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defined to mean a hospital for the treatment of disease, sickness, accidents,
deformity and other afflictions of persons, and includes convalescent homes,
nursing institutions, sanatoria, infirmaries and other institutions of a similar
character.
Clause 2 provides that the rateable value of lands or buildings or parts thereof
owned or leased by a hospital wholly or mainly maintained by voluntary contributions,
subscriptions, legacies or gifts and used for or in connection with any of
the following purposes shall be taken to be one-half of the net annual value thereof:
(a) Hostels for persons in training for the medical or nursing profession;
(b) Buildings or parts thereof used solely for the purposes of instructional
training in connection with the medical or nursing profession;
(c) Nursing homes which are separate from the main building of a hospital
and used for the treatment of paying patients;
(d) Buildings used for residences for the administrative staff of the
hospital.
(The Council asked the Members of Parliament for the Borough
to oppose this Bill).
(Since the date of this Report, this Bill has been dropped.)
Metropolitan Police (Staff Supeeanxuation and Police Fund) Bill.
This Bill was introduced by the Home Secretary, and provides for the granting
of compassionate gratuities to police officers to whom the Metropolitan Police Staff
Superannuation Acts, 1875 and 1885, apply; to permit commutation of certain
of the pensions payable to such officers and for other purposes.
The chief object of the Bill is:—
To bring the pension conditions of the civilian staff paid from the
Metropolitan Police Fund into line with those of the Civil Service as regards
(a) Gratuities to unestablished employees who leave after long
service;
(b) Commutation of compensation allowances granted on abolition
of office or removal from office.
As regards (a) the present position is that the pension conditions of the
established civilian staff paid out of the Metropolitan Police Fund are similar to
those of Civil Servants in Government Departments except that the Metropolitan
Police Staff (Superannuation) Act, 1875, gives no power to grant gratuities to
unestablished staff, or to commute compensation allowances granted on abolition
of office or removal from office. In the case of unestablished staff, this may involve
considerable hardship in individual cases.
Any expenditure arising from these proposals will be met from the Metropolitan
Police Fund. It is stated in an accompanying memorandum that there
may bo no expenditure for several years and that the maximum amount which
may be granted by way of gratuities in any one year is not likely to exceed £500.
The commutation of compensation allowances would not increase the total
charge falling on the Police Fund in respect of those allowances, but would merely
alter its incidence as between one year and another.
This Bill received the Royal Assent on March 27th, 1931.
Local Authorities (Publicity) Bill.
This Bill is a Private Member's Bill.
It proposes to confer upon local authorities (including the Council of a
Metropolitan Borough) powers to contribute to any organisation established for
collecting and collating information in regard to the amenities and advantages of
the British Isles or any part thereof, whether commercial, historical, scenic,