(c) That the provisions of the Borough Funds Acts requiring proposals for a Bill to be endorsed by a public meeting (or, on demand, by a poll) should not apply to a Bill for the constitution or extension of a County Borough. The promotion of a Bill for the sole purpose of extending a County Borough should be authorized;

(d) That the existing law as to financial adjustments should be amended so as to provide that, in a case in which any increase of burden in respect of the maintenance of main or district roads is shown to be permanent, the maximum number twenty-one should be substituted for the maximum number fifteen as the number by which the amount of annual increase of burden may be multiplied; and

(e) That certain amendments should be made in the law relating to main roads, their maintenance and improvement.

The proposals at (e) will be dealt with in a Bill to be promoted by the Minister of Transport. The other matters are dealt with in the Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Bill introduced by the Government in the Session of 1926.

PROCEEDINGS DURING THE YEAR.

Provisional Orders.—In consequence of the publication of the First Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government, the embargo placed on contentious proposals for the extension of Boroughs in 1922 (see the Report for 1922-23, page 58) has been removed, and the Minister decided to make Provisional Orders for the extension of Ealing and Ashton-under-Lyne. A Local Inquiry was also held into a proposal for the extension of Watford which was under consideration at the end of the year.* The Minister also decided to make a Provisional Order for altering the boundaries of the Counties of Hertford and Middlesex.

Bills. The County Boroughs of Bristol, Oldham, and Wolverhampton promoted Bills in the Session of 1926 for the extension of their boundaries, and Doncaster for its constitution into a County Borough.

Local Acts. By the Leeds Corporation Act, 1925, the City of Leeds was extended to include part of the Township of Adel-cum-Eccup (Wharfedale Rural District). The County Borough of Burnley was extended by the Burnley Corporation Act, 1925, to include parts of the Townships of Ightenhill and Havergham Eaves (Burnley Rural District).

Charters of Incorporation.-Pending the Report of the Commission the Privy Council had postponed the consideration of applications for Charters of Incorporation. The consideration of these applications has now been resumed, but no Charters were granted during the year.

Status of City.-By Royal Warrant dated the 5th June, 1925, the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent was declared to be a City.

Alterations of Urban and Rural Districts.-Appendix IX (page 186 below) sets out the Orders which have been made during the year under section 57 of the Local Government Act, 1888, by County Councils, and confirmed by the Minister, for the constitution or alteration of Urban and Rural Districts.

*The Minister has since made a Provisional Order for the extension of this Borough

Legislation in 1925.

HIGHWAYS.

Improvement Lines and Building Lines.-An "improvement line " is the line to which a street or main road is sooner or later to be widened, and beyond which new buildings in a street are not allowed to project. The object of such a line is to prevent the erection of buildings on land which will ultimately be required for street widening.

The object of a "building line" is somewhat different. It may be prescribed whether it is proposed to widen the highway or not, and will often be fixed behind improvement lines, though the two lines may be identical in central business quarters. A "building line" may be of value, for example, for the purpose of amenity in the arrangement of the buildings fronting the highway, or for securing visibility for traffic purposes.

Parliament has granted powers for dealing with improvement and building lines in various Local Acts, but with the great growth of road traffic the need for general legislation on the subject has been increasingly felt. This need was met in the course of the year.

Sections 33 and 34 of the Public Health Act, 1925, empower Local Authorities (including County Councils) to prescribe "improvement lines" in streets repairable by the inhabitants at large. Compensation is payable for injurious affection, and betterment is to be set off against it.

Section 5 of the Roads Improvement Act, 1925, empowers County Councils and other Highway Authorities to prescribe building lines in highways maintainable by them, and there are provisions as to compensation and betterment.

Other Powers.-The latter Act also authorises Highway Authorities to plant and maintain roadside trees, shrubs, and grass margins (section 1) and to control the height and character of walls, fences, hedges, etc., and to restrict the erection of new buildings at corners or bends on highways (section 4).

Reference was made in last year's Report to the importance of the provision of parking places in relieving congestion of traffic, and to the absence of any general statutory power to purchase land for the purpose. This power has now been given by section 68 of the Public Health Act, 1925, which also empowers Local Authorities by order to authorize the use of part of any street within their district, and to make regulations as to the use of parking places.

ALLOTMENTS.

The Allotments Act, 1925, has modified the law in some important respects. So far as Local Authorities are concerned the chief alterations are as follows :—

Before the new Act, Authorities were required to be satisfied, before undertaking an allotment scheme, that their allotment schemes as a whole, including the proposed scheme, would be self-supporting, and for this purpose they had to set the revenue received from the allotments against the annual expenditure, with certain statutory

exceptions. Under the new Act, a Borough or Urban District Council are empowered, if they so desire, to add to the revenue side of the account an amount not exceeding the produce of a rate of one penny in the pound.

Before any land purchased by the Authority under the Allotments Acts can be disposed of, the consent of the Minister of Agriculture must be obtained. In the case of the appropriation of allotment land, the consent of the Minister of Health is also required.

Land may be purchased for allotments in advance of requirements.

The reservation of land for allotments must be considered in connection with the preparation of town planning schemes. Further reference to the subject is made on pages 65 and 66 of this Report, under the head of Town Planning.

Private Bill Legislation.

REPORTS.

Reports were made to Parliament during the year on 45 Private Bills, of which 38 were promoted by Local Authorities, 2 by Companies, 1 by Commissioners, 3 by Joint Boards, and 1 to establish a Joint Board.

Several matters which had previously formed the subject of local legislation were dealt with in Public Acts of last year, viz., the Public Health Act, the Roads Improvement Act, and the Rating and Valuation Act, and are referred to elsewhere in this Report.

Other matters of interest which came before the Local Legislation Committee during the year are the following:

Elevation of New Buildings.

The Walsall, Bath, and Bexhill Corporations sought powers to control the elevations, and so in effect to determine from the aesthetic point of view the general design, of new buildings erected on land fronting any street. In the past, except in two instances, such powers had been limited to buildings fronting on streets where the frontage had been created by street improvements made by the Local Authorities themselves.

The clauses as settled by the Committee provide for the making of byelaws under which drawings of the proposed elevations would be submitted to the Local Authority for their approval.

It is probable that in the majority of cases any difference which may arise upon the drawings could be adjusted in consultation with the Local Authority, but the clauses also provide for the determination of differences, and for the appointment for this purpose of a standing Advisory Committee, consisting of a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Fellow of the Surveyors Institution, and a Justice of the Peace (none of whom should be members of the Council), to assist the Local Authority in the exercise of their powers.

On the submission of elevations the Local Authority are required within a stated time either to approve them or to refer the question of approving them to the Advisory Committee for their decision. The latter course is to be taken if the Local Authority consider that, having regard to the general character of the existing buildings or of those proposed to be erected, the building to which the elevations relate would by reason of its height, design, or materials seriously disfigure the street and it is expressly provided that the reference to the Committee shall be accompanied by a statement of the grounds of objection. The decision of the Advisory Committee has effect as if it were that of the Local Authority and if the elevations of a building have been disapproved, it cannot be proceeded with until the approval of the Local Authority, or of the Committee, has been obtained.

Codification of Local Building Law.

The normal method of regulating new streets and buildings is mainly by way of byelaws, but in a number of areas the control of these matters is effected by Local Act provisions, many of which are now obsolete. In reporting on Bills promoted by the Local Authorities of such areas, the Minister has made a point of bringing to the notice of the Committee the need for amendment and repeal of the obsolete provisions to make way for modern byelaws. A notable example was the case of the Bradford Corporation Bill, in which, as a result of the Minister's Report, the Local Legislation Committee deleted the Part of the Bill relating to streets and buildings on the ground that additional powers ought not to be conferred until the local statutory law had been brought up to date.

Houses Let in Lodgings.

The Oldham Corporation sought power to require the compulsory registration of all houses to which the byelaws relating to houses let in lodgings applied. Under the byelaws, the registration was merely for record purposes; there was no power to refuse registration, and the byelaws applied whether the houses were registered or not. The clause in the Bill was to empower the Corporation to refuse or cancel registration on the ground that the premises were not suitable for the purpose, or not kept clean, or in a reasonably tenantable condition: in other words, the effect would be to put houses let in lodgings on a footing very similar to that of common lodging houses, and to apply to them a system of registration which was equivalent to licensing. Evidence was given of numerous local instances of profiteering in the sub-letting of small houses, and the Committee allowed the proposal as an experiment, while stating that it was not to be regarded as a precedent.

Removal of Infirm and Diseased Persons.

The Bradford Corporation obtained power to remove to a hospital or other institution, on the certificate of the Medical Officer of Health and with the consent of a Court of Summary Jurisdiction, any aged or infirm persons living under insanitary conditions or suffering from any grave chronic disease. The order of the Court may provide for the detention and maintenance of the person in the institution for a period not exceeding three months (renewable by further orders) and the Corporation are empowered, in default of the Guardians, to make such payments as may be necessary for the support and maintenance of the dependants and relatives.

Somewhat similar powers were obtained by the Oldham Corporation; but in that case the period of detention which the Court might by order direct was limited to such period as might be necessary to enable the Corporation to cleanse and disinfect the dwelling-house of the person concerned.

These provisions introduced into public health legislation a new principle, that of applying compulsion mainly in the interests of the persons compelled rather than in those of the general public.

Venereal Diseases.

The Bradford Corporation Bill, as introduced, also contained two clauses, the object of which was to secure the compulsory notification of certain cases of venereal diseases, and the compulsory removal to, and detention in, hospital of certain persons suffering from those diseases. The effect of the first clause, which applied to venereal diseases the machinery of the Infectious Disease (Notification) Act, 1889, would have been to secure compulsory notification, by lay persons as well as by medical practitioners, in the following cases :(a) Any pregnant woman after the fifth month of gestation; (b) Any child under two years of age; and

(c) Any adult who, after being notified by a medical practitioner, or by the Medical Officer of Health, that further treatment was necessary, refused or neglected to obtain it.

The clause was amended in Committee so as to exclude its application to pregnant women, and the right and duty of notification was limited to medical practitioners, and its operation was limited to a period of five years unless renewed by Act of Parliament or a Provisional Order confirmed by Parliament.

The second clause, relating to the compulsory removal to, and detention in, hospital of certain persons suffering from these diseases, was disallowed by the Committee.

Insurance.

The Newport Corporation obtained power to set up an insurance fund to cover all risks against which they would ordinarily insure in insurance offices. No insurance scheme of so comprehensive a scope as this had previously been allowed.

Under the clause the Corporation are not precluded from insuring with an insurance office against the whole or any part of the several risks for which the insurance fund is intended to provide; but, so far as they undertake the insurance themselves, they are required to pay into the insurance fund each year the sums which they would otherwise pay as premiums, until the fund amounts to £150,000, when they may discontinue the yearly payments, but must renew them if the fund should fall below that amount. The insurance fund is applicable to meet losses arising out of the risks insured against; and, if and so far as the fund is insufficient, the Corporation may borrow, with the sanction of the Minister, to make good the deficiency.