Page 41
Page 41
The scheme adopted in this Bill is to merge every borough which has a population below 20,000, whether it be a county of a town, or whether it be a Quarter Sessions borough, in the county in which it is situated; and to make it contribute its full share to every county rate, while the county, of course, is, on its part, to pay the county expenses, which would otherwise be charge on the borough.
Boroughs above 20,000 population, and below 150,000 population, it is proposed to deal with in the following way :----
1. If the borough is not a Quarter Sessions borough, and if, therefore, it has always been liable for every general county purpose, it shall continue part of the county to which it belongs, and for electoral purposes it shall form part of the Petty Sessional Division in which it is situated, and shall return its representatives to the County Council by direct election.
2. If the borough is a Quarter Sessions borough, and has therefore been, to a large extent, divorced from the county in which it is situated, it shall continue to contribute to the county in respect of all those purposes for which it has previously been liable to contribute, and it shall be represented on the County Council, in proportion to its popula- tion, whenever questions connected with any object to which it contributes are under discussion. These representatives shall not be chosen by direct election, but shall be appointed by the Town Council. If this arrangement should appen to the- borough to be inconvenient, it shall have the right- to commute its annual contribution by the payment of a lump sum, and thus BOVOF- -financial. connection-with-its-cowatyr
8. Those boroughs which do not contribute on the basis of their full rateable value to any county purposes shall be obliged to commute their contri- bution. The sum they pay is usually trifling, and it would be impossible, or almost impossible, to devise any means for giving fair representation on the County Council in respect of such payments.
4. Boroughs of 150,000 inhabitants and upwards are to be constituted separate counties for financial as for all other purposes.
The above being a general view of the constitm---
Page 41
Page 41