HC Deb 17 December 1947 vol 445 cc1824-5

10.3 p.m.

The Solicitor-General (Sir Frank Soskice)

I beg to move: That the Order of Reference [23rd October] to the Select Committee be amended in line 3, by inserting after '1893),' the words 'or Statutory Instrument,' and by inserting after the word 'Order,' the word 'Instrument.' There are three Motions on the Order Paper tonight in the names of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House and myself. All relate to the same matter. They are highly technical and, I believe, non-controversial. Perhaps it would be convenient if I explained what each provides for. The first two are designed to extend the terms of reference of the Scrutiny Committee. They are made necessary by the fact that the Statutory Instruments Act, 1946, will come into operation on 1st January next. The first Motion extends the terms of reference to enable the Scrutiny Committee to take into consideration Statutory Instruments. The second extends it by enabling the Scrutiny Committee to take into consideration notifications which you, Mr. Speaker, lay on the Table of the House when an instrument is made to come into operation before it is laid. The third makes a slight Amendment to the new Standing Order No. 94, which this House adopted on 5th November, by limiting the Statutory Instruments to which it applies to those which, under Section 4 of the Statutory Instruments Act, 1946, have to be laid before they come into operation.

Resolved: That the Order of Reference [23rd October] to the Select Committee be amended in line 3, by inserting after '1893),' the words 'or Statutory Instrument,' and by inserting after the word 'Order,' the word 'Instrument.'

Resolved: That the Select Committee have power to consider any notification which, having been sent to Mr. Speaker under the proviso to subsection (1) of Section four of the Statutory Instruments Act, 1946, has been laid by him upon the Table of the House."—[The Solicitor-General.]