on the 24th November, 1874. It has been represented by the Forestry Commission and other bodies that in many cases woodlands are assessed without due regard to the basis laid down in the Act of 1874, and in consequence of these representations a circular letter was issued on the 5th January, 1922, calling the attention of Assessment Committees to the observations contained in the circular of 1874. ECCLESIASTICAL TITHE RENT CHARGE (RATES) In last year's Report reference was made to the Ecclesiastical Tithe Rent Charge (Rates) Act, 1920, and to the circular, memoranda, and Orders issued from the Department on the subject. The Act provided that, until 1926, rates payable on ecclesiastical tithe rent charge should not exceed those paid on the same tithe rent charge in 1918, and further that there should be an abatement of the rates payable in respect of tithe rent charge attached to a benefice where the income of the benefice did not exceed £500. Questions having been raised as to the deductions which might be made for the purpose of calculating the income under the Act, the Minister obtained further legal opinion on the subject; and on the 31st August, 1921, made an Order prescribing certain additional deductions as allowable in arriving at the total income arising from the benefice. The Order, with a circular letter of the same date explaining the position, was sent to all Local Authorities (including Overseers) affected. LOCAL TAXATION ACCOUNT. Legislative and Administrative Changes affecting the Account. A brief statement as to the origin and objects of the Local Taxation Account established by the Local Government Act, 1888, was given in last year's Report (pages 96 and 97), together with a list of the principal alterations of the law relating to it which had come into operation before the end of the financial year 1920-21. As from the commencement of the year 1921-22 two further alterations affecting the Account took effect. The first alteration affected the annual grant of £40,000 made to the Councils of Counties and County Boroughs under section 6 (3) of the Finance Act, 1908. This grant, given in connection with the costs of levying the local taxation licence duties (including the carriage licence duties) to which that section applied, was distributable between the several Councils in proportion to the amount of those duties collected by them. Under the Roads Act, 1920, the cost of levying the carriage licence duties was transferred, as from the 1st January, 1921, to the Road Fund. It was urged, however, on behalf of the above Councils that this transfer did not balance the increase which had taken place in the cost of levying the other licence duties, and in the circumstances provision was made by section 62 of the Finance Act, 1921, whereby the annual grant of £40,000 was increased to £60,000, the latter sum being distributable between the several Councils in proportion to the amount of the above-mentioned duties (excluding the carriage licence duties) collected by them. The second alteration affected the relations between the Local Taxation Account for 1921-22 and the Cattle Pleuro-pneumonia Account for Great Britain. Upon the last-mentioned Account are charged costs incurred by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in the execution in Great Britain of the provisions of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, relating to the slaughter of cattle, animals, or swine, on account of pleuro-pneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, or swine-fever, etc., and into the Account are payable, under section 18 of the Act of 1894, such moneys (not exceeding £140,000 in any one year) as may be provided by Parliament towards defraying those costs. Any deficit in the Account has, by section 18 (2) of the Act of 1894, to be made good out of the Local Taxation Account and the Local Taxation (Scotland) Account. In past years the amount of the deficit has been relatively small (see column 11 on page 151), but in 1921-22 very large sums were paid by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, as compensation for cattle slaughtered, etc., in connection with the suppression of an unusually widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. It became obvious that, as the law stood, the contribution which would be required from the Local Taxation Accounts in that year would be of unprecedented dimensions; and, in order to lessen the effect on the local rates, Parliament passed the Diseases of Animals Act, 1922, which removed, for the year 1921-22, the limit of £140,000 imposed by the Act of 1894, and voted an additional sum of £400,000 (making £540,000 in all for the year 1921-22) towards the costs chargeable on the Cattle Pleuro-pneumonia Account. As a result of these measures the net sum paid to that Account out of the Local Taxation Account for 1921-22 was reduced to £286,000, leaving an amount somewhat higher than usual available for distribution in relief of the local rates (see column 10 on page 151). The arrangements for distributing to the Councils the annual grant of £536,954 provided for by section 2 (2) of the Roads Act, 1920, in continuation of the fixed grant in respect of the proceeds of the carriage licence duties, were revised during the year. Under the revised arrangements the amounts to be paid to the Councils in the earlier months of the financial year were increased, and the total amount of the grant for the year was paid to the Councils within the year. Payments out of the Account. Details of the amounts which have passed through the Account are given in Appendix X (pages 150 and 151 below). The total proceeds of certain duties payable into the Account in respect of a financial year are not ascertainable by the collecting Departments until after the close of the year, and consequently, although payments "on account" of these duties can be, and are, made in the course of the year of collection, there always remains at the end of that year a balance for distribution in the course of the following year. Thus, the amount distributable by the Department out of the Account in respect of the financial year 1920-21 was distributed, as to £7,209,982 in the course of that year, and as to the balance, viz., £399,779, in the course of the year 1921-22. Similarly, in the course of the year 1921-22, the Department have distributed £7,575,200 out of the Account in respect of that year, leaving a balance, the amount of which was not ascertainable at the end of the year, to be distributed in the course of the year 1922–23. The Local Taxation Account and Local Taxation Licence Duties which do not pass through that Account: Amounts for the year 1920-21. The grant under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, is referred to later. Excluding the amount of that grant, the sums payable out of the Account in respect of the year 1920-21 were as follows :— Local Taxation Licence Duties: £ On account of the grant under section 88 (1) of the £ 451,334* 282,066 2,538,250 2,600,926 Estate duty grant (as provided for in section 19 of the Finance Act, 1894) Grant under section 6 of the Finance Act, 1908 (in respect of costs of collection).. Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) duties (being the amount of the grant in respect of these duties under section 17 (1) of the Revenue Act, 1911) .. 40,000 1,107,260 Total, excluding the grant under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896 6,286,436‡ The proceeds of such of the local taxation licence duties as remain leviable by the Councils of Counties and County Boroughs in pursuance of section 6 of the Finance Act, 1908, do not pass through the Local Taxation Account.§ The sums received by the Councils from the Postmaster-General or otherwise in respect of those duties, and dealt with by the Councils as though they had passed through the Account, amounted for the year 1920-21 to £1,241,229. This total comprised the following items : Amount in respect of the annual grant for carriage licences under section 88 (2) of the Finance (1909-10) Act, 1910, and section 18 (1) of the Revenue Act, 1911: Final payment made by the PostmasterGeneral during the period between the 31st March, 1920, and the 1st January, 1921 Refunded by the Postmaster-General to certain Councils in respect of carriage licence duties repaid by them.. £ 85,620 Collected in respect of dog licences Collected in respect of other licences Amount of penalties received by the Councils 5,396 91,016 661,697 481,382 14,080 1,248,175 * £85,620 paid by the Postmaster-General otherwise than through the Local Taxation Account during the period between the 31st March, 1920, and the 1st January, 1921, is not included in this table but in the following table. † See, for a list of the duties, the last paragraph of note * on page 150. Including £70,400 paid to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (see Less Brought forward Repayments made by certain Councils in respect of carriage .. Amounts collected by the Councils in respect of arrears of carriage licence duty (payable to H.M. Exchequer).. 1,251 299 £1,248,175 6,946 Net total amount retained by the Councils in respect of licence duties leviable by them.. 1,241,229 The total received in respect of the year 1920-21 into the Local Taxation Account (otherwise than for the grant under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896), viz., £6,286,436, and the above-mentioned total of £1,241,229, together amount to £7,527,665. Deducting a sum of £70,400 paid to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in pursuance of section 18 (2) of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, the amount received by the Councils in respect of the year was £7,457,265. A statement showing in detail how this amount had been distributed between the several Councils has been sent to them by the Department. The Parliamentary grants discontinued under the Local Government Act, 1888, on the establishment of the Local Taxation Account, had amounted in the year 1887-88, according to certificates issued under section 22 (1) and (2) of that Act, to £2,860,384. Subject to final adjustments between the Councils themselves, the above-mentioned sum of £7,527,665 for the year 1920-21 was allocated as follows: The final application of the last-mentioned total of £7,457,265, as made through the Exchequer Contribution Accounts of the several Councils and otherwise was, as nearly as can at present be stated, as follows: 2. To other Local Authorities, in respect of maintenance of lunatics in asylums 3. To Police Authorities, in respect of the police 27,000 2,880,000 4. To Education Authorities, in respect of higher education 5. To Sanitary Authorities, in respect of certain health officers .. 7. To miscellaneous costs and expenses 807,260 300,000 .. 9,000 140,000 1,170,000 Grant under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896. The following table shows the Authorities to whom payments were made by the Department under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896 (as continued by later Acts), during the year 1921-22. It also shows the sums paid to them during that year in accordance with certificates issued under the Act. The corresponding total for the year 1920-21 was £1,323,331. Summary for the Year 1920-21. The Local Authorities received, in respect of the year 1920-21, out of the moneys which pass through the Local Taxation Account and the proceeds of local taxation licence duties retained by them, the sums of £7,457,265 and £1,323,331, making a total of £8,780,596. This sum was allocated approximately as follows, subject to final adjustments between the Councils in certain cases : |