Congested Districts (Scotland) Act 1897
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Congested Districts (Scotland) Act, 1897.
(60 & 61 Vict.) CHAPTER 53.
An Act to provide for the administration of Sums available for the Improvement of Congested Districts in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
[6th August 1897]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Appointment of Congested Districts \(Scotland) Commissioners.
1. For the purpose of administering the sums available for the improvement of congested districts in the highlands and islands of Scotland, the following, persons shall be Commissioners (called the Congested Districts (Scotland) Commissioners), that is to say:— The Secretary for Scotland, the Under Secretary for Scotland, the Chairman of the Local Government Board for Scotland, the Chairman of the Fishery Board for Scotland, the Chairman of the Crofters' Commission, and such other persons, not exceeding three, as the Secretary for Scotland may from time to time nominate.
The Secretary for Scotland may from time to time make, alter, and vary such rules as he shall deem necessary for regulating the proceedings of the Commissioners, and the times and places of their meetings.
2 Secretary and officers to be appointed from existing officers of Government departments.
(1)2.—(1.) The Secretary for Scotland may appoint as Secretary to the Commissioners one of the officers in the department of the Secretary for Scotland, or in any Government department in Scotland, and, with the consent of the Treasury, may assign to him an additional salary. The Secretary for Scotland may also, with the consent of the Treasury, direct any of the officers in any Government department in Scotland to discharge in relation to the Commissioners such duties, not inconsistent with those of their permanent offices, as he may think proper.
(2) (2.) The salaries or remuneration of the officers (if any) employed by the Commissioners, and the administrative expenses of the Commissioners, shall be fixed by the Treasury and paid out of the sums by this Act to be annually voted by Parliament.
3 Constitution of Congested Districts \(Scotland) Fund; sums to be carried thereto.
3. For the purposes of this Act a fund (to be called the Congested Districts (Scotland) Fund) shall be constituted, to which shall, from time to time, be carried:—
(1) the sum of fifteen thousand pounds annually available for the improvement of congested districts in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland under and during the continuance, of the Agricultural Rates, Congested Districts, and Burgh Land Tax Relief (Scotland) Act, 1896 ; and
(2) any sums not exceeding twenty thousand pounds annually voted by Parliament for the said purpose and during the said continuance; and
(3) any moneys received for payment of interest or repayment of principal of any loan made by the Commissioners under the provisions of this Act; and
(4) any other sums applicable to the purposes of this Act.
4 Application of moneys at disposal of Commissioners.
(1)4.—(1.) In applying the Congested Districts (Scotland) Fund the Commissioners may take such steps as they think proper for—
(a ) aiding and developing agriculture, dairy farming, and the breeding of live stock and poultry in congested districts; and
(b ) providing suitable seed potatoes and seed oats and implements and dairy utensils and machinery or appliances for the making of butter or cheese for crofters and cottars in congested districts; and
(c ) providing, subject to the provisions herein-after contained, land for sub-division among or for enlargement of the holdings of crofters and cottars in congested districts for the purposes of cultivation or grazing, in such manner and upon such conditions and after such adaptations as shall be determined by the Commissioners; and
(d ) aiding migration of crofters and cottars from congested districts to other districts in Scotland, and settling any migrants under favourable circumstances in the places to which they first migrate; and
(e ) aiding and developing fishing (including industries connected with and subservient to fishing and the erection and formation of fishermen's dwellings and holdings in congested districts; and
(f ) aiding the providing or improving of light-houses, piers or boat-slips, public roads and bridges, and footpaths and foot bridges, and meal-mills, in congested districts; and providing guarantees for telegraph extensions, or such other postal facilities (including money order and savings bank business) as may be within the power of the Postmaster General to grant under guarantee; and
(g ) aiding and developing spinning, weaving, and other home industries in congested districts; and
(h ) subject to the consent of the Treasury,—
aiding the providing or improving of harbours.
(2) (2.) The...
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