§ Mr. W. Yatesasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs on how many occasions at public inquiries into boundaries between 1930 and 1939 compared with 1958 to 1964, under the 1929 and 1933 Local Government Acts, the county council involved gave evidence or testified at the commencement of the inquiry or at a later stage in the inquiry; and on what occasions the county council involved declined to give evidence or take part in the proceedings of the inquiry.
§ Sir K. JosephI regret that the information sought in relation to public inquiries held between 1930 and 1939 is not available. Generally speaking, however, county councils appear to have458W taken part in the pre-war county review inquiries, though practice in regard to witnesses varied a good deal. At some inquiries witnesses were called to give evidence about particular matters though rarely about all the objections which were the subject of the inquiry. At other inquiries no witnesses appeared. Between 1958 and 1964 there have been three inquiries into orders made by county councils under Section 141 of the Local Government Act, 1933. These dealt with minor matters. The county councils presented their case. The inquiry into objections to the county review proposals of Salop County Council which is now in progress is the first of its kind and is being held in accordance with the Local Government Act, 1958.