EISTEDDFOD (Hansard, 16 December 1958)

§ Mr. Peter Thomas (Conway)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make further provision for contributions by local authorities in Wales (including Monmouthshire) towards the expenses of the Royal National Eisteddfod. Every hon. Member in the House will know something about the National Eisteddfod of Wales. It is a yearly national festival mainly of a musical and literary character which basically invokes the spirit of competition in order to preserve and foster the traditional Welsh interest in literature and music. It is a truly national festival in as much as it is truly Welsh. Every year it secures the attention and the attendance of tens of thousands of Welshmen from every town, village and hamlet throughout the Principality and it is supported and attended by Welshmen from all parts of the world. It is regarded by many as the greatest guardian of the Welsh language and the preserver of that unbroken literary tradition, especially in poetry, which extends from the sixth century to the present day.

It is, moreover, so far as Wales is concerned, a great social occasion, a large annual family reunion. It is held during a week in August of each year, one year in the North of Wales and the next in the South. Occasionally, it has been held in England, in places like Liverpool. This year it was held at Ebbw Vale, where it received enthusiastic support from the constituents of the right hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Bevan) and, as one would expect, from the right hon. Member himself. Next summer it is to be held in the County of Caernarvon.

My proposed Bill is simple and modest and I hope that it will commend itself to both sides of the House. Its purpose is to make it possible for all county borough, borough, urban and rural district councils of Wales and Monmouthshire to contribute out of the rates, should they wish to do so, towards the expenses of the Royal National Eisteddfod. If leave is given to bring in the Bill it is proposed to accomplish this by an amendment of Section 132 of the Local Government Act, 1948.

Section 132 of that Act gives wide powers to local authorities to provide 949 entertainments or to contribute towards the cost of entertainments provided by others. The Royal National Eisteddfod is undoubtedly covered by this Section and many Welsh local authorities have used these powers to contribute towards the cost of its annual promotion. These powers of contribution, however, are mainly restricted by the Act to entertainments held within the boundaries of the local authority concerned. If the entertainment is held outside the boundaries the authority can contribute only if two conditions are satisfied.

Those conditions are, first, that the place of the entertainment must be convenient for residence in the area of the contributing authority, and, secondly, the authority within whose area the entertainment is to be held must consent. The effect of the first of these two limiting provisions means that only those local authorities can contribute towards the expenses of the Royal National Eisteddfod whose areas are convenient to the place where it is being held.

The National Eisteddfod is not only held one year in the north and one year in the south of Wales, but it is clearly desirable that it should be held in as many widely differing places as possible. The geographical convenience to the rest of Wales is, quite properly, not a primary consideration. In any event, a place with that qualification could hardly be found. When it is held in Caernarvonshire, for instance, it obviously will not be convenient for those living in Ebbw Vale, or Llanelly, to attend although it is certain that many hundreds from both those places will cheerfully overcome the in convenience and attend. It is probable that as the law stands most authorities in South Wales could not properly contri- 950 bute to Eisteddfodau in North Wales nor could those in the north contribute when they are held in the south. The proposed Bill would remove these limitations by allowing all local authorities of the type I have mentioned to contribute whether or not people in their areas could conveniently reach the Eisteddfod or the host authority agreed. As to the latter, it is not likely that the host authority would object.

Those are the only changes that I propose. The statutory limit of the equivalent of a 6d. rate which is the amount that a local authority may spend out of the rates for entertainment in any one year, remains. English authorities, of course, are wholly unaffected. I think that the Bill will be widely welcomed in Wales. It has the support of Welsh hon. Members of all parties. The Royal National Eisteddfod is worthy of our fullest support and I hope that the House will give leave for this Bill to be brought in.