FIFTH SCHEDULE—(Lease Consolidation Schemes.) (Hansard, 31 March 1938)

§ The Attorney-General
I beg to move, in page 76, line 10, to leave out from the beginning, to the end of line 16, and to insert: 1.—(1) A lease consolidation scheme, and the single lease to be granted pursuant thereto, shall be prepared by the Commission in agreement with the working lessee. (2) The said lease may comprise, in addition to the coal and mines of coal in the colliery area, any other premises that are to vest in the Commission by virtue of this Part of this Act and are comprised in any of the subsisting working leases, and may, if the person competent to grant a lease thereof consents to the inclusion thereof but not otherwise, comprise also any premises that are so to vest but are not comprised in any of the subsisting working leases and any premises that are not so to vest. (3) The said lease shall not (except with his consent) impose upon any person any liability not being a liability to which he would have been subject by virtue of a subsisting working lease, or render more onerous whether as regards extent duration terms conditions or otherwise, any liability to which any person would have been so subject. This is rather a complicated Amendment. Schedule 5 deals with the lease consolidation scheme. This Amendment leaves out paragraphs 1 and 2 (1) and substitutes other words. It does not affect the Schedule very substantially but it repairs a technical omission in the earlier words by including in the premises which may be comprised in a lease, not only the coal but any other annexed rights, which under the Second Schedule would vest in the Commission when the vesting date comes. It also makes it possible to include other rights or properties which will not vest in the Commission, if all the parties concerned agree that it would be in the general convenience that they should be included.

§ Mr. Keeling
I beg to move, as an Amendment to the proposed Amendment, in line 13, at the end, to add: or deprive him of the benefit of any covenant, condition or provision of the subsisting working lease affecting or relating to any premises other than coal. I welcome the Government's Amendment as far as it goes, but surely the 2270 estate owner should not only be protected from any additional liability, but he should not be deprived of any benefits which he enjoys under the subsisting lease.

§ The Attorney-General
I do not think that my hon. Friend's Amendment is necessary, because, as I have explained, premises other than those that are to vest in the Commission can, under the Amendment which the Government have moved, only be included with the consent of the persons concerned. Therefore, it would be impossible, it would be ultra vires for the Commission to include in any lease coal free from servitudes or covenants which were in the hands of third parties and which the Commission would have no power to affect. I think the Amendment to the Amendment is unnecessary, but if the hon. Member is not satisfied, I will look into it again.

§ Mr. Keeling
With the assurance given by the Attorney-General I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment to the Amendment.

§ The Attorney-General
I beg to move, in page 76, line 18, to leave out "by the person entitled to," and to insert: being premises comprised in any of the subsisting working leases, out of. This and the next Amendment are drafting. The Schedule as drafted refers to the person entitled to the freehold reversion as a person being a party to the lease. There are certain cases in which that does not work because a person entitled to the freehold reversion is not a proper party to the lease, and the best example of this is the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

§ The Attorney-General
I beg to move, in page 76, line 28, to leave out "determine," and to insert: include in the single lease be granted pursuant thereto any premises that are comprised in a subsisting working lease being. 2271 This Amendment is designed to make it clear that you cannot have a consolidation scheme except where the lessors are the persons who have rights to be vested in the mines. There are certain cases where directions are given in Clause 5 where you have successive leases which may leave the lessor with the retaining lease. The words are to make less obscure a position which was originally obscure.