CLAUSE 7.—(Power to extend Local Government Superannuation Act. 1937, or Local Government Superannuation (Scotland) Act, 1937, to employees of certain associations.) (Hansard, 23 April 1948)

§ Mr. J. Edwards
I beg to move, in page 12, line 24, to leave out from "any," to "makes," in line 25, and to insert: body, being either—

(a) a body representative of local authorities; or

(b) a body representative of local authorities and officers of local authorities; or

(c) a body representative of officers of local authorities formed for the purpose of consultation as to the common interests of those authorities and the discussion of matters relating to local government."

All the Amendments to this Clause are designed to meet an objection raised in Committee. The objection was that the Clause, as drafted, would enable any of the unions connected with local government to enter local government superannuation schemes. That was not the purpose of the Clause. As it appears to be the general wish that they should be excluded, these Amendments have been put down. The Clause will cover, first, a body representative of local authorities which includes any of the local authority associations; secondly, a body representative of local authorities and their officers jointly, and, thirdly, a body representative of officers of local authorities, provided it is formed for the purpose of consulting as to the common interest of those authorities and the discussion of matters relating to local government. The words of this last group have been taken from Section 129 of the Local Government Act, 1948, which enables local authorities to pay subscriptions to associations of officers which satisfy this description. The wording of that Section was specifically designed to include organisations of officers of local authorities formed for the purpose of consultation as to the common interest of local authorities, and for discussing matters relating to local government.

§ Mr. Berry
This Amendment will go a long way towards meeting the fears of local authorities that they might find it difficult to resist applications of the type to which the Parliamentary Secretary has 2211 referred. There has been a long discussion on this matter, and I think that the Amendment will give general satisfaction and will be welcomed by the local authorities.

§ Mr. Assheton (City of London)
Like the hon. Member for West Woolwich (Mr. Berry), I am glad that this Amendment has been moved by the Government. It meets some of the difficulties we foresaw during the Committee stage. There was certainly a gap in the Clause which needed filling, and we are now quite satisfied with the Clause as amended.