HC Deb 10 August 1914 vol 65 cc2291-3

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the council of any county shall have power to undertake and construct within the county works for the improvement of the navigation of any river in accordance with schemes prepared by the county council and approved by the Board of Works and to cause such surveys, reports, and plans to be made as may be necessary for the purpose of preparing any such schemes.

(2) Any works so undertaken shall be carried out to the satisfaction of the Board of Works, and shall be maintained in good condition and repair by the county council, who shall comply with any requirements made in that behalf by the Board.

Mr. BIRRELL

I beg to move, in Subsection (2), to leave out the words "shall be carried out to the satisfaction of the Board of Words, and."

Mr. MITCHELL-THOMSON

I have had some short communication with the Chief Secretary with regard to this matter, and I hope he will not press his Amendment as it stands. The Bill proposes to enable county councils in Ireland to raise a rate, if necessary, and spend money for the purpose of improving navigation in the rivers of Ireland. It is proposed that the works shall be undertaken in accordance with schemes approved by the Board of Works in Ireland, and the Bill provides that any works so undertaken shall be done to the satisfaction of the Board of Works, and that the county council shall look after the maintenance of the works so carried out, and comply with any requirements of the Board of Works. The Chief Secretary is now proposing to take out the reference to the Board of Works. If the Bill is left as he proposes, there will be no obligation whatever on the county councils to continue to work to the schemes after they have been approved by the Board of Works in the first instance. That is an absurd position to put the county councils in. If you are going to do that, there is no sense at all in having the schemes approved by the Board of Works in the first instance. Therefore I suggest that the Clause might be made to read as follows:—

"Any works so undertaken shall be carried out in accordance with the schemes so approved, and shall be maintained in good condition and repair by the county council."

If the right hon. Gentleman will accept that Amendment, I think it will perhaps cover the particular point that I have in view.

Mr. BIRRELL

I withdraw my Amendment for the same reason as before.

Sir F. BANBURY

Before the Amendment is withdrawn, I wish to say a word.

The CHAIRMAN

I have to put the Question at once for leave to withdraw.

Sir F. BANBURY

I only wish to express the hope that my hon. Friend knows what is in the Bill. I do not know in the least what is in any of these Bills, and all stages being passed straight away makes the position very difficult for some of us. I do not raise any objection, but I rather wish to call the attention of the Prime Minister to the position in which we on this side are placed by the course taken in regard to this Bill.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Mr. MITCHELL-THOMSON

I beg to move to leave out the words "to the satisfaction of the Board of Works," and to insert the words "in accordance with the schemes so approved."

I think that will meet the particular point that I have in view. It is certainly inconvenient, as my hon. Friend has suggested, that a private Member's Bill should be suddenly starred without any communication whatever with us. While I think that under the circumstances the interests of the ratepayers will be safeguarded by this Amendment, at the same time we ought to enter a protest against the sudden starring of such a measure.

Mr. BIRRELL

A great many Members on your side of the House wished it.

Mr. MITCHELL-THOMSON

Not a great many.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. BIRRELL

I beg to move to leave out the words "who shall comply with any requirements made in that behalf by the Board."

This is consequential on the Amendment just made.

Sir F. BANBURY

I think we ought to have some explanation of this Amendment.

Mr. BIRRELL

Have you got a copy of the Bill?

Sir F. BANBURY

No.

Mr. BIRRELL

If you have a copy of the Bill, you will find that the Sub-section reads—

"Any works so undertaken shall be carried out to the satisfaction of the Board of Works, and shall be maintained in good condition and repair by the county council, who shall comply with any requirements made in that behalf by the Board."

That has been altered at the suggestion of the hon. Member opposite. The Amendment which I now submit is to leave out all the words after the word "council"—"who shall comply with any of the requirements made in that behalf by the Board "—which are no longer necessary owing to the alteration made.

Question, "That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the Clause," put and negatived.

Clause, as amended, added to the Bill.