§ 33. Captain W. T. Shawasked the Secretary of State far Scotland if he will undertake that the 40 days during which objections to the schemes put forward by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board can be lodged in his Department shall not be specified so that they fall while the House of Commons is in Recess.
Mr. ChapmanUnder the Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act, 1943, the Board are required, after the approval of a constructional scheme by the Electricity Commissioners, to submit it to the Secretary of State for confirmation and to publish a notice specifying a period of 40 days within which objection to the scheme may be made. If after the expiry of this period and after such public enquiry as may be necessary, the scheme is confirmed, it must lie before Parliament for a further period of 40 days; and the Act provides that in reckoning this period no account is to be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days. The possibility of any objector being prejudiced does not therefore arise.
§ Captain ShawWhile thanking my hon. Friend for his answer regarding the specified days during which the objectors can make objections, and the period of 40 days, save those when the House may be in Recess, may I ask for an assurance 578 that during these specified days objectors or people who want information will have the opportunity to consult the Secretary of State for Scotland?
Mr. ChapmanThe Act provides for 40 days for representation, excluding, apart from any period of less than four days, periods during which Parliament is adjourned, but as to specified days, I should like to have notice, and I will let my hon. and gallant Friend know.