for any household or business, and may also place upon Local Authorities responsibilities for regulating the consumption of gas and electricity within their districts. They would probably necessitate in most cases the allocation of a particular officer or officers by the Local Authority during the period that they were in force.

The Local Authority will have the assistance of a Coal Emergency Officer and of a Committee of Traders within their own district.

6. The maintenance of law and order and the protection of persons and property from violence may be one of the most important services. The organisation of the necessary arrangements and the control of the Police and Special Constabulary rest with the Police Authorities and the Chief Constables, but the Local Authorities might co-operate, for instance, in securing able-bodied citizens of good character to serve as Special Constables. The arrangements for the enrolment of Special Constables will be made by the Police, and any men who come forward as Special Constables, or who offer their services in a general capacity and appear most suited for service as Special Constables should be referred to the Police Station or other place of enrolment appointed for the purpose.

7. While it is impossible to draw any hard and fast line of demarcation between national and local services which is universally applicable the position may be broadly defined as follows: Local Authorities are expected to undertake responsibility for the maintenance of local public utility services; in addition they are asked to co-operate with the national organisation in regard to local transport and the local distribution of coal. In the absence of further directions they are not expected to undertake responsibility for the local distribution of food nor are they asked to accept responsibility for shipping, railway or postal communications, or docks and harbours except where the Local Authority are also the Port Authority.

8. It will be realised that in an emergency the burden upon national resources must in any event be considerable and responsibility could not be accepted by the Government for expenditure incurred by Local Authorities in meeting local needs. Where, however, a joint recruiting station is established, the expenditure incurred would have to be allocated between the Government and the Local Authority concerned. Precise instructions on this point would be issued to Chairmen of Volunteer Service Committees.

The Clerk

to the Local Authority.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

W. a. Rovinson.

[Р.Т.О.

APPENDIX (A).

CIRCULAR 312. (England and Wales.)

MINISTRY OF Health,
WHITEHALL, S.W. 1,

Sir,

MAY 23, 1922.

I AM directed to refer to the ".Memorandum for the Guidance of Local Authorities," which was issued in April of last year, and to state that His Majesty's Government have decided that the Memorandum is to be regarded as withdrawn from the present date, and that it will be for Local Authorities to make such arrangements for maintenance of local services as may be thought to be required in the event of need arising. The copies of the memorandum sent to you should be destroyed forthwith as the financial and other provisions will not be applicable on any future

Circular 642.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH,

Whitehall, S.W. 1.

23rd November, 1925.

LAND CHARGES ACT, 1925.

SIR,

1. I am directed by the Minister of Health to draw attention to Part VI of the Land Charges Act, 1925, which will come into operation on the 1st January, 1926.

The general effect of Part VI of the Act is to provide for the registration of local land charges, that is :

(1) charges created by statute in favour of Local Authorities (for instance, financial charges under the Public Health Acts, 1875 to 1925, the Metropolis Management Acts, 1855 to 1893, and the Private Street Works Act, 1892, and any similar statute), and

(2) prohibitions and restrictions on the user of land or buildings imposed by Local Authorities under town planning, including resolutions to prepare or adopt schemes, or under other statutory powers (for instance, building lines and improvement lines prescribed by Local Authorities).

The principal classes of Local Authorities concerned are County Councils, Town Councils, Metropolitan Borough Councils, and Urban and Rural District Councils, but the Act extends to any other Local Authorities who have direct powers of charging land under statutes similar to those which have been mentioned.

2. Registration of all financial charges is required, whether created before or after the commencement of the Act, but in the case of prohibitions and restrictions on the user of land, registration is obligatory only in respect of those arising after the commencement of the Act.

In the case of financial charges created before the commencement of the Act, one year is allowed within which to register.

The charges are to be registered in the prescribed manner by the Clerk to the Local Authority and, until registered, are void against a purchaser for value of a legal estate in the land.

The Act provides for the making of rules as to the registration of local land charges; and rules, entitled the Local Land Charges Rules, 1925, have been made by the Lord Chancellor and will come into operation on the 1st January, 1926. A copy of the rules is enclosed, and a memorandum is appended containing an

explanation of them and some notes on points relating to the establishment and maintenance of the local registers.

An extra copy of the documents is forwarded for your use.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient Servant,

1. Gribbon

Assistant Secretary.

The Clerk to the Local Authority.

MEMORANDUM.

LAND CHARGES ACT, 1925. PART VI-LOCAL LAND CHARGES.

1. Local Registrars and Registering Authorities.

For the purpose of registering a local land charge the proper officer to act as local registrar is to be the clerk to the Local Authority in whose favour the charge is created or by which it is enforceable (rule 1).

An exception, however, is made in the following cases :

(1) town planning charges, by whatever Local Authority imposed (a town planning scheme often being prepared by a Local Authority for an area extending into the district of another Local Authority or sometimes by a Joint Committee);

(2) other charges imposed by a County Council, Borough Council (including a Metropolitan Borough Council and the City of London), or Urban or Rural District Council outside its area; and

(3) other charges imposed by any Local Authority other than those last mentioned (e.g., a Joint Board or Joint Committee).

It is considered that in these cases a person desiring to ascertain whether charges existed could not be expected to know that search should be made in the register of the Local Authority imposing the charges, and it is accordingly provided that these charges (except town planning charges in London, where the County Council is the town planning authority), shall be registered by the clerk to the Borough or District Council in whose borough or district the land affected by the charge is situated. This provision will involve application by one Local Authority to another for entries to be recorded in the latter's register (rule 1).

2. Contents of Register.

The register is to consist of :

(1) an index in the form of a map, unless the Minister of Health approves some other form, for enabling any entry to be traced, and

(2) a register divided into the following parts :

(a) Part I relating to general financial charges;

(b) Part II relating to specific financial charges ;

(c) Part III relating to prohibitions or restrictions on user of land arising in connection with town planning;

(d) Part IV relating to other prohibitions or restrictions imposed under statutory powers (rule 2).