Scotland

County, burgh and parish councils are directly elected bodies, and until recently were the three principal authorities for rating and borrowing. By the Rating (Scotland) Act 1926 parish councils ceased to be a rating authority. The chairmen of town and county councils are ex justices of the peace; the chair man of a town council is called the provost, or in some cases the lord provost ; other chairmen in Scotland are called conveners.

Police and Other Powers.—Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act which set up the new county councils in 1889, royal and parliamentary burghs were excluded from the ad ministrative county area. But a limiting condition as to popula tion frequently applies in respect of certain duties and powers. Since 1892 a population of 20,000 is required for any new burgh wishing to maintain a separate police force, and for all burghs appointing a quota to the county insurance committee under the National Health Insurance Act. Any burgh may, however, con solidate its police establishment with that of the county and with royal and parliamentary burghs that do not maintain their own police are represented on the county council by a member or members of the town council, but voting only in respect of such delegated or excepted powers. Police burghs, though self-govern ing units for public health purposes, and in some cases including highways and police administration, are included in the county area for general county purposes.

Valuation and Assessment.

The word assessment is used in Scotland for rate in England, and the word valuation for what in England would be called assessment. Valuation rolls in Scot land are made up annually. By the Rating (Scotland) Act 1926, which came into force on May 16, 1927, parish councils ceased to be rating authorities, and there is thus only one rating authority for all rates leviable in any rating area, namely, either the town or county council. The amounts to be provided for each of the purposes administered by parish councils are certified by them to the rating authority, who fixes the rate or "assessment" per L. County and parish rates are levied equally on owners and occupiers; in burghs about two-thirds of the aggregate sum raised by rates fall on occupiers and one-third on owners. Education authorities, district committees and district boards of control requisition for the sums they require by precept on the rating authority. Inequalities in the basis of rating, especially in respect of land held out of use and, on the vast scale which is peculiar to Scotland, for sporting purposes (see Report of the Scottish Land Enquiry Committee), have led to the promotion of a num ber of bills aiming at the reform of local taxation. Thus in 1904 the Land Values Taxation (Scotland) Bill, known as the "Glasgow Bill," gave effect to the principle of rating based on the site or capital selling value of the land, apart from improvements, and led in 1907-08 to a Government Land Values (Scotland) Bill, which however dealt with valuation and not with rating, and like other subsequent private members' bills failed to become law. (See TAXATION, LOCAL.) The Common Good.—A feature of burgh accounts which is peculiar to Scotland is the property known as the Common Good which is held by certain burghs for the benefit of the community. Originating in grants of land or the accumulated surpluses of feu duties, markets or other assets, the proceeds of the Common Good may be expended for any object directly beneficial to the community without the statutory restrictions that apply to the ordinary grant and rate income. Thus, the small town of Tain

(pop. 1,551) with a rateable value of L10,479 in 1927 had a Common Good producing over .i800 a year and Kirkcudbright one of L1,5oo a year, whilst in Glasgow the city tramways have been largely constructed with the monies and loans raised on the security of the Common Good, to which in return contributions from the tramways aggregating over a million pounds sterling had been made in 1926.

Local Government (Scotland) Act (1929).

The Scottish bill goes much farther than the English Act, to which it is generally similar, in the proposal to abolish a large number of existing local authorities, with other changes in the character and constitution of the new bodies.

Administrative Changes (Part 1).—The Act makes a new classi fication of all burghs into "large burghs," containing a population of 20,000 or over, and "small burghs," meaning all other burghs. The administrative county will include all small burghs, and the reconstituted county councils and town councils of large burghs will become the local authorities for poor law, major public health services, town planning, maintenance of classified roads, police, valuation, and lunacy and mental deficiency. All large burghs which do not maintain a separate police at present will be included for police purposes in the county. Police burghs will cease to be electoral divisions of the county and (as in the case of royal and parliamentary burghs at present) will nominate representatives to the county councils with voting power in respect of those serv ices in which they are interested. County councils may delegate some of their functions with regard to classified roads to the small burghs, who will continue to administer their own water supply, drainage and housing services. The following existing authorities are to be abolished : Parish councils, district com mittees, district boards of control, education authorities, distress committees, standing joint committees, commissioners of supply and (where the county council may require) landward corn mittees. Statutory committees will be appointed for police, poor relief and education. The education area will be the county as before, but the duties of the former ad hoc authorities will be transferred to the education committees. Six groups of burghs are named that are to be compulsorily united, and the counties of Kinross and Perth, Moray and Nairn, and Bute with Renfrew and Ayr, are to be combined for administrative purposes. The new county and town councils (1929) will prepare and submit schemes to the Scottish secretary for his approval of the adminis trative arrangements proposed to be made throughout their areas for all the changes to be effected. County councils may be re quired to divide the county (except for education) into areas to be administered by local committees or sub-committees. Town and county councils are to be put on the same basis of audit. Rates are to be consolidated over the whole area of the rating authority, except in the case of differential rating for special parish and special district rates. Payment of travelling expenses and allowances to members of the county councils and committees and sub-committees attending meetings is introduced.