§ 8.9 p.m.
§ Mr. W. S. MorrisonI beg to move, in page 45, line 17, at the end, to insert:
5 It shall be the duty of the Ministers to satisfy themselves, with respect to any person whom they propose to appoint to be a member of the Commission or who is a 1074 member of the Commission, that that person will have or has, as the case may be, no such interest in any agricultural or commercial undertaking as is likely to affect him in the discharge of his functions as a Commissioner; and any such person shall, whenever requested by the Ministers so to do, furnish to them such information as they consider necessary for the performance of their duty under this paragraph.In Committee my hon. Friend the Member for South Croydon (Mr. H. G. Williams) moved an Amendment importing into this Bill conditions of a similar character which exist in the Sugar Industry Act. These compelled a person who might be appointed to a Commission to make a declaration of all his interests that might affect the execution of his duty with regard to sugar, and gave a discretion to the Minister thereafter, to say whether or not those interests were likely to affect him in the execution of his public duty. In the case of the livestock industry such a proceeding would be rather elephantine, because you might say you had an interest if you kept a pig at your house in the country, or had any form of livestock at all about the premises. In order to meet the point it was agreed upon in principle by the Committee on all sides that there should be some opportunity for the Minister to ascertain what holdings might be in their possession. In order to find words to fit that I propose the words now on the Order Paper. I think they give the Minister sufficient power and compel a sufficient disclosure to ensure that no improper appointment shall be made.
§ Amendment agreed to.