asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will introduce legislation to end the anomaly under which public schools owned by corporate bodies and registered as charities are entitled to a 50 per cent. reduction in rates.

No, Sir. I have some sympathy with the suggestion, but I feel that attempts to separate one sort of charity from others might lead to great difficulties.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that his attitude is contrary to that which was adopted by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary when the Rating and Valuation Act was before the House in 1961? Is he further aware that when the hard-pressed ratepayers in my constituency think of a charity their thoughts do not automatically fly to Harrow School?

Yes, Sir; I am aware of this. I must admit that when I looked at the Oxford and Cambridge colleges I came to a different conclusion, but there were so many of them in the middle of such small cities, and public schools are so peppered over the community, that I think we should leave them as they are.

Instead of giving sympathy to proposals for further increases in rates, will the right hon. Gentleman say when the Government propose to introduce legislation to reduce the total burden of rates, which has risen by an unprecedented amount under the Labour Government?

I should like to congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on his return to the House and to the Opposition Front Bench, and on the tone of his first question addressed to me. The answer is: yes, we shall have our second major rating Measure before the House before an undue delay has occurred.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will introduce legislation to amend Section 3 of the London Government Act, 1963, in order to re-establish Middlesex as a geographical county with boundaries as they existed before the creation of the Greater London Council, so as to keep the identity of the county as a part of the United Kingdom, as the area serving such organisations as the Middlesex Regiment and the Middlesex Cricket Club.

No, Sir. The London Government Act, 1963, and the Administration of Justice Act, 1964, make provision in Greater London for all the purposes for which elsewhere counties are statutorily established. The objects the hon. Member has in view do not require the statutory designation of Middlesex as a county.

Will the right hon. Gentleman accept from me that there is a good deal of local feeling that Middlesex in some way should be retained as a geographical county, and when the next opportunity occurs of a Greater London Bill perhaps he will bear this in mind sympathetically and see whether geographical status can be given to the area?

I am always looking back to see the virtues in the Bills of my predecessors, and I find that in a Bill of the previous Administration one of the five areas in Greater London for which a Commission of the Peace was established is still named the Middlesex area, and with that, I am sure, the hon. Gentleman should be content.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he will now give a decision on the Manchester Draft Water Order.

I hope to announce my decision soon.

While I welcome that reply, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether he is aware that there is considerable anxiety in the North-West over the delay in reaching this decision? The Manchester scheme is held up every day that the reply is held up. Will he also say what consideration is being given to the long-term water needs of the whole of the north-west area?

I very much appreciate what Manchester representatives are feeling about this. I would tell my hon. Friend, as I said in answer to a Question before the General Election, that this is one of the most difficult issues that we have had in which amenity really has to be considered very carefully in supplying water to Manchester. As for the long-term needs, these are indeed being taken into account already.

When the right hon. Gentleman gives his answer, will it apply to the long term as well as the short term? Can we have it all in one go without further bites at the cherry?

No, Sir; that would be impossible. What I am dealing with is a Draft Order. We have to approve or disapprove the Order without Amendment, and the Order can deal only with the medium term. It will be made clear that the long-term provision has to be dealt with separately.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that to speak of "Manchester" here is very misleading? The Order has reference to about 31 authorities in the North-West leading up to the Lake District. Although the importance of Manchester is well understood, it is far more important for all the other authorities which will have powers arising out of the Order.

My hon. Friend is quite right. What we call "the Manchester water need" is a need for a far greater area than Manchester, and I do not underestimate the urgency of the question.