HC Deb 10 July 1946 vol 425 cc458-60

"(1) His Majesty may by Order in Council make such provision as appears to him to be requisite or expedient in consequence of the passing of this Act for—

  1. (a) modifying or discharging rights conferred and obligations imposed by the Doncaster Area Drainage Act, 1929, or the Doncaster Area Drainage Act, 1933, on mineowners working or proposing to work minerals under any lands situated within the Doncaster Drainage District or on the Catchment Board of the River Ouse (Yorks) Catchment Area or the Catchment Board of the River Trent Catchment Area, or for substituting other rights and obligations in lieu of all or any of the rights and obligations so conferred and imposed;
  2. (b) varying the constitutions of the said Catchment Boards.

(2) His Majesty may by Order in Council make such provision as appears to him to be requisite or expedient in consequence of the passing of this Act with respect to the Blyth Harbour Commissioners, the Upper Mersey Navigation Commissioners, the Commissioners of the Port or Harbour of Newport and the Tyne Improvement Commission, and any other body carrying on a dock, harbour, canal or inland navigation undertaking under authorisation conferred by an Act or by an order or scheme made under, or confirmed by, an Act, being an Act, or an order or scheme, as the case may be, which provides for the representation on the body of the interests of persons of a class of which the Board are members.

(3) An Order in Council under either of the preceding Subsections may make provision for any incidental or supplementary matters for which it appears to His Majesty in Council to be requisite or expedient for the purposes of the Order to provide and for any requisite amendment or repeal (in the case of an Order under Subsection (1)) of any provision of the Doncaster Area Drainage Act, 1929, or the Doncaster Area Drainage Act, 1933, and (in the case of an Order under Subsection (2)) of any provision of any Act, order or scheme regulating the constitution of any such body as is mentioned in that Subsection.

(4) The draft of any Order in Council proposed to be made under Subsection (1) or (2) of this Section shall not be submitted to His Majesty until it has lain before each House of Parliament for a period of forty days, and if within that period either House of Parliament resolves that the draft be not submitted to His Majesty,' no further proceedings shall be taken thereon, but without prejudice to the laying before Parliament of a new draft.

In reckoning any such period of forty days as aforesaid, no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.

(5) An Order in Council under Subsection (1) or (2) of this Section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order in Council thereunder."

Mr. Gaitskell

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

This new Clause, which is rather lengthy, deals with a comparatively minor point. My right hon. Friend was, of course, aware all the time that, under various local Acts of Parliament, the colliery companies were covered and had various rights. He did not, while the Bill was going through this House, consider that it was necessary to make special provisions. However, having taken further advice on this point, he has come to the conclusion that it is desirable that there should be a specific Clause enabling the Coal Board to take over, in effect., the obligations and rights of the various colliery companies. That involves Amendments to various local Acts, and the substance of this Clause is to provide that those Amendments may be made by the Minister by Order in Council, subject, as usual, to the Negative Resolution procedure.

Mr. H. Macmillan

This is new to us. I have no doubt that the purpose of it is quite proper. I would like to know, however, what is meant by paragraph (b), which says: varying the constitutions of the said Catchment Boards. Does that give the Minister and the Coal Board rights which are not now inherent in the colliery economy? If the sole purpose of varying the constitution of the catchment boards is in order to enable the Coal Board to put its own representatives on the Boards, that I can understand, but it allows the Minister to do much more than that, and he can, by Order in Council, get rid of all the other members. The new Clause gives the Minister the right of "varying the said constitutions," not merely limiting him to replacing the nominees of the collieries by his nominees, and it might be that that would be very disagreeable to the Minister of Agriculture or to the local authorities. I want to make sure that we do not give him the right to do more than merely substitute his nominees for the nominees of the collieries taken over. The new Clause appears to me to be rather widely drawn.

Mr. Gaitskell

I will gladly give the right hon. Gentleman that assurance. It is not the intention to play about with the constitution of the catchment boards.

Mr. Macmillan

It may be that it is not the intention, but what does it mean? The Minister may make such variation as he likes in the constitution of the catchment boards. I think that is going a very long way, and I think the words ought to be "such variations as may be necessary as a result of taking over the collieries." We are not talking about intentions, but about the meaning of an Act of Parliament, and I rather wish that this had been kept closer to its purpose. If I am told that it does not give the Minister that right, I am, of course, quite happy.