Contributions from the Central Authority
| Author | F. Ogden Whiteley |
| Published date | 01 December 1923 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1923.tb02145.x |
| Date | 01 December 1923 |
~~
Contributions
from
the
Central Authority
Contributions from
the
Central
Authority
Towards
the Cost
of
Local
Administrative
Services
By
F.
OCDEN
WHITELEY,
O.B.E.,
F.S.A.A.
(Treasurer
of
the
City
of
Bradford)
[Being a
paper discussed
at
the
Sirmmer Conference
01
the
Inslitzcfe
of
Public Administrafion at Cambridge,
27th
July,
1923.1
(1)
THE
phase of the relationship between the local authorities and the
Imperial Government which it is my privilege to submit to you has been
the subject of perhaps a score
of
Royal Commissions and Departmental
Committees during the last century, and the fact that, even to-day,
it
is
agreed on
all
sides that the position
is
the reverse of satisfactory
is
a proof
of
the difficulties of the matter.
(2)
I
am afraid that perhaps one of the principal reasons for the
apparent inability to find a practical and comprehensive solution
of
the
problem is that there is a disinclination to approach the subject from
what
I
consider is the proper aspect, and that is, to first of
all
ascertain
what is the real relationship between the Imperial Government and the
local authority.
I
feel that the solution is prejudiced from the fact that
the words
“
contributions,”
“
grants,” and
“
subventions
”
are much too
freely used, and that these words do not properly express that adjustment
which is necessary between the funds raised
by
the Government by
means of imperial taxes, and the moneys collected by local authorities
by
rates.
(3)
The terms of reference to the Royal Commission
on
Local
Taxation, which
was
appointed in
1896,
were-
To
inquire
into the present system under which taxation
is
raised for
local
purposes,
and to report whether all
kinds
of
real
and
personal
property
contribute
equitably to
such
taxation,
and,
if
not, what alterations
in
the
law
are desirable
in
order to secure that result.
(4)
That
I
think
is
the aspect from which the subject
should
be
approached, and
I
take
it
to mean
“
to what extent the Government,
having regard to the incidence respectively
of
imperial taxation and local
rating, should raise moneys in respect of services which are administered
by
local authorities,
in
order to secure that the revenues are raised
equitably.”
259
The
Journal
9
of
Public
9
Administration
(5)
In other words, not what financial relief or assistance shall be
afforded by one body (the State) to another separate and distinct body
(the local authority), but what means shall be adopted in order that the
community shall contribute equitably towards the cost of national
orland local services.
(6)
The necessity for such adjustment between the Government and
the local authorities arises from the fact that the Government have from
time to time imposed upon local authorities, in addition to the services
which confer upon the ratepayers a direct and peculiar benefit, the duty
of
administering certain services which are admittedly national in
character, i.e. they are provided not merely
for
the benefit of the
particular locality, but in the interests
of
the country as
a
whole. The
services provided by local authorities may be divided into two main
headings, namely,
"
national or onerous
"
and
"
local and beneficial,"
and in the Report
of
the Royal Commission it is stated-
. . .
A
service may
be
called properly local when
a
preponderant share of the
benefit
can
be
directly traced to persons interested in the locality.
On
the other
hand, universality and uniformity
of
administration
is
generally
a
mark
of
a
National Service, because such administration does not confer special benefit on
special places. Again, the presumption
is
that
a
service is national when the State
insists on its being camed out, and
on
a
certain standard
of
efficiency being
reached.
(7)
Dealing
with this phase
of
the subject, the Departmental
Committee
on
Local Taxation in their Final Report, issued in
1914,
st at ed-
While agreeing with the classification
of
local services adopted by the Royal
Commission we believe that the terms
"
national or onerous
"
and
"
local or bene-
ficial
"
have given rise to considerable confusion
of
thought in regard to the proper
amount
of
assistance to be given by the State to local authorities. There has been
a
tendency to overlook the qualifications with which these terms were used
by
the
Commission and to assume that every service which possesses so;ne national char-
acteristics and
is
onerous
to
some classes of the community ought theoretically
to be paid for entirely out
of
national funds.
We think that it may conduce to the removal of misunderstanding if
in
con-
sidering the classification of public services we take account not only of those locally
administered but also
of
those administered by the State. It will then be seen
that the class of locally administered services of
a
national character
is
really an
intermediate one between-
(1)
Services which are carried out and controlled almost entirely
by
local
authorities
in
the interests
of
their respective localities, and are not to any marked
extent for the benefit
of
the nation as
a
whole
;
and
(2)
Services which are camed out entirely by the State in the interests
of
the
nation
as
a
whole, and are not directly for the benefit
of
particular localities.
The characteristic of this intermediate class
of
"
semi-national
"
services
as
they may
be
called,
is
that while they
are
administered by local authorities, the
State
has,
at the same time,
so
marked an interest in their efficiency as to justify
a
claim
to
the supervision
of
their administration.
260
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