National Health Insurance and Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act, 1936

Insured persons' (local authorities' nominees) members electorate.

11.—(1) There shall be established a body (in this Act referred to as the electorate) to be known as the Insured Persons' (Local Authorities' Nominees) Members Electorate to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) A person shall not be qualified to be nominated a member of the electorate by a local authority or, in case of the default of such local authority, by the Minister if at the date of his nomination—

(a) he is under the age of twenty-one years, or

(b) he is not an insured person, or

(c) he is not resident in the functional area of such local authority, or

(d) he is an officer or employee of the Unified Society.

(3) Whenever a member of the electorate is employed as an officer or employee of the Unified Society, he shall be disqualified from continuing to be and shall forthwith cease to be a member of the electorate.

(4) In each election year, but not later than the 1st day of May in such election year, each local authority shall nominate to be members of the electorate such (if any) number of qualified persons as such local authority is required to nominate in accordance with the following provisions, that is to say:—

(a) if the number of insured persons resident in such election year in the functional area of such local authority does not exceed five thousand, the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(i) in case the said number is less than two thousand five hundred, such local authority shall not nominate any person to be a member of the electorate,

(ii) in any other case, such local authority shall nominate one qualified person to be a member of the electorate,

(b) if the number of insured persons resident in such election year in such functional area exceeds five thousand, such local authority shall for every five thousand insured persons nominate one qualified person to be a member of the electorate, and, where the number of insured persons exceeds any multiple of five thousand by not less than two thousand five hundred, nominate one additional qualified person to be a member of the electorate.

(5) For the purposes of the immediately preceding sub-section the Minister shall, in each election year, determine in respect of each local authority the number of insured persons resident in the functional area of such local authority on such day in such election year as the Minister may select, and the number of insured persons resident in any election year in the functional area of a local authority shall be the number determined under this sub-section by the Minister in such year to be resident in such functional area.

(6) If any local authority fails or neglects in any election year to nominate, before the 2nd day of May in such election year, such number of qualified persons to be members of the electorate as such local authority is required by sub-section (4) of this section to nominate the Minister may nominate a like number of such qualified persons as he thinks fit to be members of the electorate and the persons so nominated shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to have been nominated by such local authority.

(7) Every person (other than a person nominated to fill a casual vacancy) nominated to be a member of the electorate in any election year shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified hold office from the 1st day of May in such election year for a period of three years.

(8) Whenever a vacancy (in this section referred to as a casual vacancy) occurs in the membership of the electorate by reason of the death, resignation, or disqualification, of a member nominated by a local authority, the following provisions shall have effect—

(a) such local authority shall forthwith nominate a qualified person to fill such vacancy;

(b) the person so nominated shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified hold office as a member of the electorate for the residue of the term of office for which the member whose death, resignation, or disqualification occasioned the vacancy would have held office if he had not died, resigned, or become disqualified;

(c) if such local authority does not within three months after such casual vacancy occurs, nominate a qualified person to fill the vacancy, the Minister may nominate so qualified person to fill such vacancy and the person so nominated by the Minister shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to have been nominated by such local authority.

(9) There shall be paid by the Unified Society to each member of the electorate such travelling expenses and allowances for maintenance and loss of wages as the Minister may from time to time determine in respect of such member.

(10) The electorate may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership.

(11) The quorum for a meeting of the electorate shall be such number as may be prescribed.

(12) For the purposes of this section—

the expression “local authority” means a body which is either the council of a county or the council of a county borough;

the expression “functional area” means—

(a) in relation to the council of a county, such county,

(b) in relation to the council of a county borough, such county borough;

each of the following years shall be an election year, namely the year 1936, the year 1939, the year 1942, the year 1945, and so on.