The Press MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1933. The Municipal Corporations Bill

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 21035, 11 December 1933, Page 8

The Press MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1933. The Municipal Corporations Bill

The report of the Local Bills Committee of the House of Representatives on the Municipal Corporations Bill recommends the deletion of the clause making possible the compulsory amalgamation of contiguous boroughs. Though no reasons are given for this recommendation, it is fairly clear that the vigorous attack on the clause by the representatives of the Municipal Association has had its effect. It must be hoped, however, that the Government will not consider itself bound by the committee's decision and that it will give the House an opportunity to discuss the question on its merits. As the law now stands, boroughs may be merged by order-in-coun-cil, provided the merger has been approved by the electors of each borough. The clause in question proposed to allow the Government, on receipt of a petition from any one borough asking for an amalgamation, to set up a commission to decide whether amalgamation was desirable and to enforce its recommendations. That some such provision is necessary is beyond doubt. It has been shown time and time again that ratepayers, voting as a body, are not competent to fix local body boundaries, since they are seldom able to weigh the real issues involved. They cannot, for instance, decide over what area a given local service is likely to be most efficient and economical or whether an amalgamation is likely to reduce administrative costs. It is problems such as these which ought to be answered before boundaries are altered or local bodies amalgamated; and they are problems which can be tackled only by commissions of experts. It has been said that to allow the Government to compel boroughs to amalgamate v/ould be an undesirable curtailment of the right of local self-govern-ment; and no doubt it is desirable that local' bodies should be as free as is reasonably possible from interference by the central government in the performance of their functions. Ultimate responsibility for the efficiency of the local government system as a whole must, however, rest with the central government; and as efficiency depends largely on the proper arrangement of areas, the fixing of boundaries ought not to be left to the caprice of ratepayers.