§ MR. THOMAS ELLIS (Merionethshire)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the published opinion of Mr. Attorney General, that the Act 27 Hon. 8, c. 26, s. 20, as amended by 50 and 51 Vic. c. 55, is in force, and that the provisions of "The Local Government Act, 1888," have not removed from the members of the County Council the obligation to carry on their proceedings in English; and, if so, whether he will introduce a Bill to repeal or modify the section of the Statute thus rendered obsolete?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHIn answering a Question of the right hon. Member for East Denbighshire, I stated that Section 20 of the Act 27 Henry VIII., c. 26, was repealed, and this answer was correct as regards one edition of the Revised Statutes, but Section 17, to which reference was intended to be made, has not been repealed. The question is one that will be dealt with in the next revision of the Statutes, but I may remark that it would be a matter of serious inconvenience if the proceedings of any public body were carried on entirely in Welsh.
§ MR. OSBORNE MORGAN (Denbighshire, E.)May I ask whether Her Majesty's Government will take steps to repeal this Act, seeing it is practically obsolete?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHI have taken steps to bring it under the notice of the Statute Law Revision Commission.