§ MR. C. BILL (Staffordshire, Leek)I beg to ask the President of the Local Government Board whether it is necessary for a board of Guardians, when co-opting Guardians under section 20, sub-section (7) of the Local Government Act, 1894, to ascertain whether any of the magistrates, who had at any time acted as ex-officio Guardians, were willing to serve; and, if so, whether they have 1247 a preferential claim to be chosen, although they may not have attended board meetings regularly for the past year or two.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE, Bradford, Central)Any additional members elected by a Board of Guardians from outside their own body must, at the first election, be persons who have actually served as ex-officio or nominated Guardians of the Union, if a sufficient number of these persons are willing to act. No limit of time is prescribed within which a Justice must have served as an ex-officio Guardian of the Union in order to entitle him to be thus elected.