HC Deb 28 March 1944 vol 398 cc1350-1
Mr. Ede

I beg to move, in page 56, line 40,. to leave out Sub-section (2).

This Amendment appeared on the Order Paper originally in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir J. Lamb). My right hon. Friend has seen the desirability of this course, without my hon. Friend having to advance the great strength of argument which can be advanced in its favour, and he has added his name to the Amendment, which I am now moving.

Sir J. Lamb

I am very much obliged to the Minister for adding his name to the Amendment, and I hope that this will be the first of a number of occasions when he will do the same sort of thing.

Sir Percy Harris (Bethnal Green, South-West)

Will the hon. Gentleman tell us why he wants the Sub-section left out?

Mr. Ede

It is a mystery how it ever got in. We are unable to discover any reason why a local education authority should not be the trustees of an endowment which people wish to leave. I can think of many cases in which it is desirable that the education authority should be the trustees. Take the case of a former scholar of a secondary school, who wishes to leave a small sum to found a scholarship or a prize, and desires that the local education authority shall be the trustees. There are other things that may occur to hon. Members in which it might, very similarly, be desirable that the local authority should be the trustees, and this prohibition is, I think, quite unnecessary.

Mr. Messer

It should, I think, be said that if this information had been given earlier some headaches might have been saved. I read the first paragraph, and then I read the second, and then I attempted to reverse them both in order to see why it was that one, to my mind, conflicted with the other, and why it should be so.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. Ede

I beg to move, in page 56, line 44, to leave out from the beginning to "trustees" in line 45, and to insert: A local education authority shall not, on or after the date of the commencement of this Part of the Act, be constituted. This Amendment and those which follow it, are consequential upon the Amendment we have just made.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendments made: In page 57, line 1, leave out "shall not be granted."

In line 2, leave out "him," and insert "the Minister."

In line 3, leave out "him," and insert "the Minister."—[Mr. Ede.]

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 79 and 80 ordered to stand part of the Bill.