§ 19. Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present number of aldermen and councillors in Greater London and England and Wales, respectively; and how many it is proposed there will be for these areas under the new Local Government Bill.
§ Mr. Graham PageExcluding the City of London there are some 1,960 councillors in Greater London and 325 aldermen. Of these, 100 are councillors and 16 are aldermen of the GLC. The Local Government Bill, as at present drafted, would not affect the existing arrangements.
In the rest of England and in Wales there are at present about 34,000 councillors and 4,000 aldermen. After reorganisation there might be about 22,000 councillors and there will be no aldermen. Figures for parish councillors are not available.
§ Mr. LoveridgeI am grateful for that answer. Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that many of those councillors who are due to be displaced have given very valuable service to the community and will the Government therefore try to provide new outlets so that this kind of voluntary service will not be lost to the community in the future?
§ Mr. PageI hope the kind of voluntary service given by the aldermen in the past will not be lost in the future. But 1497 we could not defend a reorganisation of local government which still contained unelected members of the councils.