– in the House of Commons at on 29 April 1929.
Sir William Davison
, Kensington South
asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether all ex-British civil servants in the Irish Free State who have retired under Article X. of the Anglo-Irish Treaty have now received the compensation to which they have been held to be entitled by the judgment of the Privy Council in the Wigg and Cochrane case; what are the total numbers of such persons who have received compensation; what are the numbers, if any, of those who are still awaiting payment of compensation; and the reason for the delay in making payment?
Lieut-Colonel Leo Amery
, Birmingham Sparkbrook
Warrants for the payment of additional compensation, on the basis of the judgment in the Wigg-Cochrane case, have been issued in 1,036 cases. I understand that four cases are still outstanding for the following reasons: In one case the pensioner is insane and an order of the Court is awaited; in another the pensioner is dead and probate of the will is not complete; in the two remaining cases the officers' present addresses are not known.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Privy Council goes back to the earliest days of the Monarchy, when it comprised those appointed by the King or Queen to advise on matters of state.
As the constitution developed into today's constitutional monarchy, under which The Sovereign acts on the advice of Ministers, so the Privy Council adapted. Its day to day business is transacted by those of Her Majesty's Ministers who are Privy Counsellors, that is all Cabinet Ministers and a number of junior Ministers. Membership of the Privy Council brings with it the right to be called "Right Honourable".
The Privy Council still meets regularly, on average once a month, but, as with the Cabinet, most of its business is transacted in discussion and correspondence between its Ministerial members and the Government Departments that advise them. The Privy Council Office (which is itself a Government Department) provides a secretariat for these discussions, as the Cabinet Office does in relation to the business of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees. Councils are held by The Queen and are attended by Ministers and the Clerk of the Council. At each meeting the Council will obtain Her Majesty's formal approval to a number of Orders which have already been discussed and approved by Ministers, much as Acts of Parliament become law through the giving of the Royal Assent after having been debated in Parliament.
Meetings are reported in the Court Circular, along with the names of Ministers attending (usually four in number). The Orders made at each Council are in the public domain, and each bears the date and place of the Council at which it was made. There is therefore nothing at all "secret" about Privy Council meetings. The myth that the Privy Council is a secretive body springs from the wording of the Privy Counsellor's Oath , which, in its current form, dates back to Tudor times. It requires those taking it to "keep secret all matters...treated of in Council". The Oath (or solemn affirmation for those who cannot take an Oath) is still administered, and is still binding; but it is only in very special circumstances nowadays that matters will come to a Privy Counsellor on "Privy Council terms". These will mostly concern matters of the national interest where it is important for senior members of Opposition parties to have access to Government information.
