HC Deb 01 July 1921 vol 143 cc2575-6

(1) A body corporate may carry on the business of dentistry if—

  1. (a) it carries on no business other than dentistry or some business ancillary to the business of dentistry; and
  2. (b) a majority of the directors and all the operating staff thereof are registered dentists:

Provided that—

(b) where any director or manager of any body corporate which is carrying on the business of dentistry at the commencement of this Act satisfies the Board within the interim period that he has for any five of the seven years immediately preceding the commencement of this Act been acting as director or manager of any such body corporate, he shall be entitled to be entered as such a director or manager in a list to be kept by the registrar for the purposes of this Section, and if so entered shall be entitled, notwithstanding that he is not a registered dentist, to act as a director or manager, but shall not by virtue of being so entered be entitled to practise dentistry.

(2) Save as aforesaid it shall not be lawful after the date on which the provisions of this Act prohibiting the practice of dentistry by an unregistered person come into operation for any body corporate to carry on the business of dentistry, and if any body corporate carries on the business of dentistry in contravention of the provisions of this Section, it shall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Where a body corporate is convicted of an offence under this Section every director and manager thereof shall, unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge, be guilty of the like offence, and the court may in addition to a fine order that the name of any director or manager convicted under this provision shall be removed from the list aforesaid.

Lords Amendments:

In Sub-section (1, b) leave out the words "or manager" where they occur.

Agreed to.

Lords Amendment:

In Sub-section (1, b) leave out the words "be entitled, notwithstanding that he is not a registered dentist, to act as a director," and insert "for the purpose of this Section be treated as being a registered dentist."

Sir A. MOND

I beg to move, as an Amendment to the words proposed to be inserted by the Lords, after the word "treated," to insert the words in relation to that body corporate, or any other body corporate formed for the purpose of reconstructing that body corporate, or of amalgamating it with any other such body carrying on the business of dentistry at the commencement of this Act. This is a limiting Amendment, which has been found necessary in considering the Lords Amendment.

Mr. RAWLINSON

Will that have any real effect on companies that are carrying on dentistry at present?

Sir A. MOND

No, it will not have any effect on existing companies. The object of it is to prevent the director who is not a registered dentist calling himself a registered dentist as far as a new company is concerned which is not a reconstruction or amalgamation of an existing company.

Amendment to Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment:

In Sub-section (2): Leave out the words "or manager."

Agreed to.