§ MR. COCHRANE (Ayrshire, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether he can now inform the House why the Local Government (Scotland) Bill, which passed the Scottish Grand Committee on 8th December, with several pages of Amendments, was not printed and circulated to Members in time for the consideration of the Bill by the House after midnight on 10th December.
§ MR. SINCLAIRI am informed that every attempt was made to secure the circulation of the Bill as amended in time for the Report stage, but it was not found possible to issue it until Friday morning. I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for this opportunity of explaining this matter, and of apologising to the House for the explanation which I gave on the spur of the moment and in good faith the other night, which was not correct.