SUNDAY CINEMATOGRAPH ENTERTAINMENTS (Hansard, 4 June 1946)

§ Mr. Hopkin Morris (Carmarthen)
Before this Order is approved, I think that the House should consider it very carefully. The Statute of 1932 makes it perfectly clear that Parliament did not intend cinemas to be opened on Sundays before a very careful procedure had been gone through. The procedure is provided in the First Schedule, which lays down that certain steps shall be taken, by the urban authority in this case. First of all, notices shall be issued announcing that a meeting shall be called, and after the meeting there shall, if necessary, be a poll. Then the Order is presented to this House for approval, accompanied by a statement of the result of the poll. Prior to that there is the notice for the meeting itself. That notice must be given within 14 days of the meeting being called. Not less than 14 days and not more than 28 days must elapse. I want to ask what assurance there is that these provisions have been complied with in this case. Before the House is asked to approve this Order, it should be assured that the statutory provision has been complied with. If that statutory provision has not been complied with, the House should not approve the Order.

§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Ede)
The procedure 1958 prescribed by the Schedule to the Act of 1932 has been complied with by the urban district council, which gave due notice in two local newspapers and by means of placards first, of their proposal to submit to the Home Secretary a draft of the present Order, and, second, of the holding of a public meeting of local government electors to consider the proposal. The decision of such a meeting would have been final unless a poll of the electors had been demanded by not less than 100 electors, or one twentieth of the whole number of electors, whichever be the less; or if the decision of the meeting had been against the proposal by the resolution passed by the council. The public meeting held in Llandrindod Wells decided in favour of the proposal. A poll was then demanded by 233 electors. This poll was taken on the 27th of April, 1946. There were 704 votes in favour of the proposal and 450 against. The majority in favour was, therefore, 254, and in historic words, "The ayes had it."The Order was then submitted to me, and as I received a certificate from the local authority indicating that all these steps had been gone through, and a signed certificate of the result of the poll, I made the Order. Tonight my Under-Secretary has submitted it to the House for its approval. I admit that in this case the figures in the poll were not as large as some of the figures I have seen; but Llandrindod Wells is not as large a place as Leeds or Gateshead, or some of the other places which have been polled recently. I think, however, that there can be no doubt that a clear expression has been given of the wishes of the inhabitants and that all the due formalities were carried out.

§ Mr. Watkins (Brecon and Radnor)
As the Member for that constituency, may I say it is the first I have heard of it, and I want to utter my protest about it?

§ Mr. Hopkin Morris
I want to ask the right hon. Gentleman one question. I am not disputing the question of the poll; that is in order; but I would like to know what time elapsed between the issue of the notice and the calling of the meeting.

§ Mr. Ede
I am bound to say that without notice I could not answer that question, but I had the appropriate certificate that all the formalities had been complied with.