§ Mr. Bishopasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now consider making it a requirement that members of local authorities and public boards under his control should declare their interests in a register for that purpose.
§ Mr. Graham PageNo. So far as Members of local authorities are concerned, the subject of their pecuniary interests is covered by detailed provisions in existing legislation and in the Local Government Bill, which is still before Parliament.
Public boards within my responsibility cover a wide range of functions and are constituted in many different ways. No single rule as to the declaration of interests applies to all of them, and it is doubtful whether such a provision would be appropriate.