licence from the county counc^il. In some towns outside the above limits the licensing of music-halls is regulated by local Acts. And, in any district in which Part IV. ■■■' 1010, s. 14. <■■ 1010, 8. 5. 7 1021, 88. 1-3. « 1845, c. 100; 1872, c. 04, s. 75. « 1010, c. 24, 8. 01. 10 1843, c. 68; 1888, c. 41, ss. 7, 28, 36; 1000, c. 30. 104 LOCAL GOVERNMENT . of the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890, has been adopted by resolution of the district council, such places have to be licensed by the licensing justices. ^^ ' Explosives. — County councils, and councils of boroughs with a population of 10,000, have powers in connection with the licensing of factories and magazines for gunpowder and other explosives, and of gunpowder stores and firework factories, and with the registration of premises where explosives are kept. It is also their duty to enforce the jarovisions of the Explosives Act in relation to insjDCc- tion. They may, however, delegate their powers and duties under this Act to the justices of each petty sessional division in the county.^" Poisons. — The council of a borough having a population of 10,000 according to the last census, and elsewhere the council of a county, are the local authorities for granting licences for the sale of poisons to be used exclusively in agriculture or horticulture, for the destruction of insects, fungi or bacteria, or as sheep dips or weed- killers. These licences are granted under regulations made by an Order in Council. ^^ War Charities. — The councils of counties, boroug-hs and urban districts, acting if they please through a committee on which may be included persons not members of the council, may, if after due inquiry they think it right, register as a " war charity " any fund, institution or association having charitable objects connected with the Great War. Eegistration may not be refused except for certain statutory reasons. It is an offence to make an appeal for an unregistered war charity. The provisions of the Act of 1916 apply to charities for the blind, subject to certain statutory modifications.^* Children. — A local authority for elementary education (see p. 69) niay grant licences, notwithstanding any bye-law to the contrary, for a child over twelve residing in their area to take part in a pul)lic entertainment. This power is subject to the rules made by the Board of Education in this behalf. There is similar provision enabling a petty sessional court to license such a child to be trained as an acrobat or the like.^'^ Miscellaneous. — Licensing or registering powers are vested in district councils and county borough councils for — Knackers' yards ; 11 1752, c. 36; 1875, c. 21; 1888, c. 41, s. 3 fv) ; 1894, c. 15; 1890, c. 59, ss. 3, 51. 12 1875, c. 17; 1888, c. 41, ss. 7, 28, 38, 39. 13 1908, c. 55. 14 1916, c. 43; 1920, c. 49, s. 3. 15 1921, c. 51, ss. 101, 102. LICEXSIXG. 105 Gangmasters of agricultural gangs; Dealers in game ; Pawnbrokers ; Passage brokers and emigrant runners; Petroleum (including a general duty of enforcing, as, local authority, tbe Petroleum Act) ; Hackney carriages, &c. (see p. 60); and in county and county borough councils for — Mechanically propelled vehicles (see pp. 89, 90) {d).^'^ NOTES. Note (a). — There are altogether about twenty different classes of excise licences for the sale of liquor, differing according to the kinds of liquor to be sold, and according as the sale is to be by wholesale or retail, and for con- sumption on or off the i^remises in which it takes place. The annual cost of a public-house licence is fixed at one-half (and for a beerhouse at one-third) the annual value of the licensed premises, subject in each case to a minimum duty, varying according to the population of the area fi-om £5 to £35, and from £3 lO.s-. to £23 lO.s-. respectively, i' Note (h). — There are still certain exceptional provisions for the protection of ante-1869 " on " beerhouses and ante-1902 " off " licences, i** Note (f). — The Licensing Consolidation Act, 1910, consolidates all former Acts relating only to justices' liquor licences, but there still remains in force a considerable part of the former licensing laws relating to intoxicating liquors. These may be shortly summarized in the following groujjs : — (1) Refreshment Houses Acts, 1860, c. 27. 1872, c. 94, ss. 27, 28. 1874, c. 49, s. 11. (2) Beerhouse Acts, 1830, c 60. 1834, c. 85. 1840, c. 61. (3) Public-house Closing Acts and Occasional Licences, 1864, c. 77. 1865, c. 90. 1874, c. 49, s. 32. (4) Various enactments relating to excise licences only. Note ( oihers by the county quarter sessions or the justices of a quarter sessions Ixirongli, subject however to revocation by (lie Lord f'liancello)' on cause being shown to him by the Board oi justices. The justices liave annually to ap})f)int visitors to visit the asylums licensed by tlieni, each apjioint- ment being subject in ;i l)oroug]i to tlu^ consent of Hie recorder.'"' Certificates of I'egisl i;it ion in;iv lie grunted \\\ the lioaid of Control for hospitals for the recej)iion of lunatics, \\lii( li tlicr(Mi])on become '' registeT'(!(l ]iosj)iials " wifhin ilie meaning of (lie Act and subject to its provisions [d). •■■• 1888, c. 41, R. 24. 1890, ss. 193, 207-237 110 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (3) CRIMINAL LUNATICS.— Tlie asylums for criminal lunatics are Avliolly under the control of the Home Office; and all the expenses of removing and maintaining criminal lunatics are defrayed out of sums voted by Parliament.'' (4) MENTAL DEFECTIVES.— Mental defectives, other than lunatics, are dealt with under the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913. They include (a) idiots, (b) imbeciles, (c) feeble-minded persons, and (d) moral imbeciles. Any of these persons is liable to be sent to an institution, or placed under guardianship at the instance of his parent, and, in cases of neglect, conviction, &c., by the order of a court, judicial authority, or the Secretary of State. Institu- tions for defectives, whether established by public authorities, societies, or private persons, are certified, supervised and inspected by the Board of Control now constituted for the supervision of lunatics. This Board may themselves provide, maintain, and manage State institutions for defectives of dangerous or violent propensities. All other institutions for defectives are to be managed subject to the regulations of the Ministry of Health.® The local authorities under the Act are councils of counties and county boroughs. Every local authority must constitute a committee consisting partly of members of the council and partly of other persons, being poor law guardians or having special knowledge and experience of defectives, and including some women. This committee may be the same as the visiting com- mittee of the county or borough lunatic asylum, with the addition of at least two women, and the same committee may be appointed to act for lunatics and defectives. All matters arising* under the Act, except urgent matters, are to be referred to the committee for report, and the authority may delegate to the committee any of their powers, except the power of rating or borrowing. A joint com- mittee of two or more local authorities may be constituted by order of the Ministry of Health, but if any of these authorities do not agree to the order, it requires confirmation by Parliament. Local authorities, wath the approval of the Ministry of Health, either separately or in combination with each other, themselves may undertake or contribute towards the establishment, building or management of certified institutions, or may contract with the managers of institutions for the reception of defectives.® 7 1860, c. 75; 1884, c. G4. 8 1913, c. 28; 1919, c. 85. 9 1913, ss. 27-33, 38. LUXATICS AXD DEFECTIVES. Ill Tlie duties of a local authority are to ascertain what persons within their area are defectives, and provide suitable supervision and protection and accommodation for them, to maintain them in an institution or approved home, or under guardianship, or contribute towards the expenses of their maintenance, &c. The performance of some of these duties is made contingent on one-half of the net cost being paid out of parliamentary grants. The local authority can only deal with children between the ages of seven and sixteen who are notified to them b}- the local education authority as defectives. The last-mentioned authority has also the duty of determining which of these defective children are incapable of receiving benefit from instruction in special schools, or which it is undesirable to retain in special schools. Local authorities have no duties with respect to defectives who are for the time being provided for by (a) the poor law authorities, or (b) local authorities under the Lunacy Acts, except as prescribed by the Ministry of Health's regulations. An}- default of the local authority may be remedied by an order of the Ministry of Health, enforced by mandamus.^" The managers of a certified institution have now the like limited powers in respect of pensions for their officers and servants as have the visiting committee of a public asylum, subject to such modifica- tions as the Ministry of Health may by order prescribe. ^^ The expenses of administering the Act, so far as not paid out of parliamentary grants, are charged on the county or borough fund, with a provision that non-obligatory expenditure is not to exceed a rate of |d. in the pound per annum. A county council may borrow for periods not exceeding sixty years, and the limitations on borrowing do not apply to these loans. The Board of Control may approve buildings provided by boards of guardians as institutions for the reception of defectives, and any board of guardians or f)tlioi' ])ublic authority may, with the consent of certain Government dcjiartments, lease or grant the use of ])remises no longer required for the purposes of the Act. Hospitals, institutions or licensed houses formerly registered under the Idiots Act, LSSG, wliicli is now repealed, become certified institutions for defectives (e).'- The persons a]>]ioin1iMl by the justices to ad as visitois of licensed houses under the Tiunacy A<-ts (see above, ji. 107), with I lie addition '" 1D1.^, R. 30. " J'.»18, c. 33. •2 1913, 8. 67. 112 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. of one or more women appointed in the same manner, are to be the visitors of defectives in institutions and under guardianship, subject to regulations of the Ministry of Health. ^^ (5) BLIND PEIISONS.— It is the duty of the council of every county and county borough to make arrangements to the satisfaction of the Ministry of Health for promoting the welfare of blind persons resident in their area, and they may jDrovide and maintain (or contribute towards the provision and maintenance of) workshops, hostels, homes and the like whether situated within their area or not, for such blind persons. Two or more councils may combine together for these purposes. The expenses are defrayed out of the county fund as general expenses or out of the borough fund or rate, as the case may be. A council may borrow for the purposes of the Act. Any of these powers (except the power of raising a rate or borrowing money) may be exercised by a committee appointed by the council and constituted as provided by the Act." NOTES. Note (a). — Lunacy Areas. — Before 1888, each quarter session borough was 'prima facie a separate lunacy area, hut the Local Government Act of that year provided that only (a) county boroughs, and (b) quarter session boroughs which had in 1881 a population of 10,000 and ujjwards, and (c) quarter session boroughs which had existing contracts with other authorities, should be separate areas. On the termination of existing contracts, the last class of boroughs were to be merged for lunatic asylum purposes in the county. ^^ The Lunacy Act, 1890, which consolidated and repealed the old Acts, enumerated in the fourth schedule twenty-eight places which were then treated as separate lunacy areas, in accordance with the above-mentioned enactments. Some of these have now, owing to the termination of their contracts, ceased to be sejaarate lunacy areas. The Lancashire Asylums Board are the local authority both for lunatics and defectives in the whole geographical county of Lancaster. ^"^ The West Riding Asylums Board are the local authority for the West Riding of Yorkshire. ^^ Note (h). — Board of Control. — Since 1913 the Lunacy Commissioners have been superseded by a Board of Control, consisting of twelve paid and three unpaid Commissioners, including two women. This Board supervise both lunatics and defectives, and visit all asylums and institutions.^^ 13 1913, s. 40. 14 1920, c. 49. 15 1888, c. 41, ss. 34, 38, 86. 16 1891, c. XX.; 1913, s. 34. 17 1912, c. ci. 18 1913, c. 28, ss. 21-26, 65; 1916, c. 31, s. 11. LUNATICS AND DEFECTIVES. 113 Note {c). — Outside ratioits. — A higher weekly charge (but not exceeding the limit of 14s.) may be made for a patient sent from outside than for those belonging to the county or borough for which the asylum is provided ; and a portion of the charge is payable by the authority sending him, in exoneration to that extent of the union to which he is chargeable, i'-* Note ((/). — There were, on January 1st, 1921, 94 county and borough asylums containing patients, including "district" asylums, and including 10 of the 11 asylums belonging to London (Lancashire at that date had five asylums, and the West Riding five, one of which is reserved for private patients). In addition, three asylums (including one belonging to London) were still being used for Army purposes. Four other asylums were then in course of erection or adaj^tation for use as asylums. The total number of patients (including London patients) in these asylums was: Pauper, 84,882; private, 8,499— together, 93,381 (besides 267 classified as " criminal "). The " registered hospitals" (exclusive of the naval and military hospitals) numbered at the same date 13, with 2,292 private patients. The number of "licensed houses" was 58, with 2,627 private and 320 pauper patieuts — together, 2,947. The total number of lunatics and idiots in the different classes of establish- ments (including London, but exclusive of those in the naval and military hospitals, in workhouses, and in the criminal asylums at Broadmoor, Park- hurst, and Rampton, and exclusive also of private single patients) in the years 1894, 1906, 1913, and 1921, was respectively: — 1894. 1906. 1913. 1921. Pauper 60,456 87,895 101,158 85,202 Non-Pauper 7,743 9,058 10,773 13,685 68,199 96,953 111,931 98,887 Note (e). — Mental Defectives. — On the 1st January, 1921, the following institutions had been provided for the treatment of mentally defective patients, viz., two State institutions; 65 certified institutions; 11 certified houses; and 19 approved homes. In addition, 142 poor law institutions had been certified under section 37 of the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, for the reception of such patients. The total number of mentally defective patients under care on 1st January, 1921, was 12,026. Of tliese, 9,764 were received under the Mental Deficiency Act, 1913, and 2,262 were received outside that Act. The latter cases consist of pei-sons sent by local education authorities, by poor law authorities, and by relatives or others ; persons sent under the Children Act, 1908 ; and notified cases in single care. [See the seventh Annual Report of the Board of Control for the year 1920 — H. C. Paper, No. 221 of 1921.] 19 1890, ss. 269 (9), 283 (3); Fitch v. Bermondscij , L. K. 1905, 1 K. B. 524. L.G. 8 114 LOCAL GOVElfA'MENT. CHAPTER XIY. BURIAL. (1) Old Law. (2) Burial Acts. (3) Cemeteries. (1) OLD LAW. — The common law appears to g'ive to every person dying' in a state of indigence, and not being " within certain exclusions laid down by the ecclesiastical law," a right to Christian burial in the parish churchyard at the expense of the person under whose roof he dies. And it seems that before the compulsory Church Eate Abolition Act (1868, c. 109), it was lawful for a vestry, if it thought fit, to make a church rate for the purposes of enlargement of the churchyard. The Church Building Acts contain enabling enactments for the provision and enlargement of churchyards ; and special Acts for the provision of cemeteries as commercial undertakings were common oiough to render expedient the Cemeteries Clauses Act, 1847.^ (2) BURIAL ACTS.— But the principal legislation for burials is contained in the more recent series of Acts, known as the " Burial Acts," which provide for the prohibition of burials within urban limits, the closing of overcrowded or insanitary burial grounds, and the appointment of burial boards. The first of these Acts was pasvsed in 1852, and was limited to the metropolis and its immediate neighbourhood, but in the next year it was made universal. ~ Parishes. — Under the Burial Acts the area is 'prima facie either the poor law or the old common law parish, but may be almost any parochial or quasi-parochial area [a). The authority is prima facie a burial board of three to nine members elected by the vestry. In rural parishes, however, the vestry is superseded by the parish meeting; and, in those which have a parish council, that council is substituted for the burial board wherever the area under the parish council coincides with the burial area. And where the Acts are 1 See R. V. Stewart, 12 A. & E. 773; In re St. John's, Cardiff, 16 L. J. M. C. 54. 2 1852, c. 85; 1853, c. 134; 1854, c. 87; 1855, c. 128; 1857 (2), c. 81; 1859, c. 1; 1860, c. 64; 1862, c. 100; 1871, c. 33; 1875, c. 55, Sched. V., Part III.; 1880 (2), c. 41; 1900, c. 15. UUEIAL. 115 newly adopted in a parish having a parish council, that council is the executive authority whether the area is the same or not. Where the area in which the Acts were adopted in or before 1894 does not coincide with the rural parish, then — (i.) if the burial area is whollj^ within one rural parish, the burial board or the parish meeting was empowered to transfer the administration of the Burial Acts to the parish council, subject to any condition as to their execution by a committee, and — (ii.) if the burial area is not wholly within one rural parish, the functions of the burial board were transferred to the parish councils of the several parishes acting b^- a joint committee. If the area be partly in an urban district, the district council is represented on the committee. In order to reduce this confusion of areas and authorities, power was given to the county council, on the application of a parish council, to alter the boundaries of a burial area where this could be done without an undue alteration of liability to rates or interference with property rights.^ The adoption of the Acts is in general optional, the power of adoption in rural parishes now resting always with the parish meeting, in succession to the vestry, which body can in urban parishes still exercise the power if approved by the district council. It is practically compulsory where an Order in Council closes existing churchyards either on the ground of their condition, or on the ground that they are within a town. And the Acts confer large powers on a burial board when once it has been appointed, enabling it to raise the necessary money for providing a burial ground by mortgage of the rates, uncontrolled b}^ the adopting authorit}'. The management of the burial ground is vested in the board (including in that term an}' parish council or committee substituted for a burial board), subject to regulations which may be made by tlie Ministry of Health for the protection of health and decency, and Mi]>joct, as regards inscriptions in consecrated grounds, to the discretion of the bishop. Tlie fees for interment are fixed by tlic boaid \vi(h the assent of the Ministry of Health, subject to limits prescribed by the Acts in the case of paupers. The fees for religious services have to be a])proved by a Secretary of State. Tlie board aj)points a clerk and olher officers. It may, instead of providing a cemetery of its own, ( oniract for accommoda- tion in the cemetery of some other authority or company. It may undertake the care of di^n^cil biirial-ginunds (/;).' ■■' 1852, 88. 10, 5-2; R. v. Sudburii, E. B. & E. 2G4 ; 1803-4, c. 73, ss. 7, oS. * 1893-4, s. 7; 1852, ss. 25, 34, 38, 44, 49; 1853, s. 7; 1855, ss. 7, 18; 1000, s. 3. 116 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Any parishes (whether common-hiw or poor-law) which have adopted the Acts may concur in providing a common burial ground, and agree for the apportionment of expenses (c). Boroughs and U rhan Districts. — It remains to notice the provisions of the Acts specially aj)plicable to boroughs and urban districts. Under the Public Health Act, 1875, the burial board for any area included in or conterminous with a county borough or an urban district may by agreement with the vestry and the borough or district council transfer all its powers, duties, &c., to that council. And now any urban district council may by resolution substitute itself for any burial board acting for the whole or part of the district.^ By Order in Council made on the laetition of the council of a municipal borough (after the compulsory closing of any burial grounds of parishes wholly or partly within the borough), the council of the borough may be made the burial board for all or any of the parishes wholly or partly included in the borough, and the powers of the vestries of such parishes are thereupon superseded. '^ The district council of an urban district other than a borough (after the compulsory closing of any burial grounds in the district) may by Order in Council be constituted a burial board, upon their petition stating that their district is co-extensive with a district for which it is jiroposed to provide a burial ground, and that no burial board has been appointed. And under the Public Health Act, 1875, when the vestry of a parish comprised in any urban district which is what was then known as a "local government district" resolves to appoint a burial board, it niav constitute the district council, or, if the parish forms a ward of the district, the councillors for the ward, the burial board for the parish. As to what is meant by a local government district, see p. 26, note [a). {'J) "' The Burial Acts cannot be newly adopted in any part of an urban district without the approval of the district council.* Expenses. — The rates generally applicable to the payment of expenses incurred under the Burial Acts are in rural areas the poor rate, in boroughs the borough rate, and in other urban districts the general district rate, or else a separate rate levied over the burial area on the same basis as the above rates, respectively (e). Where the parish council acts as a burial board its expenses as such are s 1875, c. 5i5, Sched. V., fart III.; 1893-4, s. 62 (1). 6 1854 ss. 1-9. 7 1857' s. 4; 1875, s. 343, Sched. V., Part III. 8 1898-4, s. 62 (2). BURIAL. 11 T paid out of the ])Oor rate, and are not within the limitation to 6d. in the pound whi( h circiimsciibes its ordinary expenditure (/) {g).^ (3) CEMETERIES. — Besides the above-mentioned powers under the Burial Acts proper, both urban and rural district councils may under the Public Health Acts provide cemeteries and mortuaries, and reg^ulate their use by bye-laws, and acquire land for this pur- pose, and borrow with the consent of the Ministry of Health. The expenses are paid as other sanitary expenses (h).'^'^ Guardians, with the consent of the Ministry of Health, may appropriate land in their possession for a cemetery for paupers. The expenses are charo-ed on the common fund. Relatives of the deceased persons may object to their burial in such cemeteries." There are many cemeteries established under local Acts, usualh' incorporating- the Cemeteries Clauses Act, 1847 (/). Cremation. — Burial authorities may provide crematoria, the plans and site of which must be approved by the Ministry of Health, and their use is governed by Home Office regulations {j).^' ?s'OTES. Note ('-/). — 13itrinl Areas. — Although the common law or poor law parish is ■primd facie the area for the purposes of the Burial Acts, these Acts may be adopted by various smaller or other districts, namely : — (i.) By any parish, township or district which is not a poor law parish, but which before the Act of 1855 had a separate burial ground, (ii.) By any "parish, new parish, township or other district" which is not a poor law parish, and although it has not had a separate burial ground, and this notwithstanding that there already exists a burial board for the whole common law parish in which the new area is included, {liecj. v. Walcot, 31 L. J. M. C. 221.) (iii.) And if a portion of any area which could be a burial board district adopts the Acts, it follows that the remainder of the area may separately adopt them. {Viner v. Tarthiidleasure grounds, and to support or contribute to those provided by other persons, and to make bye-laws for their reg^ulation. And such councils may under the Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890 (when in force, see p. 61), exclude the public from free admission to parks or pleasure grounds on a limited number of days in the year, to enable them to be used for agricultural shows, &c/* Town councils may, in certain cases, take charge of any inclosed garden or ornamental ground which has been neglected, and may vest it in a committee of the inhabitants of adjacent houses, or in the vestry of the parish, with powers of management. ^^ Open Spaces. — Under the Open Spaces Acts passed in 1877 and •subsequent years, the district council of every urban and rural district (and also a parish council, if empowered by the county council), may by voluntary purchase or gift acquire any open spaces whether inclosed or uninclosed, and whether inside or outside its district, and hold them in trust for the perpetvial use of the public for exercise and recreation, and may make bye-laws (subject to coniirmation by the Ministry of Health) for their regulation, and provide for their maintenance and protection. vSpecial provision is made enabling trustees and other managing bodies and owners of open spaces to transfer them by agreement to a district or parish council. Disused burial grounds may similarly be trans- ferred, subject to certain conditions respecting the removal of tombstones, &c., and such grounds may not, except by special permission, be used for games. •Expenses of a district council are defrayed as sanitary expenses, and in a rural district are " special " and charged on the contributory places for which they are incurred. In a rural parish the expenses are defrayed as expenses incurred under the Local Government Act, and subject to the limitation in that Act on the amount of the rate leviable." The powers of management under these Acts are also applicable to similar open spaces otherwise vested in district councils. 13 1893-4, ss. 8, 9. 14 1875, c. 55, s. 164; 1890, c. 59, ss. 44, 45. 13 1863, c. 13. 16 1877, c. 35; 1881, c. 34; 1887, c. 32; 1890, c. 15; 1899, c. 30, s. 17. PARISH PROPERTY, COMMONS AXD OPEX SPACES. 125 All tlie powers exercisable l>y otlier local authorities under these Acts may also be exercised by a county council/' NOTES. Note (a). — Compulsonj purchase. — If a parish council fails to obtain a sufficient quantity of land by agreement, compulsory powers of purchase may be given to it by order of the county council, made after local enquiry, and subject, in case of objection, to confirmation by the Ministry of Health, and if the county council refuses to make such an order, the jNIinistry may, after local enquiry, make it. The county council is to carry out the order, and an arbitrator is to be appointed to determine any disputed compensation, but no additional allowance is to be made bv him for compulsory purchase (see p. 153). i» Note (h). — Parish rooms. — In any rural parish where there is no suitable public room which can be used free of charge, the parochial electors and parish council are entitled to use any suitable room in a public elementary school receiving parliamentary grants, or other room maintained out of local rates, for the purpose of (a) parish council meetings, (b) Local Government enquiries, (c) meetings under the Allotments Acts, (d) the candidature of persons for either district or parish councils, (e) any parish or local govern- ment committees or officers appointed to administer public funds within the parish. A jaarliamentary candidate is also entitled to use any suitable r(X)m in any public elementary school in his constituency for public meetings. Pro- visions are added for securing reasonable notice and non-interference with school hours, and for defraying the expenses of the meetings and any damage done. ^® 17 1899, s. 17 (4). i« 1893-4, s. 9; 1919, c. 57. 19 1893-4, s. 4; 1917, c. G4, s. 25. 126 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. CHAPTER XYI. AGRICULTUEE. During the Great War a number of important powers and duties connected witli agriculture were entrusted to local authorities as agents for the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Most of these have now expired with the termination of the War Emergency Acts and Orders, but some of them have been continued permanently by the Agriculture Acts of .1919-21. It is necessary to distinguish between the cases in which the local bodies are exercising their own statutory powers and those in which they are acting merely as agents of the Board (now the Ministry) of Agriculture.^ By the Ministry of Agriculture Act, 1919, the council of every county is required to establish an agricultural committee, and the council of any county borough may establish such a committee. Each committee must be constituted in accordance with a scheme made by the council and approved by the Ministry. Under these schemes the majority must be appointed by the council and the minority by the Ministry. The committee may consist partly of persons who are not members of the council, but such persons are to have " practical, commercial, technical or scientific knowledge of agriculture or an interest in agricultural land." Every com- mittee is to include women as well as men. Provision is made for the payment of travelling expenses and subsistence allowances out of the county rates, where authorised by the council. Joint agricultural committees may be formed by the combination of counties or county boroughs, or parts thereof. In order to secure full co-operation between the Ministry and the local authority, commissioners appointed by the Ministry attend the meetings of the agricultural committee. All matters relating to agriculture (including horticulture, forestry, and rural industries), except the raising of a rate or borrowing, are to stand referred to the agricultural committees, who are to report to the council. Matters relating to agricultural education are excepted, but may be included by an Order of the 1 1919, c. 91; 1920, c. 76; 1921, c. 48. AGRICULTURE. 127 Ministry. The counril of a county borougli may resolye to reserve raiy of their agricultural powers, and exercise them through another committee. Any council may delegate to the agricultural com- mittee, with or without restrictions, any of their powers in respect of agricultural matters, and, if provided by the scheme, such powers may be delegated by the committee to a sub-committee. The agricultural committee must appoint a small holdings and allotments sub-committee and a diseases of animals sub-committee. The former of these must comprise one or more representatives of tenants of small holdings and allotments. The accounts of an agricultural committee are to be audited as part of the accounts of the council. Councils of agriculture for England and Wales respectively are established by the Act of 1919. They are to include two members of each county agricultural committee and a limited number of members of agricultural committees of county boroughs. These councils are to meet at least twice a year for the purpose of discussing matters of public interest relating to agriculture or other rural industries, and are to appoint a certain number of members of the agricultural advisory committee for England and Wales. The powers and duties of county agricultural committees relate to: — (1) Diseases of animals. (2) Destructive insects and pests. (8) Fertilisers and feeding stuffs. (See p. 155.) (4) Land drainage. (See Ch. XIX.) (5) Small holdings and allotments. (See Ch. XVII.) (6) liural industries. (7) Granting certificates under Part II. of the Corn Production Act and the Rent Restriction Act. In addition to these statutory duties, agricultural committees or sub-committees may exercise certain powers delegated to them by v the Ministry of Health. The expenses incurred in acquiring land under the Act and certain other expenses are repaid by the Minislry of Agricul- ture. Every 'excess of expendilnrc over receipts is to be charged on the county fund, or horoiigh fund or rate. Separate accounts of receipts and expenditure must be kept by the council. ^^ Arrangements may be made by Ihc county council wiili the council of any l)orougli oi nihan district in the county for the ifi 1^19, s. 20. '■ 1919, f. 01. i« 1908, s. 17. i» 1908, ss. 52, 6, 21. 136 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. borougli or divstrict council to act as the agents of the county council under the Act, and such council may defray their expenses as general expenses under the Public Health Acts (6)."° NOTES. Note (a). — Glebe Lands. — It is the duty of the Ministry of Agriculture, in ajjproving a sale of land under the Glebe Lands Act, 1888, either to require the land or part of it to be offered for sale in small parcels, or to the district council for the purjjoses of the Allotments Acts, or else to satisfy themselves that such offer is not practicable without a sacrifice of price. ^^ Note (h). — Small Holdings. — Up to 18th December, 1918 (when the Land SettlemeU't scheme was inaugurated), 197,718 acres had been actually acquired, or agreed to be acquired by county councils in England and Wales of which 138,425 acres had been purchased for £4,566,031, and 59,293 acres leased for rents amounting to £74,989. Of this land 188,737 acres had been let to 13,446 individual small holders, and 735 acres sold to 62 small holders. In addition 7,295 acres had been let to 53 Co-oper-ative Small Holdings Associa- tions. The councils of county boroughs had acquired 2,283 acres of which 1,082 acres had been purchased for £53,826 and 1,201 acres leased for rents amounting to £1,853. 1,150 acres had been let to 289 individual small holders, 234 acres sold to 6 small holders, and 794 acres let to 4 Co-oj^erative Associa- tions. Land Settlement. — Between the 18th December, 1918, and the 15th February, 1922. 252,136 acres were a,ctually acquired or agreed to be acquired by county councils in England and Wales for land settlement of ex-service men. Of this area, 215,161 acres were purchased for £9,132,445, 28,107 acres leased for rents amounting to £50,992, and 8,868 acres purchased in consideration of annuities amounting to £16,211 per annum. During the same j^eriod the councils of county boroughs acquired 5,686 acres, of which 5,292 acres were purchased for £222,890, and 394 acres leased for rents amount- ing to £1,364. Of the total area thus acquired for Land Settlement approximately 235,493 acres have been let to 16,614 individual small holders. The total amount of land now held by county and county borough councils in England and Wales amounts to upwards of 458,000 acres. This does not include 24,830 acres acquired by the Ministry of Agriculture under the Small Holdings Colonies Acts, 1916 and 1918, for the purpose of providing expei-i- mental colonies for ex-service men. The management of these colonies may now be delegated to the agricultural c<:>mmitteeS of county councils.-- AUotmrnts. — On the 31st December, 1920, 330,000 persons and 2 associations held allotments from town councils, other urban district councils, parish coun- cils and parish meetings in England and Wales (excluding London) under the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908, and the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act, 1919. The total area of the land so held was 47,000 acres, of which 25,000 acres was held from parish councils and parish meetings by 93,000 persons. In addition, there were, on the same date, 18,000 acres of allotments which had been provided under the Cultivation of Lands Orders made under the Defence of the Realm Regulations. These were held by 247,000 persons. 20 1908, s. 18. 21 1888, c. 20. s. 8. 22 1916, c. 60; 1918, c. 26. HOUSING. 13" CHAPTER XYIII. HOUSING. (1) HoiisvKj Acts. (2) Town PJduning. (3) Small Dwellings Acquisition. (4) Otiier Enactnienls. (1) HOUSIXG ACTS.— The greater part of the law dealing with this subject is now contained in the Housing* Acts, 1890 to 1921.^ Unhealthy Areas. — Part I. of the Act of 1890, dealing with " Unhealthy Areas " in urban districts, reproduces without much alteration the series of Acts dating from ISTo which were known as " Cross's Acts." Under this Part, it becomes the duty of the council of a borough or urban district to take action when it is officially represented to it by its medical officer of health that within a certain area in the borough or district either (i.) any houses, courts, or alleys, are unfit for human habitation; or (ii.) the narrowness, closeness, and bad arrangement, or the bad condition of the streets and houses, or the want of light, air, ventilation, or proper conveniences, or other sanitary defects, are dangerous or iiijurious to the health of the inhabitants; and that the most satisfactory way of dealing with these evils is by an improvement scheme for the rearrangement and reconstruction of streets and houses in the area. The medical officer of health is bound to ins])ect and report upon an area said to be unhealthy whenever called u])on by any justice or six ratepayers, aJid on appeal the Ministry of Heallh may appoint a medical prac- titioner to inspect and report. If the council are satisfied of the facts and of the sufficiency of tlieir resources (or if the Ministry of Health decide tliat a scheme oughl io be made), i( is their dutj- to make a scheme, sul)je(t (o coiiHrnialidii 1)y oilier of the Ministry of Health, for tlie improvement of ilie unhealthy area. The council have to arrange foi the |i1()|ht carrying oul of the scheme, but are Jiot allowed themselves io undertake the work (othei- tliaii clearing I 1800, c. 70; 1000, c. .50; 1003, c. 30; 1000, c. 14; 1014, c. 31 : 101'.), cc. 35, 99; 1921, c. 19. 138 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. tlie site and laying out tlie .streets) without tlie express approval of tlie Ministry. - The Ministry may direct the county council to instruct their medical officer of health to inspect any county district and report througdi the county council to the Ministry as to any alleged failure to exercise their powers by a local authority. The Ministry may by order require a local 'authority to make and carry out a scheme within a certain time, and if the local authority fail so to do, the Ministry may by order empower the county council to act in that behalf or may so act itself. The expenses of the covmty council (or of the Ministry, if it act) in such an event are payable by the local authority in default, subject to appeal to the Ministry. Land can be acquired at a price to be assessed, at the value at the time the valuation is made, of the land as a site cleared of buildings and available for development in accordance with the requirements of the building bye-laws for the time being in force in the district, and without any additional allowance for compulsion. The Ministry of Health may require the scheme to provide for the accommodation of persons of the working classes who are displaced in the area affected.''' The local authority has a special *' dwelling-house improvement fund " for the purpose of carrying out this Part of the Act, and the fund is supplied, so far as any excess of expenditure over receipts may require it, out of the sanitary rate or by money borrowed for the purpose on the security of the rate. Under an Act of 1919 the authority may also, with the consent of the Ministry of Health, raise money by the issue of bonds or by loan from the countv council.'* If the authority fails to carry out the scheme the Ministry of Health can order the land to be sold for the purpose of erecting on it workiug-class dwellings. (As regards schemes for small areas, see p. 140.) There are provisions for the payment in certain cases out of sums provided by Parliament by the Ministry of Health to a local authority (or a county council) of loss incurred by any siich authority in carrying out a scheme under this Part of the Act. The amount of such payments is governed by regulations made by the Ministry of Health with the approval of the Treasury. These regulations must be laid before both Houses of Parliament, but are valid unless disapproved by either.^ 2 1890, ss. 1-28; 1919, cc. 35, 99; 1903, s. 4 (1). 3 1919, c. 35, ss. 3-6, 9, 11, 13. 4 1919, c. 99, ss. 7, 15. s 1919, c. 35, s. 7; 1919, c. 99, s. 4; 1921, c. 53 HOUSIxVG. 139 Unhealthy DweUing-houses. —Vart II. of tlie Act of 1890, wliicli embodies tlie provisions of '' Torrens's Acts '' with modifications enlarging^ the powers and duties of the local authorities, is headed "Unhealthy Dwelling'-Houses." It deals both (i.) with dwelling-houses which are themselves in a state su dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for liuman habitation, and also (ii.) with " obstructive " buildings, i.e., build- ings so situated that, by reason of proximity to others, they either stop ventilation or otherwise conduce to make such other buildings unfit for human habitation or dangerous or injurious to health, or prevent proper measures from being taken for remedying any evils connected with such other buildings/' (i.) It is the duty of every local authority (i.e. the council of a borough or urban or rural district) to cause their district to be inspected from time to time " with a view to ascertain whether any dwelling-house therein is in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation," and, on the representa- tion of their medical or other officer, to make an order prohibiting the use of the dwelling-house until it is rendered fit for that purpose. Unless this order is complied with, or a successful appeal is made to the Ministry of Health (of which notice must be given within fourteen days), the dwelling-house has to be closed, and every "occupier may be required by a magistrate's order to quit the house. Where a closing order has remained operative for three months, the local authority may, after hearing any objections from the owner, order the demolition of the building.^ There is now an alternative i^rocedure. A local authority may serve a notice upon the owner of any house, suitable for occupation by persons of tlic working (dasses, who fails to make and keep such house in all respects reasonably fit for human habitation, requiring liim witliin a reasonable time, not less than 21 days, specified in tlie notice to execute such works as may be necessary to make the house in ail respects reasonably lit for human habitation. If to obey this notice the ownci- would have to undcrlake tlie reconstruction of the house he may, after giving due notice to the local authority, close the house, and after su(di not ire a closing oidei' shall be deemed to have become o|»('rative in respect of the house. ()tlierwis(\ if the notice is noi conii)li('d with, the local autliority mav itself do the if(|uiic(l \\oil< at I he expense of the owner. In the event of a dis- « 1R00, SH. 20-52: 1003, ss. 7-]0: 1900, ss. 17-21 ; 1010. c. 35. ss. 30, 28, 30, 32. 7 1000, H8. 17, 18. 140 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. pute as to the necessity of "reeonstrurtion " the matter is deter- mined by the Ministry of Health.* (ii.) When the local authority, after considering all the circum- stances and the probable cost, and hearing any objections from the owner, decides to proceed in the matter of an obstructive building, it makes an order, which is subject to an appeal to quarter sessions, requiring it to be pulled down. Then, unless the owner agrees to the demolition and claims to retain the site (in which case he will not be allowed to erect any new building of an unhealthy or obstructive character), the local authority can purchase the land and pull down the building, the site or part of it being kept as an open space or dedicated as a highway, and any part not so ajDpro- priated being sold.^ Parish councils are expressly authorized to make complaints and representations to the district council as to unhealthy dwellings and obstructive buildings, and the district council have also to take action on any representation made by the county medical officer of health. (As to complaints and proceedings in case of default, see p. 143.)^° Schemes for reconstruction can also be made under Part II. of the Act, both — (i.) as regards the sites of unhealthy or obstructive buildings whose demolition has been ordered under this Part, if the local authority considers that it would be beneficial to the health of the inhabitants of the neighbouring dwelling-houses that the area should be dedicated as a highway or open space, or used for the erection of dwellings for the working classes, or exchanged for other neighbouring land more suitable for the latter purpose ; and (ii.) as regards any area of such a character as can be dealt with under Part I., but in the opinion of the local authority is too small to be so dealt with. Such a scheme has to be sanctioned by an order of the Ministry of Health made after local enquiry. The Ministry has the like powers in respect of a scheme under Part II. as it has in respect of n scheme under Part I. If circumstances so require, provision must be made for the dwelling accommodation of persons of the working classes who are displaced by the scheme. ^^ There are special provisions regulating the assessment of com- pensation (ri)^^ 8 1919, c. 35, s. 28: 1921. c. 19, ss. 5, 11. ^ 1890, s. 38 " 1893-4, c. 73, s. 6 (2); 1890, ss. 52, 39-41. 11 1919, c. 35, ss. 3-7: 1919, c. 99, s. 4; 1890, s. 45. 12 1890, s. 36; 1909, s. 19; 1919, e. 35, ss. 9, 13. HOUSING. 141 Expenses are defrayed and money may be borrowed as for sanitaiT purposes. In a rural district expenses are " special." '^ Local authorities are re(|uired to make special yearly reports to the Ministry of Health of their proceedings under this Part of the Act.^^ Provision of Working (7«^\s Houses. — Part III. of the Act of 1890, as amended by later Acts, relates to the provision of houses for the working classes, by which are meant houses or cottages containing one or .more tenements, and including a garden not exceeding an acre.^'^ B}^ the Housing, Town Planning, etc., Act, 1919, it is the duty of every borough, urban, and rural district council (being the local authorities for Part III. of the Act of 1890) to consider the needs of their area with respect to the provision of houses for the working classes, and to submit to the Ministry of Health from time to time a scheme, giving certain particulars, in that behalf. The Ministry may require a scheme to be submitted. The Ministry may approve with or without modifications the whole or part of the scheme, which thereupon becomes binding on the submitting authority, who must carry it into eifect.^® Two or more local authorities may, on their own initiative or on orders from the Ministry of Health, make Tiud carry out a joint scheme.^'' The Ministry may in case of default transfer to the county council the obligation of carrying out a scheme prepared by a local authority, or of preparing and carrying out a scheme of their own. The Ministry may act itself if necessary. Alternatively, the Ministry may, on the a])plication of a county council, make an order conferring on that council any of the powers under Part III. as respects any rtiral district in their county, but the expenses incurred by the county council under such order are defrayed as expenses for general county purposes. Otherwise the expenses incurred by tlie transferee of the powers will be defrayed by the local autliorily.^" The council of every borough, urban ;iiul rnial district may acquire land for this purpose under the powers of the Public Health Acts, but with a somewliat different proceduie (/>). The local • 1'' 1R90, SB. 42, 4.3: 1894, c. 5-5; 1919, c. 99, s. 7. i< 1890, s. 45. !■'• 1890, ss. 5.3-59, 01-03, 05-71: 1900, c. .59: 1909, c. 44, ss. 1-5, 7-15; 1919, c. .35; 1919, c. 99; 1921, c. 19. lo 1919, c. .35, 8. 1. 17 V.)V.}, c. .35. 8. 1 (0). 1" 1919, c. 35, 88. 3, 4; 1909, 8. 13. 142 ■ LOCAL GOVERNMENT. authority lias certain powers of entry on land so acquired com- pulsorily or by agreement, and may acquire any building's on a proposed site and any estate or interest in any bouses which might be made suitable working class dwellings. On land so acquired they may erect, purchase, or lease, and fit up and furnish buildings suitable for houses for the working classes, and may lay out or construct public streets, roads or open spaces. With the consent of the Ministry of Health the local authority may sell or exchange or lease on appropriate terms any land so acquired to persons who will erect approved working class dwellings, and may agree to contribute to the expenses of such development. The land may also be sold or leased with a view to the use thereof for the general purposes which are connected with a building estate.^® A local authority have power to abstract water from any river, stream, or lake, if such supply is not already in use, and they may do everj^thing necessary to ensure a water sujjply for the houses to be built under any scheme. The user luust be such as not to interfere with any inland navigation or canals.-" A local authority, subject to the consent and regulations of the Ministry, may contract for the purchase by, or lease to, them of houses, built or to be built, suitable for the working classes. A local authority may lend to the owner of any building situated in its district the whole or any part of the cost of works for the reconstruction, enlargement or improvement of such house with a view to making it fit in all respects for the working classes. ^^ The management and control of the houses is vested in the local authority, which may make bye-laws, subject to confirmation by the Ministry of Health, for securing decency and orderly behaviour among the inmates, and other matters. Expenses are defrayed as sanitary expenses, and in a rural district are " general," except as far as the Ministry of Health declares them " special ' ' expenses charged on specified contributory places. Money may be borrowed. The maximum period of repay- ment of loans to local authorities is now extended to eighty years, and these loans are not to be reckoned as part of the debt of the local authority with respect to the limitation on borrowing under the Public Health Act (i.e. two years' rateable value in the aggregate of all loans contracted under the Public Health Acts). Loans are to be made at the minimum rate allowed for loans out of the Local Loans Fund. Money may also be raised by the issue of bonds, or b\ loan from the county council (see p. 138). 19 1919, c. 35, ss. 10-12. 20 1919, c. 35, s. 14. 21 1919, c. 35, s. 12 HOUSING. 143 Tlie Ministry of Health may, as in tlie case of schemes under Parts I. and II., make jjayments out of sums provided by Parlia- ment to any local authority (or county council) in respect of loss incurred bv any such authority in carryintj out a scheme under Part III.^^' This Part provides, further, for the issue of loans by the Public Works Loan Commissioners to railway and other companies, societies and private owners, for the construction or improvement of dwellings for the working- classes. -•'' A local authority or a county council may promote the formation of or assist jjublic utility societies whose objects include the erection, i]uprovement or management of houses for the working classes, and may with the consent of the Ministr}' of Health make grants or advances of money to such societies."* There are special provisions relq,ting to the provision, mainten- ance and management of dwellings for persons employed on Government works by public utility societies.-^ A county council have power to provide houses for persons in their employ, and for that purpose may be authorized to acquire land in like manner as a local authority may for the purposes of Part III. of the Act of 1890. ^« CoTnplamts. — Complaints that the local authority have failed to exercise their powers under Part II. or Part III. of the Act of 1890 may be made by a county, district or parish coimcil, or by four inhabitant house-holders, to the Ministry of Health. If, after holding a public inquiry, it is satisfied there has been a default, it may make an order directing the defaulting authority to carry out the necessary works. Tlie Ministry nuiy also, on its own initiative, order a local aulliority to carry out works under Part I. or Part II. of the Act. Complaints of the default of a district council may also be made ])y tlic parish council or ])arish ni(M'liiig or four inhabitant householders to ilie (>ounty council, and the county council, if satisfied of such default, may resolve to transfer to them- selves the powers of the district council for the puiposes of Part III. of the Act, with respect to either tlie whole district or to any paiisli therein, and may, accordingly, assume and exercise these powers.'^ Where hmd ;ic(|iilrc(| com pulsojily oj' l)y agreement under a local Act or provisional orilcr, or ac(juired conipulsoi ily undci' a general 22 IHOO, 8. f).5; 1009, ss. 3, .31; 1910, c. .35, k. 7; 100.3, c. ,30, s, 1. a-'' 1890, H. f)7 ; see ulso 1881, r.. .38, s. 11 : 1014, c. .31. 24 1910, c. 3.5, ss. 18-20; 1921, <•. 10, s. 0. 2'' 1914, c. .31. -'■' 1010, c. 35, s. 8 (3). 27 1900, ss. 10-12. 144 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. Act (otlier than tlie Housing Acts), comprises working- men's dAvellings occupied by thirty or more persons belonging to the working class, possession may not be taken of these dwellings until the Ministry of Health has either approved of a housing scheme or decided that none is necessary. And if the party so acquiring the dwellings is a local authority, the scheme may confer borrowing and other powers as for the purjjoses of Part III. of the x\ct of 1890.2^ Any power of a local authority under the Housing Acts to provide dwelling accommodation or lodging-houses includes (if the Ministry of Health gives its consent) a power to provide therewith any building adapted for use as a shop, any recreation grounds or other buildings or land serving a beneficial purpose in connection with the requirements of the persons for whom the dwelling accommoda- tion or lodging-hoiLses are provided.-^ The County Court may on the application of a local authority vaiy the terms of any lease imposing a prohibition or restriction on the conversion of a house into several tenements if the neigdibour- hood of the house has so changed in character that the house cannot readily be let as a single tenement.^" (2j TOWX PLANiMNG.— Under Part II. of the Act of 1909, town-planning schemes may be made for land " in course of develop- ment, or likely to be used for building purposes, with the general object of securing proper sanitary conditions, amenity and conveni- ence in connection with the laying out and use of the land, and of any neighbouring lands." A local authority (i.e. the council of any borough or urban or rural district) may by resolution decide to ])repare such a scheme within, or in the neighbourhood of, their area, or to adopt a scheme proposed by any of the owners of the land. If such resolution extends to land outside their area it must be confirmed by the Ministry of Health. ^^ The councils of the larger boroughs must before January 1st, 1926, prepare and submit to the Ministry of Health a town-planning scheme in respect of all land within their area in respect of which a town-planning scheme may be made under the Act of 1909, in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Health. The Ministry may at anv time after holding a public enquiry require by order a local authority to prepare and submit for its approval a 2s 1903, s. 3, and Sched. 29 1903, s. 11. 30 1919, c. 35, s. 27. 31 1909, c. 44, ss. 54-65: 1919, c. 35, Part II., s. 50; 1921, c. 19. HOUSIKG. 145 town-planning' selieme. If the local autliority fails, the Ministry may itself act in that behalf or empower the county council so to do. Any scheme when approved by the Ministry becomes binding- on the submitting authority. General ])rovisions for town-planning- schemes as to streets, open spaces, sewerage, lighting, water supply, &c., are prescribed by the Ministry. ^- The authority responsible for carrying out the scheme is the local authority or one of the local authorities of the area, or a joint body constituted specially for the purpose by the scheme. The responsible authority may remove, ])ull down or alter any building or work in the area included in the scheme which contravenes the scheme, or execute any work which is unduly delayed. It may purchase any land comprised in the scheme by agreement, or com- pulsorily, as under Part III. of the Act of 1890. There are pro- visions for the compensation of persons whose property is injuriously affected, and for the recovery of one-half of any increased value added to property by the scheme. Expenses incurred by a local authority are defrayed, and loans raised, as under the Public Health Acts. If money be borrowed, it is not to be reckoned as part of the debt of the borough or district for purposes of the limitation of borrowing.'''' (3) SMALL DWELLINGS ACQUISITION ACT.~In 1899 an Act was passed for facilitating the acquisition of the ownership of small dwellings (not exceeding £800 in value) by the persons occupying them. For this ])urpose the councils of counties, boroughs, and urban or rural districts (but, in the case of any district with a ])()])ulation under 10,000, only with tlie consent of the county council, or of the Ministry of Health on a])})eal against the refusal of the county council) may make advances to resident occupiers of houses to enable them to acquire the "ownership," i.e., either the fee simple or a leasehold interest of at least sixty years unexpired at the date of the ])urcliase. The advance in each case is strictly limited in amount, and must be repaid within a period not exceeding thirty years; and on the annual cost to Ihe local aiillioiity exceeding the amount produced ]»y a })enny rate (in the case of a county council a halfpenny rate) llie |)ower to make further advances is suspended.^'* ■■'2 1919, c. 35, RR. 46, 47. •■'■' 1919, <•. 99. •'■' lft99, <•. 44 : 1919, c. 35, s. 49; 1921, c. 19, ss. 5, 11. L.G. 10 146 LOCAL GOVEEA'MEjNT. A person becoming' the proprietor of a liouse under this Act is in general Louiul to reside in it during the currency of the loan. The Public A\'orks Loan Commissioners may lend money to local authorities for the purposes of this Act, and money borrowed under it is not to be reckoned as part of the debt of a local authority for the purpose of the general statutory limitations on its power of borrowing. (4) OTHER ENACTMEXTS.— The Public Health Acts enable any sanitary authority (whether urban or rural) to close cellar dwellings, register and regulate by bye-laws " common lodging- houses," and also ordinary lodging-houses, and tents, vans, sheds, and similar structures used for human habitation.^' Any sanitary authority may also make bye-laws for the decent lodging of persons engaged in 2>it'king hops, fruit or vegetables within its district.^'"' Under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, the sanitary authority of any seaport town may, with the sanction of the Board of Trade, make bye-laws for licensing and regulating seamen's lodgings. ^^ Municipal corjjorations are specially authorized to convert corporate land into sites for working- men's dwellings (c).^* The purposes of the Improvement of Land Act, 1864, include "the erection of labourers' cottages," and "the improvement of and addition to labourers' cottages," but with a view only to the permanent improvement of the value of private estates. For these purposes life-owners and other owners of land for long but limited terms are enabled, with the sanction and under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture, to charge the inheritance or reversion of the land. And under the Settled Land Act, 1882, limited owners may sell settled lands and invest the proceeds in certain authorized classes of improvements, includiug cottages for labourers, farm servants, and artizans, whether employed on the settled land or uot, and any dwellings available for the working classes the building of which is not injurious to the estate. Their powers have been slightly enlarged by a recent statute.''® 35 1875, c. 55, ss. 71-90; 1885, c. 72, ss. 8-10; 1890, c. 59, s. 32: 1919, c. 35, s. 26. 36 1875, s. 314; 1882, c. 23. 37 1894, c. 60, s. 214. 38 1882, c. 50, s. 111. 39 1882, c. 38, ss. 25, 30; 1890, c. 70, s. 74; 1919, c. 35, s. 31. HOUSIXG. 147 NOTES. Note (a). — Compensation. — For expenses incurred by an owner on works required by a local authority under Part II. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, an annuity of 6 per cent, for thirty years may by order of the local authority be charged on the premises in favour of the owner and his personal rejiresentatives, and may be redeemed at any time.*" In settling the amount of compensation to be paid by the local authority for the demolition of a building under this Part, the arbitrator is to make allowance for any inci'eased value thereby accruing to other dwelling-houses belonging to the same owner. 'o Note (b). — Procedure. — In a case of compulsory purchase, the council submits an order for confirmation by the Ministry of Health, who are bound, if objection is taken by a person interested in the land, to hold a public enquiry. The Ministry of Health must consider the report of the person holding the enquiry before confirming the order. " Note ('■). — Miscellaneous. — By the Standing Orders of the House of Commons it is required that a copy of any private Bill containing power to take compulsorily or by agreement ten or more houses, occupied wholly or partly by persons belonging to the labouring class, shall be deposited v/ith the Ministry of Health, and that every such Bill shall give security for the provision of new dwellings for the persons displaced, to the extent approved by the Ministry of Health. The i\Iinistry issues annually a Report relating to the administration of the Housing of the Working Classes Acts. 40 1890, s. 36; 1909, s. 19. 41 1909, c. 44, Sehed. I. 148 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. CHAPTEll XIX. DRAINAGE AND EMBANKMENT. General powers for regulating drainage and defence against water are given to local authorities by three classes of Acts; namely — (1) The Old Sewers Commissions Acts; (2) The Land Drainage Acts, 1861 and 1918; (3) The Land Drainage Act, 1914. In addition to these general powers there are many local Acts. There are also Acts giving large powers to owners for the improvement of their lands by drainage, including compulsory powers over the lands of other persons to be exercised with the sanction of the Inclosure Commissioners, now the Ministry of Agriculture.^ The following is a summary of the provisions of the three classes of general Acts above mentioned : — (1) OLD SEWEES COMMISSIONS ACTS.— The Sewers Com- missions Acts provide for the appointment (under the Great Seal) of Courts of Commissioners of Sewers for districts which may include the whole or any parts of a county or counties. Their jurisdiction extends only to the sea coast and navigable or tidal rivers, or such watercourses as " shall or may directly or indirectly communicate " with navigable or tidal rivers. Their powers include the supervision, erection, and maintenance of sea and river walls and of sluices, and the scouring of watercourses and other means of defence against the sea, and of relief from super- fluous land waters. Each court may divide its district into sub-districts, and may levy general or special sewers rates, either throughout their district or in distinct levels or sub-districts. By the Act of 1841 the assessment of a rate on lands in each parish or place within a district is to be so made " that such lands and hereditaments shall contribute thereto in proportion to the benefit 1 1847, c. 38; 1864, c. 114; 1877, -i 31. DRAINAGE AXD EMBANKMEXT. 149 and advantag-e received or capable to be received from the said court, as compared with the h^nds and hereditaments of the other parishes, townships, or phices within such jurisdiction." The principal officers or servants of a sewers court are a clerk, a treasurer, a surveyor and dyke reeves. It has compulsory powers for taking laud under order of the Minister of Agriculture. - The powers of these commissions for the purposes mentioned in the Acts are limited by two restrictions. Firstly, they cannot act (except in emerg-ency) unless upon a presentment made by a jury. Secondly, by the Act of 1833, no new works can be made without the consent of three-fourths in value of all the owners and occupiers in the " valley, level, or district " proposed to be charged with the cost.^ By the Act of 1841 the sewers rates are to be assessed in gross on each parish, township, or place, in proportion to the benefit received by each of these areas : and the sum payable by each area is to be further apportioned among the occupiers in that area. (2) LAXD DEAIXAGE ACTS.— The Land Drainage Act, 1861, extends to inland as well as maritime places. Under this Act, as amended by the Land Drainage Act, 1918, new commissions of sewers may be established in drainage areas, and drainage boards for drainage districts.'* Lender the Act of 1918 the Ministry of Agriculture may now by Order (a) define the limits of any commission of sewers on petition presented to them by the commissioners, and (b) on their own initiative alter the boundaries of drainage areas to be included within the limits of any commission of sewers. These Orders, if opposed, require confirmation by Parliament. The proprietors of one-tenth of an area proposed to be added to, or excluded from, a drainage area, or the drainage authority ot an area pro])osed to bo altered, or the council of any county or couiily borough in which any ])art of ihc land ])r()posed to be affected by the Order is situate, may present a })etition for an Order. The consent of the commissioners is a necessary condition precedent to the granting of an Order lo alter the boundary of llicir area, and no Oi'dcr sliall l)c made if ears, ])(' t;ikcn to lie tlic aniouiil wliicli tlic land if sold in tlu' (i])cn market by a willing- seller niiulil he ex|)ec(ed to realize: Provided always Hint tli(> jnldl mlor s|i;ill he entitled Id consider all leturns and assessments of cniiilal \alne for taxation niad(> or acquiesced in by the claimant : 154 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. " (3) The special suitability or adaptability of the land for any purpose shall not be taken into account if that purpose is a purpose to which it could be applied only in pursuance of statutory powers, or for which there is no market apart from the special needs of a particular purchaser or the requirements of any Government Department or any local or public authority : Provided that any bond fide offer for the purchase of the land made before the passing of this Act which may be brought to the notice of the arbitrator shall be taken into consideration. ..." The parties may, notwithstanding- the Act of 1919, refer any question of disputed compensation or apportionment of rent to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or to an arbitrator agreed between the parties. The Act provides for the procedure to be adopted before an official arbitrator, and for the payment of costs by a claimant who refuses an unconditional offer in writing by an acquiring authority and recovers no greater sum in the arbitration. In the event of the Minister of Labour certifying that the state of unemployment in any area is such as to make it desirable for the Unemployment (Relief Works) Act, 1920, to be put into operation in that area, land may be acquired compulsorily there- under by an expeditious procedure. The Act does not per se confer any powers of acquiring land, but operates to facilitate the acquisition of land allowed by some other enactment. The Act is a temporary one.^ II. — Admission of the Press. By an Act of 1908 representatives of the Press have a legal right to be present at the meetings of every local authority, unless they are temporarily excluded by resolution of such authority in view of the special nature of the business. This Act extends to every local rating authority, but does not extend to a committee of such an authority, except an education committee (so far as it is executive). It also extends to a distress committee under the Unemployed Workmen Act, 1905, and a joint committee or joint board of local authorities.^ III. — Adultp:ration. Under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts the council of every borough having a separate court of quarter sessions or a separate police force, and having- had in 1881 a population above 10,000, 1 1919, c. 57 ; 1920, c. 57, s. 2. 2 1908, c. 43. MISCELLAA'EOUS MATTERS. 155 and elsewhere tlie county council, is required to appoint a com- petent public analyst, and to put in force the powers with which the council is invested, so as to provide proper securities for the sale of food and drugs in a pure and genuine condition. The Ministry of Health (or the Ministry of Agriculture) have powers to enforce this obligation where the general interest of the consumer (or of agriculture) is aftected. The officers of a local authority have power to enter and inspect any premises registered under these Acts as manufactories of margarine or butter. The rates are the borough and county rate respectively, and boroughs which have their own analysts receive back an allowance from the county on account of their contribution to the county expenditure.'' Mill:. — The councils of counties, boroughs, urban and rural districts (or such of them as may be specified) are local authorities for enforcing the provisions of Orders made by the Ministry of Health under the Milk and Dairies (Consolidation) Act, 1915. Such local authorities have various powers and duties conferred upon them by that Act with a view to securing a healthy milk suppl}^ for the public. Their expenses are paid in a county out of the general county fund or (if the Order so directs) as a special charge on a part only of the county, in other areas as general expenses under the Public Health Acts.'^ [-^^-B. — This Act is temporarily suspended. The Milk and Dairies Orders made under the Diseases of Animals Act, 1886, remain in force until specifically amended or repealed by an Order made under the Act of 1915.] Every county council must, and the council of any county borough may, appoint (either separately or in conjunction with other councils) an official agricultural analyst and one or more official samplers for tlie ])urpose of enforcing the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1906, and protecting purchasers of such stuffs. Ever}^ such appointment is subject to the a])j)roval of the Ministry of Agriculture. Ex])enses are defrayed in the case of a county as general expenses, and in the case of a county borough out of the borough rate. IV. — Advertisements . A. The council of a boiougli or of any urban district containing a population of over 10,000, ;md elsewhere the county council, n)ay make bye-laws for reguhiting, restricting or preventing the 3 1875, c. 63; 1879, c. .30; 1888, c. 41, s. 30; 1800, c. 51; 1014-10, c. 66, s. 21 (3); 19ri7, c. 21, 8. 2. " 1914-10, c. 66, s. 19 (4). 156 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. exhibition of advertiseiiients wliicli affect injuriously the amenities of a public park, or disfig-ure the natural beauties of a landscape, and for reg-ulating- hoardings used for advertising and exceeding twelve feet in heig'ht. These bye-laws may apply to the whole or part of the area of the local authority, and require the confirmation of the Secretary of State/ By a later Act these bye-law making powers are extended to tlie display of advertisements of such a nature or in such a manner as to be detrimental to the amenities of any ancient monument.'^ The expenses are to be paid out of the county or borough rate, or, in urban districts, as part of the general expenses under the Public Health Acts. B. The council of any borough or urban district may advertise the advantages and amenities of their area as a health resort or watering-place through newspapers, handbooks, leaflets, or by placards at railway stations. The expenses may be defrayed out of the profits received by them from the letting of chairs, tents, bathing-machines, platform sites, and the like. No other money may be expended, and the total sum spent must not exceed the amount which would be produced by a penny rate.^ V. — Ancient Monuments. The council of a county or county borough may purchase by agreement any monument of historic, architectural, traditional, artistic, or archseological interest (not being a building in use for ecclesiastical purposes) situated in or in the Aacinity of their area. The same authority, whether it purchases or not, may become the guardian of such a monument and undertake or contribute to the cost of preserving it. The council may also receive voluntary contributions towards the cost of preservation, and may transfer monuments to the Commissioners of Works or accept transfers from them. Agreements for guardianship are to be subject to the consent of the owners of the monument. The expenses are to be paid out of the county or borough rate.** y I . — Development Commi s s ion . Under the Development and Eoad Improvement Act, 1909, as amended by later Acts, the Treasury may, on the recommendation of the Development Commissioners, make advances through a Government Department to any ])ublic authority, university, ■■* 1907, c. 27. 6 1913, c. 32, s. 19. 7 1921, c. 27. s 1913, c. 32. MIS CELL AjS'EOUS MATTERS. 15T college, scliool, or institute, either hj way of grant or loan, for any of the following purposes : — (a) aiding and developing agriculture and rural industries by promoting scientific research, instruction, and experiments^ the organization of co-operation, &c. («) ; (b) reclamation and drainage of land ; (c) construction and improvement of harbours in connection with fisheries (but only after the Development Commis- sioners have consulted the Minister of Transport) ; (d) development of fisheries. jidvances for these purposes are made out of the Development Fund of £1,250,000 created by the Act. Land may be taken compulsorily by the authority to whom the advance is made, under an Order of the Commissioners.® yil. — Electricity. Electric LigJiting. — Under the Electric Lighting Acts, as amended by the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1919, borough and urban or rural district councils may apply to the Board of Trade for a licence or Provisional Order (or alternatively may apply to the Electricity Commissioners for a Special Order) to supply electricity in any part of their district, and may, when so authorised, sub- contract with any company, &c., for such supply. The same authorities may also, where sanctioned by Provisional Order (or Special Order coitfirmed by the Board of Trade), generate electricity in bulk, take land compulsorily for generating stations and supply persons, railways, &c., outside their districts. The same autho- rities have also considerable control over other electric undertakings within their district, and a right to purchase them on special terms after forty-two years. The expenses are paid as sanitary expenses, and in a rural district are "special." The Puldic Health Act borrowing ])()wers aj)ply (see ]). 26), but loans are not to be reckoned as part of the total debt of the authority for the purpose of limitations on borrowing.'" Electricity Districts. — The Electricity Commissioners, who are appointed under the Act of 1919, may provisionally determine that any district in the kingdom shall be constituted a separate electricity district for tlio pur])oses of that Act. If tljc Electricity Commissioners think llial ihe existing organization for llic supply <>r electricity in any electricity district B 1909, c. 47, SB. 1-G; 1019, c. 50, h. 17; 1919, c. 58, n. 3 (4); 1920, c 7'2, s. 4. 10 1882, c. .50; 1888, c. 12; 1909, c. 34; 1919, c. 100, ss. 5-17, 20-30, 35. 158 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. should be improved, they must give notice of their intention to hold a local enquiry into the matter, and must give county councils, local authorities, large consumers, and others an opportunity of submitting a scheme for effecting such improvement. If no such scheme is duly submitted or approved, the Commissioners may themselves formulate a scheme, which must become the subject of a public enquiry. The scheme may provide for the establish- ment and (where desirable) the incorporation of a joint electricity authority, representative of authorized undertakers within the district, and with or without the addition of representatives of county councils, local authorities, and others concerned. The scheme may fvirther provide for the exercise by, and the transfer to, the proposed joint electricity authority of the powers and undertakings of such authorized undertakers within the district as consent to the transfer upon such terms as may be provided by the scheme. The Electricity Commissioners may make an Order embodying decisions they arrive at as a result of the incjuiry, and present it for confirmation to the Board of Trade. The Order is then laid before each House of Parliament, and, if approved by both, it has the effect of a statute. An Order may be altered in like manner. It is the duty of every joint electricity authority so constituted to provide or secure, subject to the general direction of the Electricity Commissioners, the provision of a cheap and abundant supply of electricity within their district, and for that purpose they have such powers and duties as are conferred on them by the scheme under which they are constituted and by the Act of 1919. Every joint electricity authority must establish a fund for the jiurpose of collecting and disbursing their revenue and expenditure. They must submit annual accounts to the Electricity Com- missioners for audit, together with a report. They must be pre- pared to pay a proportion of the annual expenses of the Electricity Commissioners. VIIT. — Factories and Workshops, &c. The Factory and Workshop Act, 1901 (consolidating, with amendments, the statutes previously passed for the purpose of regulating the safety, sanitary conditions, &c., of, and the employment of women and children in, factories and workshops), is in general executed by inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State. But the duty of enforcing the sanitary law, relating especi- MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. 159 ally to cleanliuess, lime-washing", ventilation, ajid the prevention of nuisances and overcrowding- (and including certain special pro- visions affecting bakehouses and " home work "), is as regards icorkslwps committed to the local authority {I.e. the council of every borough and of every urban and rural district) and its officers, the Secretary of State and his inspectors having power to intervene if the local authority fails to do its duty. The factory inspectors can also, where necessary, call for the aid of that authority in enforcing the ordinary sanitary law in factories. The local authority has to keep a register of all workshops in its district. Under the Public Health Acts, any " domestic " factory, or any workshop or workplace, if not properly cleansed and ventilated, or if overcrowded, becomes a nuisance abateable summarily on com- plaint of the sanitary- authority. A furnace of a factory, &c., not consuming (as far as is practicable) its own smoke, is a nuisance abateable in like manner. Under an Act of 1872, the same authority may sanction the use of steam whistles in factories subject to an appeal to the Ministry of Health." IX. — Fishery Districts. (1) Freslncater FixJicries. — Under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Acts, 1861 to 1892, a county council may appoint con- servators or overseers for the preservation of salmon and for enforcing the law; and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on the application of the county council may order that any rivers in a count}', which are frequented by salmon or any freshwater fish, shall form a fishery district, either separately or jointly with rivers of another county. Each fisliery district has a board of conservators, consisting partly of eu- officio members (being owners or occupiers of fisheries), j)artly of members annually appointed by the county council (or by a joint fisliery committee of two or moi'e counties), and ])artly (where there are public or common riglits of fishing) of members annually elected by persons licensed to fish. This board issues licences, makes bye-laws as to close time, &c., appoints water-bail ifPs, and generally enforces the laws for the protection of fish. In the year 1918, 51 of Ihpse fishery boards were in existence, wilh a lovennc tnr the year of £21,000 mainly derived from llic >;i](' t>\' liccnces.'- " 1875, c. 55, 8S. 91-%; I'.iOl, c. 22, ss. 2, 3, 115; 1872, c. fil. 12 1801, c. 109; 1865, c. 121; 1873, c. 71; 1870. r. 19; 1878, c. 39; 1884, c. 11; 1886, c. 39; 1888, c. 41, ss. 3, 34, 38; 1892, c. 50; 1903, c. 31. 160 LOCAL GOVEENME^NT. Under an Act of 1907 passed for the improvement of fislieries, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries may, on the application of a Board of CoUvServators, or of a county council, or of the owners of one quarter of the ])riYate fisheries proposed to be reg-ulated, or of a ]iiajority of persons holding licences to fish, and after a local enquiry, submit to Parliament for confirmation an Order for the resrulation of anv salmon or freshwater fisheries within a defined area, and the constitution of a Board of Conservators. They may aJso, by a similar Provisional Order, ])rovide for the imposition and collection of contributions to be assessed on the private fisheries to be regulated, and empower conservators to purchase or take on lease part of the foreshore and erect engines for salmon, and may abolish any Board of Conservators previously existing in the area." (2) Sea Fisheries. — On the application of the councils of counties or boroiighs the Ministry may by order made with the sanction of Parliament create sea fisheries districts comprising parts of the sea where British subjects have the exclusive right of fishing, and the adjoining coast. Such a district is placed under the manao'ement of a local fisheries committee of the county or borough council (or, if two or more councils are interested, a joint committee), together with an equal or greater number of fishery members representing the fishing interests, inclusive of any board of salmon conservators in the district. The committee may, subject to the control of the Ministry, make bye-laws for regulating the sea fisheries within its district and appoint fishery officers to enforce the law. The committee may contribute or undertake to contribute to the expenses of a harbour authority constituted under the Fishery Harbours Act, 1915, for a harbour situated wholly or partly in the district of the committee. The powers of a local fisheries committee may also be conferred on a board of salmon conservators. In 1918-19, committees had been constituted for thirteen districts ; and their receipts during the year amounted to £16,600, nearly all of which was received from the contributory county and borough councils.^* X. FOEESTRY. The Forestry Act, 1919, gives power for the appointment of eight Forestry Commissioners, whose duty it is to promote the interests of forestry, the development of afforestation, and the pro- duction and supply of timber, in the United Kingdom. 13 1907, c. 15. 14 1888, c. 54 ; 1891, c. 37, ss. 711 ; 1894, c. '20 : 1903, c. 31 ; 1915, c. 48, s. 8 (3). MISCELL.\JN'EOUS MATTEES. 161 ConsiiltatiTe committees for England and the other parts of the king-dom for g"iving to the Commissioners advice and assistance with respect to the exercise and performance by the Commissioners of their powers and duties under the Act, may be established by Order in Council. Such consultative committees must include representatives of " county councils and anv other local bodies interested in forestry.'' The expenses of the Commissioners are paid out of the Forestry Fund, which is maintained by sums provided by Parliament and the sums resulting from the transactions of the Commissioners.^^ XL — Haebour and Makixe Boaeds. Local Marine Boards are established under the laws now consoli- dated in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, in any seaports ap23ointed formerly by the Board of Trade but now by the Ministry of Transport. They consist of the mayor and stipendiary magistrate (if any), 4 members appoiripted by the Ministry of Transport, and 6 members elected by the qualified shipowners of the port. They make returns to the Ministry of Transport, and establish mercantile marine offices for the registry and engagement of seamen, and other matters connected with the sea service. The examination of masters is now carried out by the Board of Trade." There are also many Harbour, Pier, and Dock Authorities, constituted either by special Acts incorporating all or some of the provisions of the Harbours Clauses Act, 1847, or by the Ministry of Transport (formerly tlie Board of Trade) 's Provisional Orders under the General Pier and Harbour Acts. Including one county council. -hS town councils, and 12 urban district councils, all empowered to carry on liarbours, ]ners, docks, and similar under- takings, distinct from and in addition to their ordinary powers, there were, in 1918-19, 105 of these authorities in England and Wales, with a revenue (excluding London) of Q^ millions, chiefly raised by tonnage dues and tolls, and receipts from loans of £80,000. Their outstanding debts amounted to 49| millions.'' The powers of the Board of Trade under Ihe General Pier and Harbour Act, 1861, in respect of small harbours pTincijially used by the fishing industry, are now transferred Avilli niodilicalions to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, witli a view to their improvement, management, and maintenance. The i)ower of the i"' 1019, c. 58, ss. 6, 8. "•• 1894, c. GO, ss. 94, 244-7; 1914, c. 42, s. 1 (3). 17 1847. f. 27: 1801, c. 45; 18r,2. c-. 19. L.G. 11 162 L9CAL GOVERNMENT. Ministry of Agiic-ulture to make orders in this behalf, originally limited to two years, has been tem^iorarily extended.^** The Ministry of Transport may, subject to the approval of the Treasury, make advances out of sums provided by Parliament to any authority, either by way of loan or grant or both, for the con- struction, improvement or maintenance of harbours, docks or piers. The Thames Conservators appointed under the Act of 1908 (replacing former Acts) are a body composed of representatives of the Board of Trade, of the councils of various counties, county boroughs, other municipal boroughs and urban districts, of the City of London Corporation, of the Metropolitan Water Board, and of the Port of London Authority. They are invested with powers for regulating navigation, fishing, and order, and the registration of vessels, and for preserving the flow and purity of the water in the River Thames from Cricklade downwards to the landward limit of the Port of London.-" Any harbour board or conservancy authority may make applica- tions to the proper authority in respect of railway working rates and conditions. ^^ XII. — Light Railways. The council of any county, borough, or district may apply to the Ministry of Transport (formerly the Light Railway Commissioners) for an order authorizing the construction of a light railway. On an application by the council made in pursuance of a special resolution passed by a two-thirds majority, the council may be authorized itself to construct and work a light railway or to advance money for the purpose. In the latter case provision may be made for the representation of the council on the managing body.-- The expenses of a county council may be made chargeable exclusively on certain parishes ; otherwise expenditure under the Act is " general." There is power to borrow, the maximum jjeriod allowed for repayment of a loan being sixty years, and also power, if the Order so provides, to guarantee the interest or dividends on any loan or share capital of a light railway company on such terms and conditions as the Ministry of Transport, after consultation with the Ministry of Health, may approve. 18 1915, c. 48; 1921, c. 53. 19 1919, c. 50, s. 17. 20 1908, c. 68, s. 8. 21 1921, c. 55, ss. 16, 35, 45, 78. 22 1896, c. 48; 1921, c. 55, Part V. MISCELLANEOUS MATTEES. 163 The Ministry of Transport may, subject to the approval of the Treasury, make advances out of sums provided by Parliament to any authoritv either bv wav of o-rant or loan or both, for the construction, improvement or maintenance of light railways."^ XIII. — Lighting. For watching purposes the Lig-hting and Watching Act, 1833, is practically obsolete, but there were, in 1919-20, 833 parishes under parish councils, and six under parish meetings, where expenditure under the Act was incurred in respect of lig-hting and provision of fire engines. The expenditure amounted in that year to £65,000 in the case of parish councils and to £'104 in the case of parish meetings. There were in that year also 16 rural parishes in which lighting insj^ectors continued to be appointed, and six joint com- mittees appointed under the Local Government Act, 1894, exercised the powers of lig-hting inspectors in areas comprised in more than one rural parish. The sums expended by these inspectors and committees during the year amounted to £1,400. The area of adoption is any rural parish or })art of a parish ; in urban districts the Act is superseded, the urban council having corresponding powers under the Public Health Acts (6). The authority for adopting the Act is the parish meeting, a two-thirds majority being required. The inspectors elected under the Act as the executive authority are superseded by the parish council if there is one, except in cases where the Act has previously been adopted for an area differing from the existing rural parish, and either the inspectors do not choose to resign their functions to the parish council, or else, the area of adoption extending to more than one parish, the execution of the Act is entrusted to a joint committee. In a parish not having a parish council inspectors are elected by the ratepayers, one-third of them retiring annually; but on application to the county council the ])arish meeting itself may be made the executive authority. Provision may be made under the Act for lighting the parish, and fire-engines may also be provided. Expenses are paid out of a rate levied like Ihe })Oor rate, but houses, buildings, and property other than land or tithe rentcharge are to be rated at three times as much as land and lithe.-' Gas. — Foi' 111)' powers of an url)an council foi' llie gas-lighting of their district, see j). 60. As to gas-testing, sec j). 175. 2'' 1910, c. 50, 8. 17: 1921, b. 70. 24 1833, c. 90; 1851, c. 50; 1875, c. 55, s. 103; 1893-4, c. 73, s. 53; 1898, c. 38. ]64 LOCAL GOVERxXMENT. ^Electric Lighting. — For the powers of local authorities in respect of electric lig-htino-, see p. 157. XIV. — MiLiTAijy Forces. Territorial Associations. — Under the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act (1907), an Association has been constituted in every geographical county by a scheme of the Army Council. Such schemes usually constitute the Lord Lieutenant of the county the President of the Association, and provides for the appointment by the Army Council of representatives of county and county borough councils and universities on the Association, after consultation with these authorities. Populous counties may be divided and sub- associations appointed for the several parts. The powers and duties of the Association include (i.) ascertaining the militaiy resources and capabilities of the county, (ii.) rendering advice to the Army Council and their officers, and (iii.) such other powers and duties connected with the organization and recruiting of the Territorial Army, the provision of rifle ranges, buildings and other accommoda- tion, establishment of rifle clubs, provision and registration of horses, etc., as may for the time being be ordered l)y the Secretary of State. An Association is not to have any power of command or training over any military forces. The expenses of the Association are met by Parliamentaiy grants, and their accounts are audited under Treasury regulations. Joint committees may be appointed by any two or more Associations for jmrposes in which they are jointly interested.-^ Military Lands. — The council of a county or borough may, with the consent of the Secretary of State and at the request of one or more volunteer corjDS, purchase or hire by agree- ment land for military purposes or contribute to its purchase or hire. Such land may be either held by the council or leased to any volunteer corps for military purposes. A council may borrow for the purposes of the Act, and the expenses are to be defrayed out of the county or borough fund. Where bye-laws are made for regulating the use of military lands, no highway can be interfered with except with the consent of the repairing authority.-'* XV. — National Health Insurance. Under the National Insurance Acts, an Insurance Committee is co2istituted for every county and county borough, consisting of such 23 1907, c. 9. 26 1892, c. 43; 1900, c. 56; 1903, c. 47. MISCELLAXEOUS MATTEKS. 165 number of members (not less than 20 or more than 40) as the Ministry of Health determine. Of these members, one-fifth is appointed by the council of the county or county borough Avith the addition of one or two duh' qualified medical practitioners appointed by the same council. Three-fifths are representatives of insured persons and deposit contributors. Two members are appointed by the committee recognized as the local medical com- mittee for the county or county borough, and the remainder are appointed by the Ministry of Health. Where any part of the cost of " medical benefit " is defrayed by the council of the county or county borough, the Ministry may increase the representation of the council on the Committee. The quorum, term of office, rotation of members and proceedings of the Committee (including- the appointment of sub-committees) are prescribed by regulations made from time to time by the Ministry. In every county a scheme for the appointment of district insurance committees is to be prepared by the Insurance Committee of the county and submitted for approval to the Ministry. Such schemes must provide (except where grouping is allowed by the Ministry) for the appointment of a separate district com- niittee for each borcnigh having a ])opulation of 10,000, and for each urban district having a population of 20,000. Insurance Committees may combine together for any jjurposes of the Act. At least two members of every Insurance Committee and at least one member of every sub-committee must be women. Every Insurance Committee is a corporate body, and can take, purchase and hold land for the purposes of the Act.-" The powers and duties of Insurance Committees include — (i.) the administration of " medical benefit " for all insured persons, and of " sickness, disablement ami maternity benefits " for insured persons who are not members of a])])roved societies ; (ii.) making such reports as to the health of insured ])ersons within the county or county borouji^b as the Ministry of Healtli may prescribe; (iii.) proxiiling lectures and ])ublishing information on (piestions ichit ini;' Id lic;i ll li . IJy way of [uoinoling co-oiiciiit ion between lln' ( 'oni mil tecs and the councils of counties, boroughs and districts, any Medical Officer 27 ]<)11, c. 55: V.m, c. 37; 1014, c. 57; 1915, c. 20; 1017, c. 62; 1920, c. 10; 1921, c. 25. 166 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. of Health may, with the consent of his authority, attend meetings of and assist the Committee. In case of excessive sickness among insured persons in any locality alleged to be due to bad housing or water supply, or insanitary conditions, or neglect to enforce the Acts relating to Public Health or the Housing of the Working Classes, the Insurance Committee shall, in the event of their failing to arrive at any agreement with the person or authority concerned, refer the matter with a statement in support to the Ministry of Health. Thereupon the Ministry may appoint a competent person to hold an enquiry, and, if excessive sickness is proved on such enquiry, the amount of any extra expenditure found to be incurred by a society or Insurance Committee by reason of such excessive sickness is recoverable from any local authority or person proved to be in default.-^ The expenses of Insurance Committees are defrayed out of a fund consisting of — (i.) sums payable in respect of members of approved societies and deposit contributors resident in the county or county borough for the purposes of " medical benefit " and adminis- trative expenses ; (ii.) annual contributions by approved societies of a sum not exceeding sixpence per member resident in the county or borough towards the Committee's administrative expenses. ^^ If in any year the sums payable to an Insurance Committee for medical benefit are insufficient to meet the estimated expenditure, the Committee may transmit to the Treasur}^ and the council of the county or borough an account showing the sums available and the estimated expenditure, and each of those authorities, if they sanction the account, are liable to make good out of the parlia- mentary grants and the county or borough rates respectively one- half of the excess expenditure incurred by the Insurance Committee.'"' The Insurance Committee may, with the leave of the Commis- sioners, pay the members of the Committee a subsistence allowance and compensation for loss of remunerative time.^° Local medical committees representative of the duly qualified medical practitioners resident in the county or county boroiigh are tc be recoffnized and consulted bv Insurance Committees and '>-'' 28 1911, s. 63; 1917, ss. 38 (1), 48 (4). 29 1911, s. 61; 1920, ss. 7, 21. Sched. IV. 30 1911. s. 15 ; 1913, s. 31 ; 1920, s. 7 (.5) MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 167 district committees on all g-eiieral questions affecting the administra- tion of " medical benefit." There is a similar provision for the election in counties and county boroughs of local committees representing pei;sons and bodies who have agreed to supply drugs, medicines and appliances to insured jiersons.^^ Sanatorium benefit is no longer payable in England and Wales since the care of tul)erculosis is now entrusted to count}- and county borough councils. (See p. 65).^^ In addition to the powers conferred by the Xational Insurance Acts, any county council or sanitary authority is empowered by the Public Health Act, 1913, to make any arrangements sanctioned by the Ministry of Health for the treatment of tuberculosis.^^ Persons employed by any local or public authority having an income under £250 a year, if not excluded by a special order of the Commissioners, are subject to the compulsory provisions of the National Insurance Acts.^* XVI. — Pension Committees. Old Age Pensions. — Under the Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, local pension committees are appointed for every borough or urban dis- trict having a population of 20,000 according to the last census, and elsewhere for every county, by the council of the boroug-h, district or county. The members of the committee need not be members of the council by which they are appointed. The committee may appoint sub-committees consisting either wholly or partly of meuibers of the committee, and may delegate to them any of its powers and duties. The committee or sub-comiiiittec liave lo investigate a]] claims for old-age pensions in conjunction with the pension officer a])pointed by the Treasury, and in accordance with the Treasury regulations. All the expenses of the Act are defrayed out of Parliamentary grants." War Pensions. — Under the War Pensions Acts, 1915-1921, there have been establislicd for every county and county borough and for the larger borougli and urban districts, a local committee to aid the Ministry of Pensions in the administraiion of war ])ensions. These local committees are subject to the general conirol of the Minister of Pensions, and may now be superseded by schemes for "regional" committees drawn up under the Act of 1921. There ■•" 1011, s. 62; 1913, s. 33. •■'2 1920, s. 4 (1). sa 1913, c. 28, s. 3. * ■•>'i 1913, c. 37, s. fi. ■■'•'' 1908, c. 40; 1911, c. 10. 168 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. are Appeal Tribvmals for different part.s of the country appointed by the Ministry of Pensions. The expenses of local war pensions committees are paid out of sums provided by Parliament.'"^ XYII. — Prisons and Lock-up Houses. The sole duty of local authorities in connection with the manage- ment of prisons is now the appointment of visiting committees. This appointment is made annually by the coimty quarter sessions or the borough justices according to rules made by the Secretary of State. The duty of^each committee is to visit the local prisons, authorize certain punishments, and report to the Secretary of State. Any justice is also entitled to visit a prison within his jurisdiction.''^ County and borough councils have powers under various Acts for providing lock-up houses and strong rooms for the temporary confinement of persons taken into custody. It is the duty of every county council to provide such accommodatioii as may be determined by the standing joint committee to be necessary or proper for the due transaction of the business of the justices.^* XYIII. — Eegistration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. The district for registration of births and deaths is prima facie the poor law union. The g-uardians are required to divide their district into sub-districts and api^oint a registrar in each sub- district, and a superintendent registrar for the whole district. The Eegistrar-Greneral, however, with the ap2)roval of the Ministry of Health, may unite, divide, or alter districts for registration purposes, and declare what board of guardians shall appoint the sujjerintendent registrar for a united district. The registrars and superintendents are removable by the Eeg-istrar-General, who exercises a general control. Certain fees of regivstrars and the expenses of registry offices are paid by the board of guardians out of the Union common fund, and in united districts the several boards contribute in proportion to the pojiulation of their respective areas (c).^^ The district for registration of marriages is the same ; the superin- tendent registrar of births and deaths is also the suj^erintendent 36 1914-16, c. 83; 1921, c. 49. " 1877, c. 21, ss. 13-15. 38 1842, c. 109, s. 22; 1848, c. 101; 1868, c. 22; 1840, c. 88, s. 12; 1856, c. 69, s. 22; 1882, c. 50, s. 105; 1888, c. 41, ss. 3 (iv.), 64. 39 1836, c. 86; 1837, c. 22; 1858, c. 25; 1865, c. 79, s. 1; 1874, c. 88; 1901, c. 26; 1888, c. 41, s. 24. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 169 reg^istrar of marriages, and lie lias power, witli the approval of the Registrar-General, to apjioint registrars of marriages/" Census. — His Majesty may by Order in Council direct a census to be taken at intervals of not less than five years. For this purpose the Minister of Health may make regulations providing for the division of the country into districts and requiring the services of superinten- dent registrars, registrars, overseers and assistant overseers of the poor, relieving officers for poor law unions, collectors of the poor rate and others. The councils of counties, boroughs and urban districts may apjily to the Minister for a local census, which may be ordered by His Majesty in Council. The registration sub-districts are units for the taking* of a census, each sub-district being divided into enumerators' districts.*' XIX. — Registration of Electors. The method of registering electors has been completely reorganized by the Representation of the People Act, 1918. Each Parliamentarv county and each Parliamentary boroug-h is a " res^is- tration area," which is made up of "registration units," being parishes or parts of parishes within the registration area. Each registration area has a "registration officer," usually the clerk of a county council or the town clerk of a borough (or in some cases the clerk to an urban district council), whose duty it is to compile two registers in every year. The spring register comes into force on the 15th April and the autumn reg-ister on the 15tli October. One register continues in force until displaced by the next. The regis- tration of " Parliamentary " and " local government " (which term now includes " parochial ") electors is carried out on the same register by the same officers and through the same machineiy.^" The register must be framed in separate parts for each registra- tion unit, and, because the franchises and electoral areas for the two classes of elections are not identical, it must be so made as to show in separate divisions the names of (//) ). The register must be open (i]ifion by his neighbours or by paid officials.'^ In every corporate city, borough, town or place the mayor and certain of the members of the coTpoinfiou are commissioners in respect c)f pub] if offices or eiuplnynients of profit therein. ■»•« 1708, cc. 5, 60: ]ft02, c. 110. rr. 3, ]R0; 1827, c. 75; 1R06, c. 28, s. 31; 1898, c. 10, H. 12 a); Ron R. v Tower Land Tax Commixsionent , 22 Tj. J. Q. B. 386. 4s 1918, c. 40, Part. V. 172 ■ LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Tlie *' General Commissioners " annually in April appoint certain inhabitants of each parish to be assessors, and. order them to make their returns to the commissioners at a date which must be not later than the 26tli July. In default of other assessors, the inland revenue surveyors act in this behalf. An assessor receives remuneration. The General Commissioners must also appoint for each parish one or more persons resident therein to be collectors of taxes. '*^ A parish may, by the action of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue with the consent of the Treasury, be divided into districts with separate assessors and collectors. '^'^ The land tax commissioners for any county may transfer any parish from one division of the county to another, or constitute new divisions, and the same commissioners for any division may unite or disunite parishes for income tax purposes. The approval of the Treasury is necessary in either case.^* Valuers for Estate Duty. — The Council of every county and county boroug-h may appoint valuers for the purposes of the estate duty, and fix a scale of charges for their remuneration.^® The Commissioners of Inland Revenue may by agreement in writing with the council of any county, borough, or urban district with a population of over 10,000, or a police authority, arrange for the exercise by that authority of any or all of the powers of the Com- missioners with respect to entertainments and entertainments duty. The expenses of any authority incurred under siich arrangement may be paid out of sums provided by Parliament. 50 XXII. — Teade Boards and District Trade Committees. Under the Trade Boards Acts, 1909 and 1918, Trade Boards for fixing minimum rates of wages and investigating industrial con- ditions are established by the Ministry of Labour for various trades to which the Acts apply. A Trade Board may establish district trade committees, consisting partly of members and partly of non-members of the Trade Board, representing employers or work- men engaged in the trade, in accordance with regulations made by the Ministry of Labour, and may delegate any of their powers and duties to the district committees other than the actual fixing of the minimum rates. The expenses of the Board and committees 46 1918, s. 76. 4' 1018, s. 90 (3). •*« 1918, s. 93. 49 1894, c. 30, s. 10 (6). 30 1916, c. 11, s. 2 (4). MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 173 are to be defrayed out of Parliamentary grants up to an amount sanctioned by the Treasury. Under the Coal Mines (Minimum AVag-e) Act, 1912, joint district boards are established in each mining- district for fixing- minimum rates of wag-es and district rules for coal mining- throughout the district. These Boards are representative of the employers and workmen in coal mines in the district, and the chairman is an independent person appointed by agreement, or, in default of agreement, by the Board of Trade. This Act is a temporary Act,, but has been fontinued annually.''^ XXIII.— Tramways. The local authority under the Tram\yays Act, 1870, may apply for a Provisional Order, and construct tramways, and lease them when constructed, or take tolls for their use, but may not itself (unless authorized by a local Act or by a Provisional Order of the Ministry of Transport confirmed by Parliament) run carriages [d). It may also regulate by bye-law, and in certain cases may purchase, the tramways of other undertakers, and obtain permission to use naval and military tramways. The Ministry of Transport has the power to require through-runnings on adjoining tramways, and may, in default of agreement, settle the terms between the owners concerned. It may also, subject to the a})proval of the Treasury, make advances out of sums provided by Parliament to any authority by way of grant or loan, or both, for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any tramway. The local authorities are the council of a liorough or urban district, and elsewhere the paiisli council or parish meeting. The expenses in a borough are payable out of the borough rate, in an urban district (other than a borough) mit of the sanitary rate, and in a rural parish out of the poor rate."'^^ Ceriain powers of removing tramways when disused are vested in Ihe highway auilioiiiy. Xo new tramway can be made without the consent of Hie local aulliority and the higlnvay authority. XXIY. — Vaccination. The guaj'dians in each pooi' law union ai'c (generally speaking) the local authority for tlic en torcemeiit of the Vaccination Acts, subject ii) jlic (•(i)iii(il of tlic Ministrv of TTciilth. I'inch union is fli 1900, c. 22; 1918, c. 32; 1912, c. 2. •'•2 1870, c. 78; 1884, <■. 1'2; 1887, c. r.5 ; 1893-4, c. 7.^, ss. C, 10; 1899, c. 42, s. 2; 1919, c. 50, fis. 2, r,, 17. 174 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. ordinarily divided into vaccination districts, for each of which at least one public vaccinator is appointed, towards whose remunera- tion an allowance is made by the county councils. There are also vaccination officers who are charg-ed with all duties of reg-istering vaccinations, &c. These officers are appointed by the guardians, subject to the control of the Ministry of Health. Vaccination expenses are payable out of the common fund of the Union. ^^ XXY. — Weights and Measures and Inspections. Under the Weights and Measures Acts the local authority provides local standards of measure and weight, and means for verifying weights and measures by comparison with such standards. It also has to appoint qualified inspectors of weights and measures, and allot them districts, and (if authorized by the general regulations of the Board of Trade) may make special regulations in relation to the inspe(?tion of weights and measures and to other matters. It may also make bye-laws, with the approval of the Board of Trade, for securing the delivery of full weight on sales of coal.^^ The councils of counties and county boroughs are local autho- rities for the purposes of these Acts, as also are the councils of boroughs with a population above 10,000 according to the census of 1881, subject to this qualification, that a non-quarter sessions borough is merged in the county unless the town council resolves to be an independent authority.*^ Expenses are paid out of the county or borough rate, but the boroughs having their own inspectors are entitled to receive back from the county the proportionate amount contributed by them to the county expenditure incurred in the execution of the Acts. Besides the local authorities "under these Acts, other bodies (vestries, commissioners, borough justices, &c.) have under local Acts or charters powers in respect of weights and measures, which powers, however, may be bought up by the local authorities, by agreement. ^"^ Gas Inspectors. — Under the Sale of Gas Acts the local authority is to provide gas-meters, stamps, &c., and appoint inspectors for enforcing the Act. The local authority is the county council for a county, and the town council for a borough, but the borough 53 1867, c. 84; 1871, c. 98; 1874, c. 75; 1898, c. 49; 1888, c. 41, s. 24. 54 1878, c. 49 ; 1889. c. 21 ; 1892, c. 18 ; 1893, c. 19 ; 1904, c. 28. 55 1888, c. 41, s. 39. 5 6 1878, ss. 54, 69; 1892. miscellajN'eol's matters. 175 justices are substituted for a town council wliicli itself supplies gas.^'' The Acts only treat as separate areas those boroughs which were in 1859 "county towns where gas is used," or in which the local authority has resolved to adopt the Act at some time previously to the 13tli of April, 1861 ; and boroughs with a population under 10,000, according to tlie census of 1881, are merged in the county. AVhen adopted, the Acts supersede all like powers under local Acts. The expenses are paid out of " the county stock," and in boroughs out of the lig-hting or borough rate.^® Under the Gas Regulation Act, 1920, any county, borough, or urban district council may appoint a gas examiner, either by themselves or jointly with one or more other such councils, for the purpose of testing the gas supplied. A council which is an undertaker may not make an appointment. Where no gas examiner is appointed quarter sessions may, on the application of not less than five consumers, appoint a person to act as such. The expenses of a local authority under this Act are paid in a county as payments for special county purposes made in respect of the parishes which are wholly or partly within the limits of supply of any gas undertakers in respect of which the county council have power to appoint a gas examiner, and in the case of other councils as expenses incurred for the purposes of the Public Health Acts. Formerly " the local authority of any district " had similar powers under the Gasworks Clauses Act, 1871, but this Act appears to have been superseded by the Act of 1920.^^ The Gas Eegulation Act, 1920, also confers large powers on the Board of Trade in the regulation of the supply of gas. Yarn Inspectors. — In certain counties (Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire) a committee of woollen and yarn manufacturers may appoint inspectors to prevent frauds in those industries. NOTES. Note («). — Grants. — A special grant of £850,000 has been paid to the Devdopnicnl Fiuifl from Ihe Treasury for this j)urpose during the year 1921-22.''" Note (//). — Lii/lifitiij in rural jxirislics. — Some rural district councils have, by orders of the Local Government Board, been invested with urban powers 57 1850 (2), c. or.: 1W0, c Ufi; 18SU, c. 21, s. 15; 1020, c. 28. 58 1888, 8. 30. ■>'.) 1020, e. 28, ss. 4, 18, 10. '■n 1921, c. 48, s. 3. 176 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. • in regard to the lighting of streets, in one or more contributory places in the rural district. The expenditure of these councils on lighting is incurred under the Act of 1875, and not under that of 1833. and amounted for 1918-19 to £12,400. Note (c). — Begistration of births, d'C. — The total cost of the registration of births, deaths, and marriages, so far as it is met out of local funds, is upwards of £100,000 annually. Prior to the coming into operation of the Act of 1888, payments amounting to about £9,000 a year were made by the Treasury to boards of guardians in respect of certain additional remuneration which had been granted to registrars. This grant was by the Act of 1888 charged on the exchequer contribution accounts of counties and county boroughs. Note (cZ). — Tramways. — The great majority of local authorities owning tramways have now obtained authority to work them. In the year 1919-20, out of a total of 1,646 miles of line of tramways and light railways owned by local authorities in England and Wales, 1,511 miles were worked by local authorities, and only 135 miles were leased by local authorities to companies. VALUATIOX FOR LOCAL RATES, AXD LOCAL ACCOUNTS. 1(4 PART III. LOCAL IIXAXCE. [Note. — Tlirougliout tJiis Part, tJie Administratite County of London, with the local authorities acting for areas icholhj vr partially comprised therein, must be understood to be excluded. 1 CHAPTER XXI. VALUATION FOR LOCAL RATES, AND LOCAL ACCOUNTS. (1) Valuaticm for Local Rates. (2) Audit of Local Accounts. (3) Local Taxation Returns. In the three chapters of this Part it is proposed to give a brief review of the most important matters incident to local finance, excluding rates so far as they are dealt with in other chapters. The sums collected by means of rates for public local purposes, which during the four years previoiis to 1916-17 had increased by about i:2,()0(),000 annually, decreased in 1916-17 by £'2,400,000. The amount collected in 1917-18 was greater by £2,400,000 than that collected in 1916-17, and in 1918-19 the increase amounted to £7,000,000. For the last-mentioned year the total amount collected was £65,080,000. Two-thirds of that total was raised by means of poor rates or rates having the same incidence as poor rates, and ()ii('-1 hii il l)y means of general district rates or rates having the same or nearly the same incidence as general district rates. Since the year 1918-19 rates have increased to a niiicli greater extent than before, owing largely to the increased cost of materials and other commodities, and to increased expenditure on salaries and wages. (1) YALUATIOX. — The ])ioperties assessable for ])()or rates include lands of every descri])tion, dwcdling-houses, shops, factories, and oflici' l)uildings, i-ailways and (lainways, gasworks, L.(;. 12 178 LOCAL GOVEKXME^T. waterworks, mines, quarries, tithe rentcliarges, and sporting rights. Poor rates are leviable in respect of all rateable heredita- ments within the parish, at an equal rate ])er pound of rateable yalue {I.e., net annual value), excejit that the occupier of agricul- tural land is liable to pay one-half only of the rate in the pound payable in respect of buildings and other hereditaments/ Poor rates are (or may be) levied in every parish (a). In far more than half the parishes in Kngland and Wales the only rates levied are poor rates." The properties assessable for general district rates are the same as those assessable for poor rates, but for the purposes of a general district rate the ovcner of any tithes, or of any tithe commutation rent-charge, or the occupier of any land used as arable, meadow, or pasture ground only, or as woodlands, orchards, allotments, market gardens, or nursery grounds, and the occupier of any land covered with water, or used only as a canal or towing path for the same, or as a railway constructed under the powers of any x4.ct of Parliament for public conveyance, is assessed in respect of the same in the proportion of one-fourth part only of the net annual value thereof.^ General district rates are levied only in urban areas; and the rates which are not called general district rates, but have the same incidence (e.g., separate rates for special expenses of rural district councils, and many of the rates levied under local Acts), or approximately the same incidence (h), are levied in urban areas or in areas which, although comprised in rural districts, have urban characteristics.* The total number of rateable hereditaments appears to be upwards of eight millions (c). According to the valuations in force on the 1st April, 1920, the gross estimated rental of these properties was £246,000,000, and their net annual value was £190,000,000, including £25,000,000, the net annual value of agricultural land, and £1,400,000, the annual value of non-rateable Government ])roperty in respect of which contributions in lieu of rates were received (d). Parish Valuation Lisis. — There is a separate valuation list for ever\^ parish (e). The net annual values set out in these lists are binding both for poor rates and for general district rates. The 1 1601. c. 2: 1833, c. 30; 1836, c. 71. s. 69: 1840. c. 89; 1843. c. 36; 1854, c. 105; 1855, c. 128; 1863, c. 65; 1869. c. 40; 1874. c. 54; 1889, c. 27. 2 1894. c. 60, s. 731. 3 1896, c. 16 ; 1875. c. 55. s. 211 ; 1890. c. 17 ; 1891. c. 33. 4 1875. c. 55. s. 230. VALUATIOX FOK LOCAL RATES, AXD LOCAL ACCOUNTS. 179 ii\imber of parislies is 14,450 — 1,550 in urban distrifcts and 12,900 in rural districts. The parish valuation list is prepared, under the Union Assessment xVcts, 1862 to 1880, by the overseers of the parish (see, as to the overseers, Ch. I.) under the supervision of a committee — the " union assessment committee " — appointed by the guardians of the poor law union in which the parish is comprised (see, as to the guardians, Ch. II.). There is a union assessment committee for each of the 607 poor law unions, with one excep- tion (e). It is the duty of the committee to secure uniformity and correctness of valuation throughout all the parishes comprised in the union. The work of the committee is not controlled by any Government Department, nor is the Central Government represented on the committee. The valuations, as settled by the committee, are not binding- for purposes of imperial taxation, although they are in fact extensively used for those purposes. This system of parish valuation lists, coupled with uniformity of valuation throughout each union, has sufficed for the pui'poses of the rates of the vast majority of local authorities, comparatively few of whom have occasion to levy rates over areas which are situate in more than one union. A union assessment committee is, however, under no statutory obligation to take steps to secure that the standard of the valuations settled by it is the same as the standard of the valuations settled by committees acting for adjacent or other unions. Consequently it may happen that the valuations as settled by union assessment committees for different unions may not be sufficiently uniform infer sc to serve, without adjustment, as a basis for a rate leviable over an area comprising several unions or parts of several unions. To meet this difficulty, .so far as it affects rates leviable for purposes of county councils, provision has been made by statute for the setting up, independently of any action of the union assessment committees, of a "county rate basis or stamhud " for each administrative county (/). Provision has also l>een made by oi under statute for meeting the difficulty so far as it affects rates leviable for the purposes of some other local autliorities whose districts extend beyond tlic bounds of a single union {(]). Voluntary arrangements (iiiadc at the suggestion of the county council or ollici- nuthority interested) between assess- ment ((iiiiiiiittees have resulted in some cases in the a])])lication of a foiiiiiioii st;i iic!;i id (it \;il iiiil ion 1 1i I ( I II ^li OH i aicas which, tliough situate in dilTcicnt unions, ;iic li;ib]c to be rated in common, and ill these cases entries in tlic ]);iiisli ^•alualion lists are often taken 180 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. without alteration into tlie "county rate basis or standard" or other separate valuation authorized by statute [h) (/)/ The following is an outline of the. ordinary mode of valuation under the Union Assessment Acts, 1862 to 1880.'' Rateable Value. — The valuation list of a parish is a statement of the gross estimated rental and net annual value of all the rateable properties in the jj^i'i'^b- ^J ^be Parochial Assessment Act of 1836, eveiy ])Oor rate must be made " upon an estimate of the net annual value of the several hereditaments rated thereunto; that is to say, of the rent at which the same might reasonably be expected to let from year to year, free of all usual tenants' rates and taxes, and tithe commutation rent-charge, if any, and (lediict- ing therefrom the inobable average annual cost of tJie repairs^ insurances and other expenses, if any, necessary to maintain them in a state to command such rent: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to alter or affect the principles or different relative liabilities (if any), according to which different kinds of hereditaments are now by law rateable." This net annual value is in later Acts referred to as the "annual rateal>le value," or the "rateable value." During the continuance of the Agricul- tural Rates Act, the rateable value of agricultural land must, in the valuation list, be stated separately from that of any building or other hereditament, and the total rateable value of the agricul- tural land in the parish must be stated separately from the total rateable value of the l)uildings or other hereditaments. Under the Agricultural Eates Act, farm buildings are to be valued not on structural cost, but on the annual rent to be expected if they are used only for farm purposes. Every valuation list must also show the "gross estimated rental," which by the Act of 1862, s. 15, is required to be calculated in the same way as rateable value, but without the deductions shown in italics above. ^ The settlement of the valuation list of a parivsh includes three stages, viz. : — (i.) The preparation of a list by the overseers of the parish; (ii.) The correction of the list by the assessment committee of the guardians of the union; (iii.) Appeals to the justices in special sessions and quarter sessions, and to the High Court. It will be convenient to describe at the outset the constitution 5 1875, c. 55, s. 211 (4) ; 1882, c. 50, s. 144 ; 1894, c. 73, ss. 29, 57. e 1862, 1864, 1880. 7 1862, c. 103, s. 14; 1836, c. 96, s. 1; 1896, c. 16; 1912, c. 18; 1862, c. 103, ss. 14, 15. VALLATIOX FOIi LOCAL BATES, AND LOCAL ACCOUNTS. 181 of the union assessment committee under tlie Union Assessment Committee Act of 1862. The guardians of- the union (see Ch. II.) must annually appoint an assessment committee out of their own members. The number may be from six to twelve. The a})pointment is made in April or May. If the union is conterminous with a municipal borough, the council of the borough may, on the invitation of the guardians, appoint an equal or less number of councillors to be members of the committee. Guardians may appoint a permanent salaried valuer to assist the committee.^ The overseers in every parish (see jd. 4) prepare a list, which is ordinarily a copy of the last approved -valuation list, with such alterations (if any) as the overseers think proper to make. This list is deposited in the parish for inspection during fourteen days, and notice of the deposit is published. It is then transmitted to the committee. ^ Within twenty-eight days from the notice of deposit any aggrieved person, or the overseers (or parish council, or other authority to whom the powers of overseers in the matter have been transferred) of any aggrieved parish may give notice of objection to the committee and to parishes or persons affected by the objection. The objection must be on the ground of unfairness, incorrectness, or omission in the valuation. The committee hears and determines the objections. It may also, with or without objection, and at any time and on any information, make such alterations as it thinks fit, and may employ a person to value generally or in any s])e(ial case. When satisfied, the committee approves and signs the list. If, however, the list has been altered, the committee's approval is merely provisional, and the list is re-deposited, and, in the event of valid objection being taken to the alteration, conies back to the committee for a fresh hearing and approval. Also, if any alteration is made necessary by the decisions of special sessions or quarter sessions, the committee alters the list accordingly. Finally, it totals the columns showing gross rental and rateable value, and approves and signs the list and delivers a copy of it lo llic overseers, and also sends Iho parish totals of gross rental and rateable value \o the clerk of llic peace. The list as so a])provcd and delivered becomes "llic \;ilii;it ion lisl in t'orce," subject (o su|)|)l(Mncnlal lists which may from lime io linw he inaih' and a|)])i'o\-c(l in like manner. The \;ilii;it ion list, as so settled, beconu's Ihc only legal basis for 8 1862, c. 103. 182 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. the poor rate and for any other rate leviable (as nearly all rates for public local purposes are) on the basis of the poor rate; but it is not binding for the purpose of imperial taxes.'' Assessable Value. — During the continuance of the Agricultural Rates Act, 189G, the contributions of the several parishes in a union to the "common fund " of the union (see p. 17) and of the several jiarishes in a rural district to the " general expenses " payable out of the " common fund '' of the district (see p. 21) are (subject to the addition of the annual value of any 'non-rateable Government property in respect of which a contribution in lieu of rates is received) calculated in proportion to the respective " assess- able values " of those parishes as ascertained from the valuation lists. "Assessable value" for this purpose is the total rateable value of a parish reduced by an amount equal to one-half of the rateable value of the agricultural land in the parish.'" Appeals either against a valuation list or against a rate made in conformity with a valuation list must be made in the first instance by objection before the assessment committee. A person aggrieved bv anything relating to valuation (as distinguished from liability , to be rated) may appeal from the committee to the justices in special sessions, and from them to the quarter sessions. A person alleging that he is not liable to be rated at all must (and he may on any other ground, except perhaps the amount of his valuation) appeal directly to the quarter sessions. A parish may by its parish council or other authority to whom the powers of overseers in the matter have been transferred (or, where there is no such body, by the overseers with the consent of the parish meeting or vestry), appeal directly to the quarter sessions against an alleged over- valuation in its own case or under-valuation in the case of any other parish, and the quarter sessions may alter the lists and may order a re-valuation, and may order the union or the appealing parish to pay the costs. In any case in which appeal lies to the quarter sessions on a matter of law (not of amount), a case for the opinion of the High Court may be obtained. Notice of any appeal to special sessions or to quarter sessions must be given to the overseers or parish council or other authority to whom the powers of overseers in the matter have been transferred, and to the assess- ment committee, who may, with the consent of the guardians, appear as respondents.^^ 9 1864, c. 39. s. 9. 10 1896, c. 16. s. 4. ii~1601. c. 2, s. 5; 174R-4, c. -38, ss. 4-6: 1801. c. 23: 1820. c. 36: 1836, c. 96, ss 6, 7; 1862, c. 103. ss. 32-4: 1864. ss. 1-3; 1869. c. 41; 1893-4. c. 73, s. 6. VALIATIOX FOR LOCAL RATES, A^'D LOCAL ACCOUNTS. 183 The process of re-valuing a parish or union as now generally conducted is too expensive to be annually repeated. It may under certain circumstances be defrayed out of loans. Tlie correction of valuations is commonl}^ left to supplemental lists, wliieli it is the duty of the overseers to make as often as occasion requires or the assessment committee directs. And that committee may direct a new valuation to be made, ag it sees fit. No period is fixed by law within which a complete revision of the valuation list of a parish is to be made. In this matter, as in some others, the law relating to valuations in London, where new valuation lists are made quinquennially, differs from that in force elsewhere (J) (/>')-^" (2) AUDIT OF LOCAL ACCOUNTS.— The accounts of county councils, urban district councils (except in boroughs), rural district councils, parish councils and meetings, and of the committees and officers of all these bodies, also the accounts of boards of guardians and overseers, and such of the accounts of borough councils as relate to financial transactions under the Education Acts, are audited bv district auditors appointed by the Ministry of Health. Under regulations issued under the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act, 1919, the district auditors also audit the accounts of the assisted housing schemes of all local authorities, including borough councils, and of public utility societies and housing trusts. District auditors are paid by salary out of moneys voted by Parliament, but a contribution towards the cost of the audit is paid by the local authority, in the form of an Inland Eevenue stamp duty proportioned to the total ex})en(liture audited (1879, s. 3; 1888, s. 71), except in the case of the overseers' accounts, which are audited free of charge to the ])arish. A district auditor has full [lowers of disallowance (except in the ease of expenditure expres.sly sanctioned by the ^Ministry of Health), sundiarging, compelling the production of all necessary documents, &v. ; and any person aggrievcil ]>y his ceitificate may ap])eal (o tlie ^Ministry of Health, or mf)ve for a writ of (■cifioidii. County, uil)aii district, and parish council ;iii(l jiarish meeting accounts are audited yearly, rural disti'ici, poor hiw guardians', and o\erseers' accounis half- yearly. TIk' sul)stitution of a yearly foi a lialf-yearly audit in these cases is under consideration.'' Under the general law, in lioionghs (he acconnts (exce]:»t those 'a 18fi4, c. 39, s. 8. '•• 1844, c. 101, 8s. 32-8, 4!), 5'.); 1R48. c. 01. ss. 4-10; 1810, c. 103, s. 0; 1852, f. 81, H. 33; 1800, c. 113, s. 7; 1875, c. 55, hh. 245-50; 1870, c. 01, s. 38; 1870, c. 6; 1884, c. 43, H. 11; 1887, c. 72; 1888. hh. 71 . 81 : 1803-1, s. 58; 1002, c. 42, s. 18. 184 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. under the Education Acts) are audited half-yearly by three auditors. One of these is a councillor appointed by the mayor, and the other two are elected yearly by the burgesses. The elective auditors must be qualified to be, but must not be, councillors. These borougdi auditors are not ordinarily paid for auditing the accounts under the Act of 1882, but are entitled to certain fees for auditing sanitary accounts. They have no express powers of surcharge or disallowance. The accounts ordinarily subject to audit by the above-mentioned borough auditors are, in many boroughs, also audited by profe.ssional accountants appointed and paid by the town council either under the provisions of the Act of 1882 or under local Acts; and, under provisions in local Acts or Acts confirming Provisional Orders, all the accounts of some important town councils have been made subject to audit by district auditors appointed by the Ministry of Health (/).^* The accounts of burial boards (where such boards are not merged in the j)arish, district, or borough councils) are audited yearly by two auditors appointed by the vestry (in a rural parish not having a parish council by the j^arish meeting, and in other rural areas by a meeting of ratepayers).'"' Ratepayers or electors are entitled to inspect the accounts of local authorities and to take copies of and extracts from them at certain times. ^"^ (3) LOCAL TAXATIOX RETUEXS.— Annual returns of all sums received by or in respect of compulsory rates, taxes, tolls, or dues levied for public local purposes, and of the expenditure thereof, are to be made by the clerk, treasurer, or other accounting officer of every local authority (including- the town clerk of a borough) to the Ministry of Health, in such form as shall from time to time be ordered l)y that Department, and an abstract of the returns is to be laid before Parliament. The returns are to be made up to the '31st March (or other prescribed date), and are to be sent in within periods specified in the statutes.^'' Guardians of ])oor law unions are required annually in April to report the proceedings of their assessment committee to the Ministry of Health (m).'« 14 1875, s. 246 ; 1882. c. 50, ss. 19, 25-7, 02. 15 1852, c. 85, s. 18. 16 1844, s. 33; 1875, s. 247; 1882, s. 233; 1888. s. 71; 1893-4, s. 58. 17 1860. c. 51: 1871. c. 70; 1877, c. 66; 1879, c. 0; 1879, c. 39; 1882, c. 50, s. 28; 1888, c. 41, s. 71. I'* 1862, c. 103. s. 12. VALUATION FOK LOCAL KATES, AXD LOCAL ACCOUNTS. 185 X0TE8. Note ((/). — Foot rates. — There are few parishes in wliich a poor rate is not levied, although there are many where income from parisli iiro]3erty is applicable in reduction of the rate. Note (b). — Lighting rates. — The amount, per pound of net annual value, of the rates leviable under the Lighting and Watching Act, 1833, in respect of land is one-third of that levied in respect of buildings and other hereditaments ; and under the Tithe Rating Act, 1851, tithes are assessable in the same proportion of their annual value as land. Rates under the Act are leviable only in rural areas. In the year 1918-19 they were levied in about 700 rural parishes, for expenses of lighting streets, and for fire engines and other provision against fire.^^ Note (c). — Xutnher of assessments. — The great bulk of the assessments relate to dwelling-houses ; and most of those houses are of a gross annual value of less than £20. At the date of the census of 1911 the number of separate occupiers of buildings used" as dwelling-houses was nearly 7,000,000 ; the number of uninhabited buildings intended for use as dwellings (uninhabited buildings are not exempt from valuation) was about 370,000 ; the number of shops, factories, offices, warehouses, and places of amusement, was about 300,000. There were, in addition, other separately assessed hereditaments, e.g., agricultural land, other land, mines, quarries, railways, &c. According to the Annual Report of the Inland Revenue Commissioners the number of " premises " (whether exempt from or charged to Inhabited House Duty) was 7,500,000 in the year 1914-15, the latest year for which such particulars are available, including about 5,500,000 which were exempted from that duty on the ground that their gross annual value was under £20. Note ('/). — Eailwajis. — The rateable value of railways (including railway stations and depots) was £15.200,000 in 1906. Note (r). — There is only one civil parish (which is also a poor law " union ") in which the provisions of the Union Assessment Acts are not in force, viz., the parish of East Stonehouse. Note (/). — Countg rate hasis. — Under the Act of 1888, as modified by the Act of 1896, county contributions (or, as they are popularly designated, "county rates") to meet deficiencies in the county fund are assessed upon the several pai'ishes in the county in proportion to their respective assessable values, as determined by the county rate basis or standard.-" A county council may aj)|)oint a committee of its body to prepare this basis or standard according to net annual value " as the same is or may be required by law to be estimated for the ])urposes of assessing the rates for the relief of the |)oor." The committee is not bound tn accept the values shown in the j)arish valuation lists. Tt lias ))ower to call for returns as to the annual value of pro])erty in each parish, and to i-equire the overseers and parish officers to appear before it. When the basis has been prepared » '9 18.33. c. nt); IWH, c. 78, fi. 7 (I)). ■■i" 1852, c. 81; IHW, c 78; 1888. c. 11, ss. 3 (i), 8, 08 (fi). 186 LOCAL GOVEKXME^VT. and circulated^ the committee has to hear objections made by the overseers; and the basis, when corrected and approved by the committee, is laid before the county council, which may confirm it, amend it, or refer it back to the committee. When confirmed by the county council the basis takes effect, subject to an ap^jeal to quarter sessions by the overseers (or by any parish council, town council, urban district council, or other body, to whom the powers of the overseers in the matter have been transferred), or by any collector, or inhabitant, on the ground that some parish is over-rated, under- rated, or omitted. The basis may be revised from time to time by a committee appointed in like manner.^' The same authorities or any inhabitant may also appeal to quarter sessions against a rate made on the basis, on the ground that parishes are unequally rated, over-rated, under-rated or omitted from the rate. The basis does not- contain particulars of the several rateable hereditaments in the county : it shows only totals for each parish. Generally it is compiled by taking entries appearing in the parish valuation lists or in the lists made for the purpose of assessing income tax on profits from real property, and adjusting them to a standard deemed to be uniform for the whole county. The "county rate" is not collected separately, but the amount of county contributions assessed upon a parish in accordance with the county rate basis is included in the poor rate of the parish, and is levied on the several rate- payers in the parish in accordance with the values shown in the parish valuation list.-- Some indication of the extent of the work done by the county rate basis committees and the union assessment committees respectively is given by the figures as to expenditure : the aggregate cost of preparing all the county rate bases is seldom more than £5,000 a year, whilst the aggregate cost of the work of the union assessment committees api^roaches £150,000 a year, apart from the separate expenses of the overseers, v/hich exceed £10,000 in a normal year. According to the parish valuation lists in force in April, 1918, the assessable value of England and Wales (excluding London and county boroughs) was £109,827,000, whilst according to the county rate bases in force during the year 1918-19 it was £111,706,000— a difference of £1,879,000 (equivalent to one and three-quarters per cent.). In particular unions, however, the difference between the two values was considerably greater than these figures might suggest. Note ((/). — BoraiKjh rate valuation. — Under the general law, the values set out in valuation lists in force under the Union Assessment Acts are conclusive for the purpose of assessing a borough rate, except that if, for any reason, the town council think that the valuation list is not a fair criterion of value they may cause an independent valuation to be made. Independent valuations for the borough rate were made in only two of the 328 municipal boroughs in the year 1918-19.-'' W^hen the council of a municipal borough requires an independent valuation to be made, it may order for its inspection, or for the purpose of taking copies, books of assessments of any rates or taxes, parliamentary or parochial, on any property, and the valuation by which the assessment is made, in the hands of the overseers, and may order copies to be made by the clerk to the Commissioners of Taxes for each district of the total amount 21 1893-4, ss. fi; 19. 33; 189G. c. 16. 22 18.52, c. 81, s. 26. 2-^ 1882, c. 50, s. 144. 3 VALUATION FOK LOCAL KATES, AND LOCAL ACCOUNTS. 187 assessed in each parish in respect of any tax payable to the Crown, and the total amount of tlie valuation of the property on which that assessment was made. By warrant of the council the overseers and such persons as they select may enter on, view, and examine any land chargeable to the borough rate in order to ascertain the annual value at which it ought to be charged ; but no such entry shall be made unless fourteen days' notice has been given to the overseers and to the persons on whose land the entry is to be made. An appeal by the overseers against the borough rate, on the ground of inequality in the basis, or other just cause of complaint, lies to quarter sessions of the borough, or if there is none, to the quarter sessions of the county. Note {h). — Sewers and diainoge rates. — The valuations made for the purposes of the rates (or "taxes") collected for Commissioners of Sewers acting under commissions granted under the statute 23 Henry VIII., c. 5, or otherwise, and for Land Drainage Boards constituted under the Land Drainage Act, 1861, and for similar local authorities, are in many cases identical with or approximating to those set out in the parish valuation lists. In other cases the rates collected for them are general scots or lots assessed on the persons liable " after the quantity of their lands, tenements and rents." -* Note (i). — Valtiations for Inhabited House Duty and Income Tax. — The gross estimated rentals set out in the parish valuation lists are in many cases identical with the "full annual values" in respect of which the inhabited house duty is payable, and the "rateable values" set out in those lists are in many cases identical with the "reduced annual values" in respect of which the property tax (i.e., Income Tax, Schedule A) is payable. But, in form, in all cases (and, in substance, in some) the valuation for income tax and inhabited house duty is (outside London) independent of the valuations entered in the parish valuation lists, and is made separately bv the assessors, surveyors, and commissioners under the Income Tax Acts (seeCh. XX., p. 171). Note (j). — Valuation in London. — A comparison of the more complete system of valuation now in force in London is appended : — The Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, as amended by the London Govern- ment Act, 1899, differs from the Union Assessment Committee Act of 1862 in the following principal respects: — 1. The iMetropolitan Borough Council, who are now the overseers, are through the town clerk to send a copy of their lists to the surveyor of taxes, who sends his corrections of gross values to the assessment committee (s. 8), and his figures are to be inserted unless proved wrong (s. 53), and lie may object and appeal (ss. 12, 18, 32). 2. Tlie borough council are to give notice to occupiers of alterations in their valuations (s. 9). 3. A new valuation list must be made every fifth year. The list lasts for five years, but ])rovision is made for an annual revision and for the insertion of new buildings (ss. 43-7) 4. The approved list (and totals derived therefi-om) is made conclusive as regards valuation for neaily all rates (including the county rate) and some imperial taxes (inhabited house duty and Schedule A of income tax), and for juror and other qualifications under various Acts of Parliament (s. 45). 24 1531, C. 0, 8. 1. 188 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 5. A maximum scale of deductions from gross rental is laid down (s. 52). 6. Owners and occupiers may be required to make returns of values, charges, &c., under a penalty, in the same way as for income tax (ss. 55-58). 25 The great majoritj^ of metropolitan boroughs are co-extensive with a single poor law union or with a group of unions, and the assessment committee is appointed by the borough council, instead of by the board of guardians, and acts for the borough. Note (A"). — The following figures illustrate the growth, during the past 30 years, of rateable value, assessable value, and the amount produced by a rate of Id. per pound of valuation : — Year 1890-91 : Rateable value, £120,520,000 ; Estimated produce of Id. rate, £452,000. Year 1905-6 : Rateable value, £160,700,000 ; Assessable value under Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, £148,800,000; Estimated produce of Id. rate, £558,000. Year 1920-21 : Rateable value, £190,000,000 ; Assessable value under Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, £177,800,000; Estimated produce of Id. rate, £680,000. Note (/). — Audit of Loral Accounts. — The number of extra-metropolitan local authorities having financial transactions during the year 1918-19 was 25,000. Of these, about 24,000 had the whole of their accounts audited by district auditors appointed by the Local Government Board, and about 200 others had some of their accounts audited by those auditors. The town councils, all of whose accounts are now under local Acts or Provisional Orders subject to audit by district auditors, are: — (county boroughs): Barnsley, Bournemouth, East Ham, Hastings, Merthyr Tydfil, Plymouth, Southamp- ton, Southend-on-Sea, and Warrington ; and (other boroughs) : Aberystwith, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Christchurch, Dover, Gravesend, Hemel Hemjjstead, Hkeston, Lancaster, Llanelly, Maidstone, Magate, Monmouth, Newbury, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Pontefract, Poole, Reigate, Shrewsbury, Swindon, Totnes, Tunbridge Wells, and Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Note (//))• — By section 13 (2) of the Local Government (Emergency Pro- visions) Act, 1916, local authorities were relieved of the duty of furnishing to the ]\Iinistry of Health the annual reports of the proceedings of Assess- ment Committees during the continuance of the war and for some period thereafter. By the Local Government Emergency Provisions (Temporary Continuance) Order, 1921, the period has been extended to the 31st August, 1922. *&^ 25 1869. c. 67 ; 1884, c. 5 ; 1899, c. 14. LOCAL TAXATION : EXPENDITURE AND RECEIPTS. 189 CHAPTER XXII. {The Note prefixed to Chapter XXI. applies also to this Chapter.) LOCAL TAXATION: EXPENDITURE AND RECEIPTS. Local authorities meet by far the greater part of their capital expenditure {e.g., on the construction of public works) out of borrowed moneys, and meet their current expenditure {e.g., costs, of administration, maintenance, repairs, interest on borrowed monej's, and repayments of borrowed moneys) out of rates and other revenues. The amount expended out of borrowed moneys fluctuates some- what from year to year. Previous to the war period the amount increased from about £14,000,000 in 1911-12 to £17,600,000 in 1914-15. During the following years the expenditure on capital works was much restricted, and in 1917-18 the expenditure out of loans amounted to less than £3,000,000. In 1918-19 the total was £3,559,000, and at the present time, owing to the putting in hand of works postponed during the war and to the large expenditure out of loans for housing and land settlement purposes, the total sum expended amounts to a very large figure (a). Generally, all that part of the current expenditure which the revenue from other sources is not sufficient to meet is met by means of rates, I.e., by means of compulsory contributions levied rateably^ upon the basis of the net annual value of immovable property, on the persons for whose protection, advantage, or convenience, the expenditure is (or is deemed to be) incurred. As already stated (see p. 178), persons rated in respect of agricultural land and certain other classes of property are exempt from contributing, in respect thereof, on the same scale as persons rated in respect of dwelling-houses, factories, shops, and similar properties, but are liable to contribute on reduced scales (h). It is sometimes said that, considered witli reference to their influence on local taxation, ilie services administered by local authorities t;ill info two main grouj)s, viz. — (i.) Rate-aided undertakings, which, as a lulc, are maintained wholly or partially out of rate-moneys; and 190 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (ii.) Trading iindertakiiigs, which, a.s a rule, are not maintained out of rate-moneys, but produce profits which may be applied in aid of rates. || The distinction is, however, not easy to maintain in practice. Tor some important services {e.g., water supply, markets, electricity supply, tramways) require, in some districts, support from the rates, and, in others, produce profits in aid of rates; and there are districts where undertakings, which require aid from the rates in some years, give aid to the rates in other years. But the distinction is useful, if its limitations be borne in mind; and particulars as to the total sums expended (otherwise than out of loans) in respect of the principal classes of undertakings, belonging to local authorities, which are or may be productive of profits applicable in aid of rates, are in this chapter entered separately, on p. 193). All the other sums expended by local authorities (otherwise than out of loans) during a recent year — the year 1918-19 — are set out briefly in the following table. The table shows the amount expended in respect of each of the principal services charged on the rates. £ Expenditure on "rate-aided" services in respect of — (thousands) Elementary education 29,190 Higher education 5,600 Highways and bridges 12,730 Poor relief (other than lunatics in asylums) 11,100 Lunatics 4,430 Police 6,320 Sewers and sanitation 9,160 Hospitals, sanatoria, etc 2,970 Other services 22,950 Total 104,450 The sums expended in respect of these services by each of the principal classes of local authorities are shown in Chs. I. — VI. It will be noticed that a very large proportion (about 33 per cent.) of the total expenditure is incurred in respect of education. The annual expenditure on lighting roads and bridges amounted in the years before the war to about £'2,000,000. The sum expended in 1918-19 was about £1,000,000 only, and is in the foregoing table entered under the head of "Other services." The cost of each service, as entered in the table, includes the interest on loans and the sums provided during the year towards the repayment of loans. The receipts out of which the expenditure entered in the fore- going table was met are shown in the following table : — LOCAL taxation: EXrENDITURE AXD RECEIPTS. 191 £ (thousands) From rents, fees, repaj-ments for work done, profits, and miscellaneous sources 14,770 From Exchequer grants (including local taxation licence duties) 23,840 From rates for public local purposes 65,080 Total 103,690 The current expenses of eaeli local authority which administers two or more rate-aided services are charged on a local " fund " [e.g., county fund, borough fund, district fund), into which revenues from rates, grants, and other sources, are received, and out of whicli expenditure on the various services is defrayed, without, as a rule, any definite earmarking of specific items of receipt to specific items of expenditure. Exchequer Grants. — In 1918-19 more than 45 per cent, of the amount expended by local authorities in respect of education was met out of moneys furnished to them by the Central Government, Avhich also furnivshed them with funds sufficient to meet about 40 per cent, of the cost of the police, nearly 20 per cent, of the expendi- ture in respect of lunacy, about 15 per cent, of the expenditure on highways and bridges (c), and about 12 per cent, of the cost of the relief of the poor. These are the average percentages for England and Wales (except London) taken as a whole : in some local administrative areas the percentages are higher and in some lower. In recent years increasing grants have been made by the Central Government towards the cost of the public health services administered by local authorities. During the year 1918-19 the following sums were received by local authorities from the Ministry of Health: £'411,000 in aid of the provision and maintenance of sanatoria and other institutions for the treatment of tuberculosis; £104,500 in aid of schemes for the diagnosis and treatment of venereal diseases; and £'154,000 in aid of expenditure on maternity and child welfare work. Rates Expended an Different Services. — Of tlic total amount raised by means of local rates, the cost of education — notwith- standing the aid given l)y tlic Ccntial Government — absorbed in 1918-19 about 26 ])er cent., and IIh' cost of liigliways and biidges about 16 per cent. Abont 18 |)(M' cent, of tlie total annmnt laiscd by means of Ideal rales is expended on I lie relief of the poor and provision foi Innalic, about ti or 7 per ccMit. on )H)lice and public ligliting, alioul 12 or 1-"! pei' cent, on sewers, sewage disposal, .and 192 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. the removal and destruction of house refuse, and about 21 per cent, on public libraries, baths, burial grounds, fire brigades and appliances, hospitals (other than lunatic asylums and poor law infirmaries), parks and other pleasure grounds, public offices, regis- tration of electors, valuation for local rates, and the many minor services administered by local authorities. Rates in Different Areas. — Of the total amount of rates about four-fifths is raised in urban areas (including boroughs) and about one-fifth in rural areas. It is of the essence of local taxation that it shall be local — levied to meet the cost of services which vary to an appreciable extent, from locality to locality, in number, character, and cost. As regards the number of the services locally administered, there is, e.g., a marked diiference between a town, whose inhabitants pay, throug'h the rates, for an efficient sewerage system, public parks, and public libraries, and a rural area, where there are no rates for these things because none of them has been provided. And, as regards the character of the service rendered, there are many differences, even when the service is nominally the same. In some districts, e.g., house refuse is removed daily, whilst in others it is removed at weekly or longer intervals. In every locality the destitute poor have to be relieved ; but in some places the poor can meet, out of their wages, expenses which in other places have to be met for them out of rates. All children have to be educated ; but the proportion educated in private schools [i.e. without aid from the rates) is much larg-er in some districts than in others. And, as regards cost, there are districts, e.g., where there is an abundance of local stone suitable for the repair of the highways, whilst there are other districts which have to pay for the carriage from far- distant quarries of nearly all road-mending materials. Examples of such differences could easily be multiplied. Again, the average amount of assessable value per head of population is in some unions less than £3, whilst in others it is more than £25. Thus, a com- parison of the rates of different localities which has regard merely to the amount, per pound of assessable value, of the rates raised, and disregards other local factors, is misleading; and to show, in detail, all those factors is impracticable here. It may, however, be useful to state that the average amount in the pound of the rates levied has risen, during the last period of ten years for which figures are available (1910-19) by 2id. per annum in county boroughs, by 2d. per annum in other urban areas and by l|d. per annum in rural areas ; and that the average amounts, per pound of assessable value. LOCAL TAXATION : EXPE>'DITURE AXD RECEIPTS. 193 of the rates raised in the years 1909-10 and 1918-19 were as follows : 1909-10. 1918-19. s. d. s. d. In county borouglis ... 7 1^ 8 11| In other luban areas .-..0 7 8 In rural areas ... ... 4 4 56 Trading Undertakings. — The following' table shows the sums expended and received (otherwise than out of loans) by local authorities in the year 1918-19 in respect of the principal " trading " undertakings carried on by them (viz., gas supply; electricity supply; harbours, docks, piers, canals; tramways and light railways; and water supply) : — £ Expenditure and Transfers : (thousands) On maintenance, interest on loans, repayments of loans, etc 50,940 To depreciation, reserve, and insurance funds 2,130 Surplus revenue 830 Total 53,900 £ Receipts and Transfers : (thousands) From private persons, commercial companies, etc. ... 49,390 From other funds of the local authorities 2,740 Transferred from local rates 1,450 Total 53,580 The net effect of the financial transactions in counection with these undertakings, so far as the local rates are concerned, was that some of the undertakings produced profits, amounting to about £'880,000, which were applied in aid of rates, and that other under- takings showed deficiencies, amounting to about £1,450,000, which were made good out of rates. The gjeat majority of these " trading " iiiidc'rhikings weie carried on by the councils of boroughs and other urban districts; but rural district councils received and spent about £450,000 on water supply, £185,000 of which was raised by means of rates for special expenses. A few county councils and rural district couik^Is received and expended small amounts in connection with tramways or light railways. Many of the important harbour and dock undertakings L.G. 13 194 LOCAL GOVERNMENT. were carried on by local authorities specially constituted for the purpose. Total Expenditure and Receipts. — If certain duplications (which are necessary if the " trading " accounts are to be shown separately from other accounts) be eliminated, the total expenditure of local authorities on all accounts — trading and other — (excluding expendi- ture met out of loans) amounted in 1918-19 to about £151,900,000, and the receipts (excluding receipts from loans, but including sums provided for working balances) to about £152,300,000. It will have been seen from the table on p. 191 that, if the gross receipts on account of the principal classes of "trading" under- takings be omitted, about 14 per cent, of the total receipts of local authorities is derived from rents, fees, and other miscellaneous local sources, about 63 per cent, from local rates, and about 23 per cent, from Exchequer grants and local taxation licence duties. The principal items included in the table on page 191 under the head of " From Exchequer grants (including local taxation licence duties) " are as follows: — - £ From — (thousands) the Board of Education 15,060 the Local Taxation Account (including £750,000 in respect of Education) 5,380 the Road Fund 190 the Small Holdings Account 5 the Sanatoria, etc., Fund Account 410 the Home Office — sjjecial contribution in respect of Police 620 local taxation licence duties levied by local authorities 1,500 other sources 675 Total 23,840 The grants made to local authorities by the Board of Education have been enumerated on pp. 72, 78. Local Taxation Account. — The finance of the Local Taxation Account is exceedingly complex. The account itself was established by the Local Government Act, 1888, is kept by the Bank of England, and is operated on by the Ministry of Health. Into the account are paid, out of the Consolidated Fund, grants of fixed amount and grants of variable amount.^ 1 1888, c. 41, s. 20. LOCAL TAXATIOX : EXPENDITUEE AXD EECEIPTS. 195 The grants of fixed amoimt paid into the Local Taxation Account are as follows : — (i.) £1,550,000, deemed 1o hv in respect of duties on licences for the sale of intoxicating* liquor; (ii.) £630,000, deemed to be in respect of so much of certain surtaxes on beer and spirits (known as the " Local Taxation Customs and Excise Duties ") as is applicable to purposes of higher education ; (iii.) £150,000, deemed to be in respect of so much of the above- mentioned surtaxes as is apjilicable in aid of police superannuation ; (iv.) £1,320,000, towards the increase of rates on buildings, &c., attributable to the partial exemption, under the Agricultural Bates Act, 1896, of agricidtural land from rates (d) ; (v.) £55,000, towards the cost of the collection by local authori- ties of certain duties formerly collected by officers of the ■ Central Government ; and (vi.) £480,000, the equivalent of the fixed grant in respect of carriage licence duties (from 1st January, 1921) — see reference to this matter on next page." The grants of variable amount paid into the Local Taxation Account are as follows : — (vii.) the Estate Duty Grant (the amount of which in recent years has been as low as £1,690,000 and as high as £2,239,000), deemed to be the equivalent of the sum that would have been yielded by four-fifths of one-half of the probate dutv formerly levied in respect of personal property; and (viii.) the proceeds (the amount of which in recent years has been between £200,000 and £240,000 annually) of such of the local taxation licence duties specified in the first schedule of the Local Government Act, 1888 (other than the licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor), as continue to be collected by officers of the Central Government.'' Licence Duties Levied by Councils. — Closely associated his- toricjilly with the last-mentioned local taxation licence duties are certain other local taxation iic(Mico duties which were formerly cfillected by officers of the Central Government, but for the getting-in of which tlie councils of counties and county boroiighs 2 1890, c. 8. s. 7; 1890. c. 45, s. 17; 1890, c. 60: 1902, c. 42; 1907, c. 13, s. 17; 1911, c. 2, 8. 17; 189r,. <■. If,; 1007, c. 13, s. 17: lOOR, c. 10, s. 0; 1921, c. 32, s. 62; 1920. c. 72. ■■' 1888, c. 41, 8. 21; 1894, c. .30, h. 19: 1907, c. 13, s. 17; 1888, c. 41, s. 20: 1908, c. 16, s. 6; 1907, c. 13, s. 17. 196 LOCAL GOVEEXMEXT. became responsible under an Order in Council made in pursuance of the Finance Act, 1908. The licence diities in question, wbicb for the most part continue as formerly to be actually received at the local post offices by ofKcers of the Postmaster-General, are licencer^ to deal in game, licences to kill game, gnin licences, dog licences, and licences for armorial bearings, male servants, and moicr cars and other carriages (e). The Eoads Act, 1920, provides that the duties on licences for carriages (including the increased duties leviable under the Finance Act, 1920, in res2:»ect of licences on mechanically propelled vehicles) shall, as from the 1st January, 1921, be levied by county and county borough councils and paid into the Exchequer. An amount equivalent to the svims collected in respect of the duties on licences for can-iages in the year 1908-9 is, under that Act, payable annually to the Local Taxation Account for distribution to the councils (see Item (vi.) on previous page) : the excess is paid into the Road Fund established under the Roads Act, which is subject to the control and management of the Minister of Transport. In respect of the local taxation licence duties, for the getting-in of which the councils are responsible, they received during the year 1919-20 (in addition to the amount of £480,000 referred to against Item (vi.) on the previous page) the following sums : £ ' (ix.) Dog licences 570,000 (x.) Other licence duties to which section 6 of the Act of 1908 applies 450,000 Total 1,020,000 4 The various bases on which the sums numbered (i.) to (x.) in the foregoing paragraphs are allocated to authorities and areas are laid down in the statutes already mentioned (/) (g). Excheqver Contribution Accounts. — The sums numbered (i.), (ii.), (v.), (vi.), (vii.), (viii.), (ix.), and (x.), are paid into the Exchequer Contribution Accounts which were established in each county and county borough by the Act of 1888; and out of those accounts payments are made under statute to other accounts of the councils of counties and county boroughs and to boards of guardians and other local authorities. The Road Fund is operated on by the Minister of Transport, who out of it makes grants and loans to local authorities for the purposes of road improvement and uew roads. ^ 4 1908, c. 16: 1896, c. 36, s. 8; 1910, c. 8, ss. 86. 88; 1911, c. 2. s. 18; 1910, c. 8, s. 90; 1920, c. 72. s 1909, c. 47; 1910, c. 8; 1911, c. 2; 1920, c. 72. LOCAL TAXATIOX : EXPENDITURE AND RECEIPTS. 197 The Small Holdings Account is operated on by tlie Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Into it are paid certain sums voted by Parliament, and out of it are repaid to local authorities expenses incurred by them in proceedings in relation to the acquisition of land for the purposes of small holdings.'^ The Sanatoria, etc., Fund Account is operated on by the Ministry of Health. Into it certain sums are paid by the Treasury, and out of it grants are made in aid of the provision and maintenance of sanatoria and other institutions for the treatment of tuber- culosis {1\).~ Comparisons with Past Years. — It is interesting to compare the figures for the year 1918-19 (the latest year for which statistics are available) with those for (i.) the year 1867-8 (the year to which the late Lord Goschen's famous Report on Local Taxation chiefly relates); (ii.) the year 1887-8 (the year next before the passing of the Local Government Act, 1888); and (iii.) the year 1902-3 (the year next before the coming into operation of the Education Act, 1902). On a comparison of the figures for 1867-8 with those for 1918-19, one is mainly struck b}^ the relati'se unimportance to which the expenditure of local authorities on the relief of the poor has shrunk : in 1867-8 nearly one-half of the total amount received from rates and one-fourth of the total amount received from Exchequer grants was spent on poor relief, whilst in 1918-19 it absorbed less than one-sixth of the total receipts from rates and less than one-tenth of the receipts from Exchequer grants. The expenditure of local authorities in respect of education, on the other hand, which in 1867-8 was so small as not to be recorded, had by 1918-19 grown to £34,790,000. Expenditure on ])ublic health, highway, police, and miscellaneous services, whicli, in 1867-8, took £6,840,000 from rates and £470,000 from Exchequer grants, absorbed over £37,000,000 of rates and about £5,500.000 of Exchequer grants in 1918-19. It is, of course, necessary to bear in mind that these figures, whilst they truly represent the extent of the net growth in the annual expenditure of local aritlionties on the services mentioned, and so indicate, in some measure, the extent of the increase in the work devolving u])oii local councillors and other local representa- tives, cover, ill llie later years, the cost of services [e.g., in respect of education) formerly met privately without the intervention of local authorities, and so not recorded in those ;uil liorities' accounts. 1908, c. m ; 1910, c. 34. 7 1911, c. 48. 8. 10; 1911, c. 55, s. 04 198 LOCAL GOVEENMENT. The growth, too, in population, from 18,640,000 in 1867 to 33,400,000 in 1921, has to be allowed for, with the growth in rate- able value. A rate of one penny per pound of valuation, if levied over the whole of England and Wales (except London), would have produced £315,000 in 1867-8 and £660,000 in 1918-19. In 1887-8, £20,220,000 was raised by local rates: in 1902-3, '£36,240,000 was so raised : and in 1918-19, £65,080,000. In 1887-8, local authorities received from the Central Govern- ment grants amounting- to £3,060,000 : in 1902-3 they received £10,350,000 from that source : and in 1918-19, £23,840,000. Expenditure on main roads and other highways grew from 5| millions in 1887-8 to 12f millions in 1918-19 — an increase due in great measure to the requirements of motorists. Expenditure on lunatics and lunatic asvlums rose from £1,410,000 in 1887-8 to £4,430,000 in 1918-19. Expenditure on police amounted to £2,230,000 in 1887-8 and to £6,320,000 in 1918-19. Expenditure of local authorities on education, which rose from £3,130,000 in 1887-8 to £9,390,000 in 1902-3, has since that date increased to £34,790,000 in 1918-19, including the increase attributable to the transfer to the accounts of local authorities of expenditure in respect of voluntary schools. These and other increases are in varying degrees attributable to the growth arising from the increase in j)opulation, to the demand for greater efficiency, to the acquisition Iw local authorities of new duties and powers, to greater consideration for the poor and the afflicted, to improvements in the pay and hours of labour of the employes of local authorities, and to the great increase since the war in the cost of materials, salaries, etc. " Municipal trading " has also grown apace in recent years. The sums expended (otherwise than out of loans) by local authorities ]]i respect of their undertakings for the supply of gas, electricity, and water, their tramways and light railways, and harbours, docks, and piers, grew from £8,740,000 in 1887-8 to about £49,000,000 in 1918-19. Here, again, allowance has to be made for the fact that whilst the difference between these two totals represents the net increase in the amounts expended hy local authoi'ities on the services indicated, it does not represent the net increase in the amounts expended At/ local auihorities and others on those services, for many of the undertakings now belonging to local authorities, whose expenditure is included in the £49,000,000, formerly belonged to commercial com]ianies and others, whose expenditure is not included in the £8,740,000. The figures are, however, further evidence of LOCAL taxation: EXPENDITrKE AXD RECEIPTS. 199 the great increase in tlie activity of local autliorities — especially of town councils — wliicli lias taken place in recent years. It is note- worthy, in this connection, that the duty of carrying on trading- undertakings (other than water supply undertakings) — unlike the duties of providing education, relieving the poor, safeguarding the public health, and maintaining internal peace — has not as a rule been imposed by Parliament upon local authorities, but has been voluntarily sought by them. NOTES. Note (a). — Expenditure out of borrowed moneys. — The amounts expended out of borrowed moneys by each of the principal classes of local authorities during 1918-19 were as follows : county councils, £133,000 ; councils of county boroughs, £2,529,000 ; councils of other boroughs, £279,000 ; councils of other urban districts, £225,000 ; councils of rural districts, £13,000 ; boards of guardians, £9,000 ; harbour and dock authorities (not being above-mentioned councils), £253,000.; other authorities, £118,000. Note (h). — Partial exemptions from rates. — The general scheme of the enactments in this matter is that the occupiers of the classes of property most benefited by the expenditure of the rates shall be liable to be rated at the highest rate, and the occupiers of the classes less benefited at lower rates. Limits on rates. — In general, there is no limit to the amount of a rate, but there are some exceptions. Thus the rates raised by non-county borough councils for the purpose of higher education must not exceed Id. in the £. The yearly expemditure of a parish council must not exceed M. in the £ (excluding any expenditure under the Adoptive Acts), and that of a parish meeting of a j^arish not having a parish council must not exceed the same sum (including any expenditure under those Acts). All tliese limits are to be calculated as if the Agricultural Rates Act had not passed.* Levy of rates. — The rates are in some cases levied directly by the rating authority, through its own officers, and sometimes by means of a precept to another authority, whose duty it then becomes to levy the amount required by the jjrecept. The county and (in general) the borough rates are " precejjt rates," while the general district rate is*ilirectly levied by the urban council. Pi-ecept rates are generally addressed to the guardians or overseers, and levied with the poor rate. Compoundimj. — See, as to " compounding " for rates, ji. 56. Note (<■)• — Exche(iuer grants far li i(/liiraijs and bridges. — There is no specific annual grant from the Exchequer towards the cost of highways and bridges. But the portions of the grants paid into the Exchequei' (!ontribution Accounts of counties and county boroughs and not allocated by statute to specific services ai'e so dealt with in accounts that those portions become in fact in large measure grants towards the cost of highways and bridges. Similarly, a large part of the grant made under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, to rural « 1902. c. 42, Rs. 2. 3; 1893-4, c. 73, ss. 11, 19; 189G, c. IG, s. 8. 200 LOCAL GOVEKNMENT. district councils is carried to accounts the chief charge on M'hich is for the maintenance of rural highways. As to the special grants made by the Ministry of Transport, see pp. 194 and 197. Note (iiardians are secured on the common fund of the union. It is not now (although it was formerly) tlie practice of Parliament to authorize local authorities to borrow on the security of particular undertakings or other property belonging to them. Under statutes passed some years ago loans may, how- ever, in some cases, still be bor'i'owed ou such security (e). Methods of Borrmriiu). — The ])riiici])al methods of borrowing resorted to by local authorities arc as follows: -(i.) mortgage deeds; (ii.) debentures, etc, niidci' llic Local Loans Ac< ; (iii.) issue of stock; (iv.) a|)])lication of redemption and sinking fund: (v.) local bonds. Formerly, nearly all loims raised hy lofal autlioritics were secured by nioi'tgage deeds; and al ilie ])reseiii tiiiu"- il is usual in a very large ])T'f)|)oil ion of cases tof Ihc Icndcts io receive mortgage deeds. Special Idling (if ninitn'agc for litis purpose were ])rescribed by some of the Acts wliicli auihorizc liori'owing {<'.vs Itoirowed by local autliorities is lent to them by private })ersons, insurance com- j)anies, and banks. Some is (as already stated) obtained ))y local authorities from their own or other local authorities' sinking funds. Some is obtained liom llic Tiiblic Works Loans (Commissioners; and some is obtained, iindci' ilic Developiiiciit and Ixoad 1 ni|)rovement Funds Act, 11)09, an"Mi:>-T. Note (6). — Loans without departmental sanction. — Among these exceptions are loans under the Local Government Act, 1888, for the adjustment of property and liabilities. «S:c. ; loans under the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894 ; and loans under the Public Health Act. 1875. if raised on mortgage of sewasre land eind works. -'^ Note {c). — Procedure of Mini-stry of Health. — For a statement of the usual procedure of the Local Government Board (now Ministry of Health) in connection with the sanctioning of loans, see the Report of the Local Govern- ment Board (Part III. of the Report for 1915-14). and for a statement of the special steps taken by the Department in 1920-21. see the Report of the Ministry of Health for that year. Note (6 1888, c. 41. s. 69: 1893. c. 68; 1893-4. c. 73, s. 12. »• 1888. s. 69. »« 1919. c. 99. s. : - 214 LOCAL G0VEEXME2CT. connection) the rates of interest as revised by the Treasury ^Minute of 1st November, 1920 (Pari. Paper No. 134 of 1921, p. 3).i« Note (A-). — On the whole subject of this chapter, see the Annual Reports of the Local Government Board and the ^linistry of Health, and of the Public Works Loan Board, the Reports of Select Committees of the House of Commons on the Repayment of Loans by Local Authorities (No. 239 of 1902) and on the application of Sinking Funds in the exercise of borrowing powers (No. 372 of 1908 and No. 193 of 1909), and the Return on the Indebtedness of Borough Councils (No. 114 of 1904). ifl 1897, c. 51, s. 1; 1908, c. 36, s. 52; 1909, c. 44, s. 3 ( 21'^ ). INDEX OF PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS AM) DEBATES. Abbreviations. — H. C. for House of Commons; H.' L. for House of Lords; S. C. for Select Committee; Dep. C. for Departmental Committee; R. C. for Royal Commis- sion; App. for Appendix. A. — The most important Rei)orts and Returns bearing on the subject of Local Government are the following : — 1. Commissioners' Report on Poor Laws, 1834. (Reprinted 1906.) 2. Municipal Corporations Commission, first Report, 1835. 3. Repoi't of Poor Law Commissioners on Local Taxation, 1843. 4. Duke of Buccleuch's Commission, 1844 (Large Towns and Populous Districts). 5. S. C. of H. C. on County Finance, 1868. 6. Sanitary Commissions, Reports, 1868-72 (Sir C. Adderley). 7. Mr. Goschen's Report on Local Taxation, 1870. (Reprinted 1893). 8. S. C. of H. C. on Parish and Union Boundaries, 1873 (Mr. Stansfeld). 9. S. C. of H. L. on Highways, 1881 (Duke of Somerset). 10. Sir H. Fowler's Report on Local Taxation, 1893. 11. S. C. of H. L. on Betterment, 1894. 12. Reports of R. C. on Local Taxation, 1896-1902 (especially Pt. I. of App. to Vol. I., 1898, and Final Report, 1901). 13. S. C. of H. C. on Repayment of Loans, 1902. 14. Joint S. C. on Municipal Trading, 1900-1903. 15. Return of Indebtedness of Borough Councils, 1904. 16. Dep. C. on Education Rates, 1907. 17. Return of Loans of Local Authorities, 1908. 18. Reiwrt of R. C. on the Feeble-Minded, 1908. 19. Report of R. C. on the Poor Laws, 1909. 20. S. C. of H. C. on Sinking Funds, 1909. 21. Statistics and Charts relating to Public Health and Social Conditions, 1909. 22. Return of Municipal Trading Undertakings, 1909. 23. Joint S. C. on Financial Adjustments, 1911. 24. Return of Ai'eas and Rates in Urban Districts, 1912. 25. Rejjorts of Dep. C. on Local Taxation, 1912-14 and App. (especially Final Report, Cd. 7315 of 1914). 26. Dep. C. on Tuberculosis, 1913. 27. Report of tho Local Gdvornmcnt Committee of the Ministry of Recon- struction, Cd. 8197 of 1918. 28. Report of Joint S. C. on Bouiulary Extensions of Boroughs, 1920. 29. Statement of Local Rates and .\ss(-s.sable Values, Cd. 1155 of 1921. 30. Annual Repents of the L^ERAL IJTDEX. ALLOTMENTS, compulsory jiurchase and hiring of land for, 130-132 fuel, 130 l^rovision and management of, 130-132 by district council, 24, 131, 132 by guardians, 130 by parish council, 5, 131 statistics of, 136 sub-committee of agricultural committee for, 135 under Glebe Lands Act, 136 under Inclosure Acts, 131 under Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 131 ALLOTMENTS EXTENSION ACT, 1882, to increase fuel allotment, 131 ANALYSTS, and samplers under Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 155 under Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 154 ANCIENT MONUMENTS, jareservation of, 156 regulation of advertisements on, 156 AREAS, unhealthy, i^rovisions for improvement of, 137-138 ART GALLERY, under Public Libraries Act, 81 ASSESSMENT; .and see Income Tax, Poor Bate, Sewer Bate, Valuation. m-ade by overseers, 54, 179, 180 number of assessments, 185 ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE, apjjointment, constitution, and duties of, 16, 179-183 ASSISTANT OVERSEER, appointment of, 4-5 AUDIT, of borough accounts, 32, 35, 183, 184 of burial board accounts, 184 of county accounts, 44, 183 of district accounts, 183 of parish accounts, 7, 183 of i>oor law accounts, 16, 183 statistics, 188 BAKEHOUSES, regulation of, 159 BATHS, public, Acts relating to, 62 BILLIARDS, public, licences for, 40, 103 GEXEEAL INDEX. 223 BIRTHS, notification of, 62 registration of, 168-169, 176 BLIND, children, education of, 75 promotion of welfare of, 112 BOARD OF CONTROL, constitution of, 110 licensing and registration of private lunatic asylums by, 109 powei-s of, with regard to institutions for defectives, 110-111 superseding of Lunacy Commissioners by, 112 visiting of lunatic asylums by, 110 BOARD OF EDUCATION, conti-ol of schools, &c. by, 42, 68-82 grants to local authorities by, 72-73, 78, 194 BOARD OF GUARDIANS ; and see Guardicrns. constitution under Local Government Act, 1894... 14-15 BOARD OF TRADE, powers of, 152, 157, 161, 173, 174 BOROUGHS, county, 29, 33-36, 38-39 alteration of boundaries of, 37 application of Allotment Acts in, 133 contributions of, to county, for certain purposes, 33 how raised, 33 expenditure, rates, and loans of, 36-37 financial adjustments on alteration of boundaries, 34 names of, 36 number, population, &c., 29, 33, 34, 35-36 l>oliced by county police forces, 99 powers of Ministry of Health over, 38-39 registration of electoi-s in, 169-170 municipal, area and number, 28, 29, 33 auditing of accounts of, 32, 35, 183-184 borrowing by, 32-33, 202-214 charters of, 28, 29, 34 corj>orate lands of, 31, 32 division into wards, 29-30 expenditure for local government purposes, 36-37 expenditure, rates, and loans of, 36-37, 189-193 organization of, 29-30 population and assessable value of, 33 ])urposes and expenses of organization of, 31-33 registration of electors in, 169-170 town clerk of, 30 witli and without separate ])olice force, 35, 97, 99-100 witlioiit <()iiiniissif parish council to repair, 86 FORESTRY ACT, 1919, provisions of, 160-161 FRUIT-PICKERS, bye-laws for lodgings of, 146 GAME, licences to sell, 105 GANGMASTERS, of agricultural gangs, licensing for, 105 GAS, examiners and inspectors of meters, 174-175 supply of, by local authorities, 60, 163 expenditure and receipts, 193 GENERAL DISTRICT RATE, how different from poor rate, 25 properties assessable for, 178 to what purposes ai)))licable, 32, 62, 63, 66, 85, 106, 116, 124, 132, 136, 138, 141, 142, 145, 155, 156, 157, 162, 170, 173- GILBERT'S ACT, provisions of, 17 GLEBE LANDS, sale of, 136 GROSS ESTIMATED RENTAL, definition of, 180 GUARDIANS, accounts of, 183 appointment of assessment committee by, 16, 181 of registrars by, 168 bonnwing by, 17, 18, 54 contributions by, (o public elementary schools, 72, 79 to sclidois for defective cbildroii, 76 control of Ministry of Heallh over, 13-17 234 GENEEAI> IXDEX. GUARDIANS— fo/iti/n/eti election of, 14-15, 18 enforcement of vaccination by, 173 expenses of, 17, 18, 190 officers of, 15, 16 ]iayments to, out of Exchequer Contribution Accounts, 17, 18 powers of, as to infant life protection, 106 provision of allotments by, 130-131 of education for j^auj^er children by, 78 of jjauper cemeteries by, 117 qu-alifications, number, and duties of, 15-16, 17 receipts of, 18 GYMNASIUMS, conversion of swimming baths into, 62 in boroughs and urban districts, 81, 82 HARBOUR AUTHORITIES ; and see Port Scoiitani Authorities. constitution of, 161 expenditure and receipts of, 193 Government grants and loans for, 157, 162 revenue and loans of, 161 HAWKERS, licensing of, 106 HIGHER EDUCATION, contribution by urban district councils to, 25, 78 expenses of, 78 in Wales and Monmouth, 82-83 limitation on rate for, 25, 32, 199 loans for, 208, 210 local education authorities for, 33, 76 powers and duties of, 76, 77 duty to secure attendance, 77 parliamentary grants for, 78, 195 HIGHWAY, authorities, 84, 88, 90 district, 90 Highway District Act, 5 parish, 90 rate, 66, 85 HIGHWAYS, Act of 1864, improvements under, 91 classes of former areas and authorities, 90 classification of, 88, 92 contribution by county council to, 86, 92 exchequer grants for, 199 expenditure falling on rates and grants, 191, 198 expenses of, 85, 86, 87, 91-92, 190 expenses of extraordinary traffic on, 86 extent and control of, 84 grants and loans from the Minister of Transport, 88, 89 liability for repair of, 84, 91 maintenance, repair, and improvement of, 84-93 rural, mileage and comparative cost of, 91 Transport, Ministry of, grants by, 92, 93 GENERAL INDEX. 235 HOME OFFICE. See Secretary of State. special grant by, for police, 95, 98 HOP-PICKERS, bye-laws for lodgings of, 146 HOSPITALS, for infectious cases, contribution by county council to, 64 loans for, 210 provision of, by district councils, 58, 59 by guardians, 52 isolation, by county councils, 64 HOUSES FOR WORKING CLASSES, provision, control, and expenses of, 6, 59, 141-143, 146-147 HOUSE REFUSE, removal of, 59 HOUSING ACTS, enactments of, as to compensation, 147 as to compulsory purchase, 147 as to houses, 141 as to medical officer of health, 65 as to unhealthy areas, 137-138 as to unhealthy dwelling houses, 139-141 Parliamentary Standing Orders as to workmen's dwellings, 147 HUNDREDS, arrangements of jury lists by, 46 rate, levied by county council, 46 repair of bridges and roads by, 46, 87 IDIOTS, institutions for, 108, 110, 113 IMBECILES, care of, 110-112 IMPROVEMENT COMMISSIONERS, meaning of term, 26 IMPROVEMENT OF LAND ACT, 1864, purposes of, 146 INCLOSURE ACT, 1845, allotments provided under, 131 provision of recreation ground under, 122 INCOME TAX, assessment of, 170-172 INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, establishment of, 79 statistics of, 83 INEBRIATES, retreats and reformatories for, 40, 106 236 GEIS^EEAL INDEX. INFANT HOMES, registration of, 106 INFANT LIFE PROTECTION, under Children Act, 106 INFECTIOUS DISEASE ; and see Hospitals. notification of, 62 prevention of, 59, 64, 65 INTOXICATING LIQUORS, duties on licences for, 195 licensing for, 40, 41, 101-103, 105 ISOLATION HOSPITAL, I^rovision of, by county council, 64 JOINT BOARD, admission of press representatives to meetings of, 154 for 23rovision of sanatoria, 65 under Public Health Acts, 61, 63 JOINT COMMITTEE ; and see Standing Joint Committee. admission of jDress repi'esent^tives to meetings of, 154 for burial purposes, 115, 118 for education, 69 for licensing in borough, 102 for lighting, 163 for lunatic asylum, 107 for sanatoria, 65 of county councils, 42, 67, 160 of district councils, 24 of parish councils, 3, 115 under Mental Deficiency Act, 110 JOINT ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY, establishment of, 158 duty of, 158 JURY LISTS, cost of, 11 preparation of, 4, 7, 11, 35 revision of, 11, 40 JUSTICES, allowances of rates by, 54 appointment of prison visiting committees by, 40, 168 of special constables by, 98 of visitors of private asylums by, 40, 109 as Land Tax Commissioners, 171 borough, 30-31, 34-35 county, 40, 41, 47 abolition of property qualification of, 47 e.T officio, 24, 30, 47* jurisdiction over boroughs of, 30-31, 34 entitled to visit prisons, 168 licensing and miscellaneous powers of, 40-41, 101-104, 109 powers of, over police, 95, 97, 98 remission of rates by, 57 GENERAL INDEX. 237 KNACKERS' YARDS, licensing for, 104 LABOUR EXCHANGES ACT, 1909, powers of Ministry of Labour under, 55-56 LAND DRAINAGE ACTS, 1861 and 1918, organizations jjrovided by, 149-152 LAND DRAINAGE ACT, 1914, jwwers of Minister of Agriculture under, 152 LAND TAX, assessment of, 170-171 LIBERTIES, privileges retained by remaining, 46 LIBRARIES, public, 80-81, 83 LICENCES, compensation for refusing renewal of, 102 consolidation of' Acts relating to, 105 exceptional provisions for certain licences, 105 excise, 102, 105' for fishing, 159 for horses and pleasure boats, 60 for intoxicating liquors, billiards, etc., 40, 101-105 for private lunatic asylums, 40, 109 provisions as to " monoi^oly value," 103 public-house, cost of, 105 LICENSED HOUSES, under Lunacy Act, 109 LIGHT RAILWAYS, expenses of local authorities in connection with, 162 grants to local authorities in connection with, 163 powers of local authorities in resj:)ect of, 162 LIGHTING, by urban district council, 60 gas, 60 electric, powers of district council for, 157 in parislies, 6, 163, 175-176 LIGHTING AND WATCHING ACT, adoption and execution of, 6, 163 valuation for rates under, 185 LIGHTS ON VEHICLES, regulations as to, 90 LOANS. See Local Loans. 238 GENERAL INDEX. LOCAL AUTHORITIES, auditing of accounts of, 183-184, 188 borrowing of money by, 202-214 comparison of statistics of, for certain years, 197-199, 209-210 exchequer grants received by, 191 expenditure of, 190, 194 falling on rates, grants, and other receipts, 190 financial position of, 189-194 inspection of accounts of, 184 licences collected by, 195-196 princii:)al sources of revenue of, 189, 191, 192, 194-197 receipts of, 191, 194 statistics of income, expenditure, and debts of, 189-201 trading undertakings of, 190, 193-194 LOCAL BOARDS, meaning of term, 26 LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITY. See Elementary J^duca- tion, Higher Education. LOCAL GOVERNMENT, analysis of expenditure for purposes of, 190 analysis of government contributions to purj>oses of, 194 index to Parliamentary papers and debates bearing on, 215-217 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1888, alteration of ancient counties by, 38, 45 borough boundaries by, 29 parishes by, 2 union under, for out-relief, 14 change in system of grants in aid of rates under, 194 creation of county boroughs by, 33, 35-36 extinguishing of certain borough police forces by, 97 lending by county council under, 213 payments of county council to police account under, 95 230wers of county council under, to alter parishes, 2 rural districts, 19, 20 urban districts, 23 substitution of standing joint committee for quarter sessions by, 95 urban districts brought within administrative county by, 26, 49 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1894, alteration of parishes by, 2 change in constitution of board of guardians under, 15 change in holding parish property made by, 120 defraying of highway expenses, 85-86 effect of, on rural districts, 19 on urban districts, 23, 24 extension of parish organization by, 2-11 highways put under control of district councils by, 91 loans by county council to parish council under, 213 powers of county council as to parish boundaries under, 9 powers of county council under, to alter burial areas, 115 union, 14 simplification of areas under, 19, 20, 49, 90-91, 115 GENERAL INDEX. 239 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTORS. See Electors. LOCAL LOANS, amount of, 209, 210 by Public Works Loan Commissioners, 207-209 amount of, 209 rates of interest on, 213 by Minister of Transjwrt and Treasury, 207 expenditure out of, 189, 199 increase in, 209 interest on, 211 limit on borrowing powers, 212 mode of repayment of, 206-207 other than for j^ermanent works, 211 period for repayment of, 17, 45, 128, 135, 143, 162, 205-206 raising of, and security for, 202-214 reference books on, 214 returns as to repayment of, 207 sinking. Sec, funds for repayment of, 209-210, 213 stock regulations, 212 under local Acts, 202-203 without departmental sanction, 212 LOCAL LOANS ACT, 1875, borrowing by local authorities under, 204 LOCAL LOANS FUND, creation and use of, 207-209 LOCAL LOANS STOCK, issue of, 204 LOCAL TAXATION, grants in aid of, 191, 194-195, 199-201 growth of, 197-199 returns of, 184, 188 system of, 189-201 LOCAL TAXATION ACCOUNT, basis of apportionment between counties and county lx)roughs, 201 ci'eation of, and payments made from, 194-195 deductions from, for -certain ])urposes, 200 LOCAL TAXATION (CUSTOMS AND EXCISE) DUTIES, replaced by fixed annual grant, 78 what are, 195 LOCAL TAXATION LICENCES, collected by Central Government, 195 local authorities, 195-196, 200 grant to local authorities towards cost of collection, 195, 200 what are, 195 LOCK-UP HOUSES, provision of, 168 LOCOMOTIVE ACTS, effect of, 89, 90 240 GENEllAL INDEX. LOCOMOTIVES, licensing or registration of, 89 LONDON, asylum districts in, 14 its government by ancient charters, 29 police in, 98 valuation in, 187 LORD LIEUTENANT, of a county, 39 of Haverfordwest, 36 LUNACY COMMISSIONERS, superseded by Board of Control, 112 LUNATIC ASYLUMS, areas under Local Government Act, 1888... 108, 112 under Lunacy Act, 1890... 107, 112 under old Lunatic Asylum Acts, 112 expenses of, 107-109, 190 for criminal lunatics, 110 loans for, 210 private, 40, 109 public, 107-109, 113 statistics of, and of patients in, 113 visiting committees of, 107, 108, 109 weekly charge for jDatients in, 109, 113 MAIN ROADS, classification of, 88, 92 creation of, 86, 92 exchequer grants for, 92 expenditure in Lancashire on, 87 expenditure on, 92 extent and control of, 84, 92 maintenance and repair of, 86 origin of, 86 under rural highway authorities, mileage and cost of, 91 MANAGERS, of elementary schools, 70-71 MARINE BOARDS, formation and duties of, 161 MARKET PLACES, provision of, 60 MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE, ix>wers of l<3cal authorities in connection with, 62 MAYOR, a justice for borough and county, 30 of borough, his election, 30 MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH, in counties, 65, 67, 139 in unions, 15-16 GEXERAL INDEX. 241 MENTAL DEFICIENCY ACT, 1913, constitution and powers of committees under, 110 expenses of administration of. 111 institutions for care of mental defectives, 110-112 local authorities under, 110 powers and duties of, 110-111 power's of Board of Control under, 110-111 statistics of, and of patients in, 113 what mental defectives are, 110 MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT, 1894, local marine boards established under, 161 jDOwers of seaport sanitary authorities under, 146 METAL DEALERS, registration of, 106 METROPOLIS. See London. MID WIVES, supervision of, 65 MILITARY LANDS ACTS, purchase or hire of land under, 164 MILK AND DAIRIES (CONSOLIDATION) ACT, 1915, local authorities for, 155 provisions of, 155 MINES, rating or, 54, 178 MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES, appointment of Commissioners by, 126 C(mtrol of, over Sewers Commissioners, 148-151 under General Pier and Harbour Act, 1861... 161 under Improvement of Land Act, 146 under Land Drainage Act, 1914... 152 under Land Drainage Act, 1918... 151 under Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 132-136 delegation of powers by, to local authorities, 126 duties of, on sale of glebe lands, 136 enforcing of Diseases of Animals Acts by, 128 formation and control of fishery districts by, 159-160 grants by, for improvement of live stock, 129 jurisdiction of, over commons, 121-122 powers of, in respect of agriculture, 126-129 MINISTRY OF HEALTH, appointment of auditors by, 16, 183-184 control of burial authority by, 115 guardians by, 15-17 vaccination officers by, 173 duties of, in respect of school children, 70, 73 powers of, as to poarish organization under, 4, 5, 8, 9 creation of unions under, 13 powers of Ministry of Health over union under, 13-14 POOR RATE, amounts collected, 11 appeals against, 182 assessment of, 53 compounding of, 56-57 exemptions from liability to, 57 how levied, 7, 17, 53, 54 ' levied in nearly every parish, 185 payment of borough rate, 35 county rate, 44 educational expenses in urban district, 25, 72 expenses under Burial Acts, 117, 118 general expenses in rural district, 21, 63 highway expenses, 85, 86 parish expenses, 7 registration expenses, 168 tramways expenses in rural parish, 173 properties assessable for, 177-178 valuation for, 53-54, 177-183 valuation list for, conclusive for some other rates, 181-182 POOR RELIEF. See Poor Laxo. PORT SANITARY AUTHORITIES, constitution and powers of, 63 statistics and expenditure of, 67 PRECEPT RATES, what are, 199 GE^'EEAL IXDEX. 247 PRESS REPRESENTATIVES, admission of, to meetings of local antliorities, 154 PRISONS, appointment of visiting committees foi", 40, 168 PRIVATE IMPROVEMENT RATES, when leviable, 22, 25, 66 PROBATE DUTY GRANT, grant out of estate duty substituted for, 195 what was, 195 PUBLIC HEALTH ACTS, expenses under, 63 provisions and administration of, 58-67, 116, 117, 124, 143, 146, 159 PUBLIC HEALTH ACTS AMENDMENT ACT, 1890, adoption and provisions, 61, 104, 124 issue of stock under, 204 PUBLIC HEALTH ACTS AMENDMENT ACT, 1907, l^rovisions of, 61 PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT ACT, 1860, adoption of, by parish or borough, 123 PUBLIC WALKS, provision of, in parish, 5 PUBLIC WORKS LOAN COMMISSIONERS. See Loccd Loans. QUARTER SESSIONS; and see .Justices. appeals to, against valuation and rates, 182 appeals to, in highway matters, 85 distribution of petty sessional divisions by, 41 duties of, in relation to licensing, 40, 101-106, 109 in a borough, 31, 34-35 in a county, 40 without recorder, 34 RAILWAYS, liability of, to rates, 178 light, 162-163 partial exeiiipfiuti from S(;me rates of, 21, 25, 178 rateable value of, 185 RATE, in the £, average, rt in respect of, 88, 89 ROADS. See Highiraijs, Main lioads. classification of, bj- Ministrj- of Transport, 88, 92 ROADSIDE WASTES, prevention of encroachments on, 21, 122-123 RURAL DISTRICTS, area and organization of, 19, 20 exjjenditure and rates in, 21, 22 general exjjenses- in, 21, 63, 85-86, 142 number, population, etc., 22 overlapijing county boundary, 19 powers of county council witli resi>ect to, 19, 20, 43, 49 purposes of organization, 21 special expenses in, 21, 63, 66, 67, 124, 141, 157 RURAL DISTRICT COUNCIL ; and see District Council. accounts of, 183 borrowing by, 22, 117, 141, 143, 145, 146, 157 conferring of urban powers on, 22, 60, 66, 175 constitution of, 20 debts and expenditure of, 22 functions of, 21 powers of, as to wintment of clerk of peace by, 40, 43 jurisdiction over county police of, 95-96 powers and duties of, 43, 168 STANDING ORDERS, parliamentary, as to workmen's dwellings, 147 as to local loans, 202 202 GENERAL INDEX. STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATE. See Police Murjistrate. STREETS; and see Eighways. collections in, 98 ma,intenance, cleansing, and improvement of, 60 SUPERINTENDENT, of county police, 95 TAXES, commissioners for assessing, 170-172 TEACHERS, superannuation of, 78 training of, 76 TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION; and see Huiher Education. provision of, by county and county borough councils, 76 special provisions for, 78 TELEPHONES, provisions as to public, 106 TENTS. See Movable Dwellings. TERRITORIAL ASSOCIATIONS, expenses of, met out of parliamentary grants, 164 powers and duties of, 164 THAMES CONSERVATORS, appointment and powers of, 162 THEATRES, licensing of, 103 TITHE RENTCHARGE, rating of, 21, 25, 49, 54, 57, 81, 163, 178 TORRENS'S ACTS, as to unhealthy dwelling-houses, 139 TOWN CLERK, apjaointment of, 30 duties of, 30, 169 TOWN COUNCIL. See Borough Council. TOWN PLANNING, local authorities foi-, 144 powers of Ministry of Health as to, 144-145 provisions as to, of Housing and Town Planning Act, 1909, 144-145 TOWNS, counties of, 36 GENERAL INDEX. . 253 TOWNSHIPS, number of, 8 relation to parish, 8 situation of, 9 TRADE BOARDS ACTS, 1909 and 1918, ti'ade boards and committees under, 172-173 TRADING UNDERTAKINGS, expenditure and receipts in respect of, 193 growth of, in recent years, 198-199 outstanding loans for, 210 profits and deficiencies on, 193-194 what are, 190-191 TRAMWAYS, construction and letting of, by local authorities, 173 expenditure and receipts of, 193, 210 statistics of, 176 TUBERCULOSIS, parliamentary grants for treatment of, 65, 194 treatment of, 65 TURNPIKES, superseded by main roads, 86, 90 UNEMPLOYED WORKMEN ACT, 1905, distress committtees under, expenses of, 57 provisions of, 48, 54-56 UNION, appointment of vaccinators in, 174 assessment committee in, 179, 181 auditing of accounts in, 16 common fund of, 17, 53, 56 district for registration of births, &c., 168 division of, for purjjoses of out-relief, 14, 18 election of guardians in, 14-15, 18 formation, area, and alteration of, 2, 13, 14 number, size, population of, 17, 18 officers of, 15-16 old, formation of, 17 purposes of organization in, 16 settlement in, 52-53 under special Acts, 18 UNION OFFICERS' GRANT, received by guardians, 17 URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL; and see District Council. acamnts of, 183 borrowing by, 26, 62, 81-82, 117, 138, 141, 143, 145, 146, 157, 162, 210 constitution of, 23, 24 expenses and loans of, 25, 26, 27 functions of, 24-25 powers of, in relation U> allotments, 131-132 baths and washhouses, 62 254 GENERAL INDEX. URBAN DISTRICT COVl^iCIh— continued. powers of, in relation to commons, 122-123 employment of children, 75 libraries, musenms, and gym- nasiums, 80-82 pleasure grounds, 124 ' small holdings, 136 town planning, 144-145 tramways, 173 unhealthy areas, 137-138 unhealthy dwellings, 139-141 working-class houses, 141-144 under Education Act, 25, 69-83 under Public Health Acts, 58-64 under Shops Act, 1912... 170 under Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 145-146 under Stipendiary Magistrates Act, 25 receipts of, 26-27 substitution of, for burial board, 116-117 vesting in, of parish council powers, 3, 6 of powers of rural council under Public Health (Water) Act, 60 of powers of vestries and churchwardens in Wales, 4 ^) URBAN DISTRICTS, area, population, number of, 23, 26 creation and alteration of, 23 organization of, 24 overlapping boundaries of, 23, 26 overseers in, 26 powers of county council over, 44, 49 wards of, 24 what are, 23 URBAN PARISH. See Parishes. URBAN SANITARY AUTHORITIES. See Urbmi District Council. VACCINATION, districts, officers, &c., for, 16, 173, 174 VALUATION, appeals against, 180-182 expenses of, 18 for borough rate, 186-187 for county rate, 44, 179, 185-186 for general district rate, 178 for Imperial taxes, 187 for other rates, 187 in London, 187-188 mode of, 180-183 number of separate assessments, 185 parishes in which Union Assessment Acts are not in force, 185 preparation of lists, 4, 16, 179-183 supplemental lists, 183 GENERAL INDEX. 255 VENEREAL DISEASE, - measures .against, 64-65 VESTRY, common and select, 10 election and qualifications of vestrymen, 10 transference of remaining jjowers of, to parochial church councils, 4, 10 VESTRY CLERK, election and duties, 5 VILLAGE GREEN, management of, 5 VISITING COMMITTEE, of asylums, 107-109 of institutions for defectives, 110-112 of prisons. 40, 168 WALES, and Monmouth, burial grounds in, 118 higher education in, 82-83 vestries and churchwardens in, transferenc-e of powers of, 4 WAR PENSIONS ACTS, expenses of local committees under, 168 local committees under, 167 WARDS, of borough, 29 of parish, 3, 15, 20 of urban district, -24 WASHHOUSES, Acts relating to, 62 WASTES. See Boadside Wastes. WATCH COMMITTEE, in borough, 31, 97 WATCH RATE, levied in borough, 32, 97-98 WATER SUPPLY, powers of parish council as to, 5 provided by sanitary authorities, 59 j)rovision of, by local authorities, 142 requirement of, in liouses, 59, 60, 61 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, insjjectors and standards of, 174-175 verification of, 174-175 weighing of coal under Acts relating to, 174 WELSH CHURCH ACT, 1914, effect of, on powers and duties of vestries, 4 clnnchwardens, 4 256 GEXERAL INDEX. WILD BIRDS, protection of, 105 WOMEN, as aldermen, 30, 42 as councillors, 3, 20, 24, 30, 42 as electors, 2, 29, 42, 169, 170 as guardians, 15 as overseers, 4 on committee for institutions for defectives, 111, 112 on education committee, 42, 69 on insurance committee, 165 on midwives committee, 65 WORKHOUSES, building and management of, 52 loans for, 210 relief in, 52 WORKMEN'S DWELLINGS. See Housing of the Working Classes Acts. WORKSHOPS, regulation and inspection of, 158-159 YARN, inspectors of, 175 YOUNG PERSONS, duty to attend continuation schools, 77 Printed at Reading, England, by the Eastern Press, Ltd. I liilliii llJiilJiJJJIiiiH AA 000 514 477 9 SOU rHERN BR/aNCH, (JNIVERSiTY OF CALIFORNIA, LIBRARY, LOS ANGE1_ES. CALIF. I 5 '- i>;