HC Deb 30 March 1938 vol 333 cc2138-40
Captain Crookshank

I beg to move, in page 26, line 21, to leave out Sub-section (1), and to insert: (1) The matters subject to which by virtue of Section four of this Act the vesting in the Commission of any coal, mine of coal, property or rights is to take effect, and the contract referred to in that Section for the sale of any coal, mine of coal, property or rights is to be deemed to have been made, shall include the following rights, that is to say: pany by virtue of the provisions substituted by Part 11 of the Mines (Working Facilities

  1. (a) any right vested m a railway com- 2139 and Support) Act, 1923, for Sections seventy-eight to eight-five of the Railways Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, or by virtue of those Sections as originally enacted, any right vested in undertakers by virtue of Sections twenty-two to twenty-six of the Waterworks Clauses Act, 1847, and any right vested by virtue of those provisions or of those Sections respectively in any other person in a capacity corresponding to that of the company or undertakers thereunder;
  2. (b) any right vested in a local authority by virtue of the Public Health Act, 1875 (Support of Sewers), Amendment Act, 1883; and
  3. (c) any right to prevent or restrict the working of coal vested in the Crown or in any local authority, highway authority or statutory undertakers by virtue of any enactment or of any order having effect, with or without confirmation by Parliament, under any enactment;
and those rights shall not be treated for the purposes of this Part of this Act as constituting or conferring any interest in the coal or mine in respect of which they are exercisable. The first paragraph of Sub-section (1) of this Clause has been re-drafted in a new form, but it does not make any difference to the substance of it. It is intended to have exactly the same effect as what is printed in the Bill, that is to say, to make it clear that the property and rights which pass to the Commission do not include and also do not derogate from any statutory right of other statutory or public bodies, to prevent or restrict the working of coal. We hope it also covers the point which hon. Gentlemen have put down in an Amendment dealing with the railway companies.

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

Question proposed, "That those words be there inserted in the Bill."

10.49 p.m.

Sir S. Cripps

I beg to move, as an Amendment to the proposed Amendment, in line 4, after "shall," to insert "without affecting the generality of such words."

This Amendment is merely a matter of Drafting. We feel that this form of words shall include the following rights, that is to say and the specified rights set out, may possibly be held to be limited to those rights only. Obviously it is intended that they should include a lot of other statutory rights as well. We thought it would be wiser to put in words to show that these are not mere words of limitation, but words of inclusion.

10.50 p.m.

The Attorney-General

If the hon. and learned Gentleman has in mind the generality of the words in Clause 4 (4), the actual words he put on the Paper are not so limited. My present view is that it is not necessary to have words of this kind, but I appreciate the point of the hon. and learned Gentleman. It is only a drafting point. If he will withdraw his Amendment we will undertake to look into it and see whether words of this kind ought to be inserted.

Sir S. Cripps

I beg to ask leave to withdraw my Amendment to the proposed Amendment.

Amendment to the proposed Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Proposed words there inserted in the Bill.