§ Mr. Brooksasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will now review the Local Government (Conferences) Regulations 1965 in order to remove his control over the attendance of members of local authorities at conferences.
§ Mr. GreenwoodMy right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales and I all agree that this is a control which could suitably be removed now, without waiting for conclusions to be reached on Ministerial controls generally in the context of local government reorganisation. We are sure that local authorities will exercise in a responsible way a discretion to decide themselves how many members they should send to conferences; they already have this discretion356W in relation to their officers. New regulations will be introduced for England and Wales and for Scotland and we shall work out the details with the local authority associations.