§ SIR WILLIAM HOULDSWORTH (Manchester, N.W.)To ask the President of the Local Government Board whether any steps have been taken for the summoning of a conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and other societies, referred to in Section 9 of the Report of the Joint Select Committee on Municipal Trading; and whether he can undertake that such a conference shall be held at an early date, in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) As I stated last week in reply to a Question by my hon. friend the Member for Gravesend,† I have received communications from some of these societies offering
† See page 997.1233 to co-operate in the consideration of the subject referred to by the Committee. No conference has taken glace, but I have been giving attention to the practicability of a standard form of accounts of local authorities being prescribed, and I am disposed to think that the best course will be to appoint a Departmental Committee to inquire into the system upon which the accounts should be kept.