§ 96. Mr. N. Pannellasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will consider introducing amending legislation to prevent a local authority from excluding the Press on account of an industrial dispute in regard to which the local authority has no jurisdiction, and thereby depriving the public of information regarding the proceedings of their elected representatives by means of emergency editions of newspapers.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI strongly deprecate the action of any local authority which excludes the Press and the public from its meetings for any reason save that the nature of the business requires it to be considered in private. On the general question of the practice to be followed by local authorities in making information available to the Press, discussions have for some time been in progress between my Department and the local authority associations. I indicated to Parliament some months ago that the Government would not hesitate to advise an amendment in the law if necessary, but I would prefer a proper sense of responsibility to the local electors to prevail.