HC Deb 30 July 1947 vol 441 cc594-5

Lords Amendment: In page 35, line 17, leave out from "State" to "a" in line 18 and insert: before the first day of January nineteen hundred and forty-eight or such later date as the Secretary of State may in special circumstances allow.

The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. T. Fraser)

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

This is rather more than a drafting Amendment. It was originally proposed that joint committees should submit administration schemes within three months, and the question of establishments should be worked out later. During the Committee stage, however, we agreed that establishments should be part of the administration schemes and it seems appropriate to extend the limit to three months, as indeed Clause 20 does for England and Scotland, where it is provided that joint committees shall submit schemes by January 1, 1948.

Lords Amendment: In page 41, line 8, after "grants" insert: in respect of expenditure incurred by them.

Mr. T. Fraser

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

This is purely a drafting Amendment.

Mr. C. Williams

If this is a drafting Amendment, and is in the decision the hon. Gentleman has just announced, can we be told why it is re-drafted and for what purpose?

Mr. Fraser

These words were inadvertently omitted at an earlier stage. The provision as it reads without these words is not very clear, and they are necessary to make the matter clear beyond any doubt.

Remaining Lords Amendments agreed to [Several with Special Entries].