RESIDUARY BODIES: ADMISSION TO MEETINGS (Hansard, 18 November 1986)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Skelmersdale)

The Government's policy remains as accepted by Parliament during the passage of the Local Government Act 1985. We accept that residuary bodies need to be accountable. The 1985 Act therefore imposes on them an audit regime which gives public access to their accounts. It requires them to produce an annual report which my right honourable friend must lay before Parliament. The conduct of the bodies is within the purview of the Parliamentary Commissioner. That is an appropriate regime of accountability for bodies of this kind. But for the public to have the right to come to the formal sessions of the bodies is quite inappropriate and unnecessary. It would be wrong to impose such a burden on bodies which are, in fact, a managerial team with a large number of responsibilities, mostly administrative, with a limited life, and with no powers to initiate policies.

That is the reason why the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 was not applied to residuary bodies. It has recently been suggested that the 1960 Act may, in fact, apply by reason of the definition of "rate" in the Public Works Loans Act 1875 and paragraph 1(h) of the Schedule to the 1960 Act. My right honourable friend has therefore made an order to avoid any doubt that, as Parliament intended, the 1960 Act does not apply to residuary bodies.