(1)Under the [1973 c. 65.] 1973 Act, members of local authorities who are councillors shall, in respect of the performance of approved duties, have the right to decide whether to receive attendance allowance or financial loss allowance ; and accordingly—
(a)in subsection (1) of section 45 of that Act (the which subsection relates to entitlement to attendance allowance) after the word " shall " there shall be inserted the words " , (unless a notice under section 45A of this Act is effective in relation to him), "; and
(b)after the said section 45 there shall be inserted the following section—
If a councillor gives notice in writing to the local authority of which he is a member that he wishes to receive financial loss allowance, he shall be entitled, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of any relevant regulations made under section 50 of this Act, to receive that allowance instead of any payment by way of attendance allowance to which he would otherwise be entitled.”.
(2)In subsection (2) of section 49 of the 1973 Act (the which subsection relates to the interpretation of the expression " approved duty ")—
(a)after the words " 45," there shall be inserted the words " 45A, ";
(b)in paragraph (a), the words ", or of any of its committees or sub-committees " shall cease to have effect; and
(c)after paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
“(aa)attendance at a meeting of a committee, or sub-committee, of the body if such attendance is—
(i)as a member of;
(ii)at the invitation of; or
(iii)expressly authorised by,
the committee or, as the case may be, sub-committee or is at the invitation of, or expressly authorised by, the body;”.