asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies is aware of and has approved the two recent circulars sent by the general manager of the Anglia Building Society; and whether he will place copies in the Library.

The Chief Registrar is aware of the two circulars from reports in the press. His approval of them was neither required nor sought.I understand that the general manager of the Anglia will be sending to the hon. Member a copy of the board's circular to members.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies is aware of the contents and has approved the circular dated March 1982 sent by a member of the Anglia Building Society to other members of that society; and if he will place copies of that circular in the Library.

The Chief Registrar saw a draft of the circular. This was a result of the conditions put on the direction giving the member access to the register of members, to which I referred in my earlier reply to the hon. Member on 8 March.—[Vol. 19, c. 304.] The draft was submitted to the society and it expressed its right to object to the Chief Registrar on the grounds that the draft contained, or was likely to be construed by some readers as containing, misrepresentations as to fact. The Chief Registrar ruled on the submissions made by the member and the society on these points.The Chief Registrar ruled only on the facts in dispute. He did not approve the circular in the sense that he did not comment on either the presentation or the arguments in which the facts were used.The member of the society concerned has supplied me with a copy of the final version of the circular, and I am arranging for it to be placed in the Library.