§ As amended (in the Standing Committee), considered.
§ 11.31 a.m.
§ Mr. J. Grimond (Orkney and Shetland)I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read the Third time."
During the quite considerable discussion which took place in Committee the great need for improvement of harbours and piers, not only in the Highland area, but all round the coasts of Scotland, was stressed and, in my opinion, very rightly stressed. Unfortunately, there are still many small communities and islands which are lacking proper piers or harbours.
The only Amendment to this Bill since Second Reading is the raising of the amount which a local authority may spend without needing to promote a provisional order from £20,000 to £25,000. In my view that makes the Bill a little better and is a step in the right direction. If possible, I would wish to raise it further.
976 I am very grateful to the Lord Advocate for coming here today. I would point out to him that £25,000 is not a great sum in these days and that the promotion of orders does entail great delay and great expense. Sometimes the authorities which promote these schemes are not at all well off. If it is possible in future to extend this good work, I shall be very grateful. When an order is promoted it is still an extremely slow business. I ask the right hon. and learned Gentleman if he will be good enough to see if some of the formalities can be cut out and some of the delays obviated. In the North of Scotland the season in which harbour and pier work can be carried out is very short and, if through delay the order is not obtained in time, one may lose a whole year because the summer has gone before the work can be started.
§ 11.33 a.m.
§ The Lord Advocate (Mr. J. L. Clyde)The effect of this Bill is to extend the range of cost on minor works of harbours and piers which may be authorised by the Secretary of State from the figure at which it stands at present to a substantially higher figure. Under existing procedure, before this Bill comes into operation, any such works that cost £5,000 or more require to be promoted by Provisional Order and, as the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Grimond) said, that involves expense and, in certain cases, delays. Under the Bill any such expensive and, possibly, prolonged procedure will be unnecessary in all cases where the cost is below £25,000.
The Government favour the proposals in this Bill. Costs undoubtedly have risen since the figure of £5,000 was fixed in the Harbours, Piers and Ferries Act, 1937. The Government are in favour of saving unnecessary expense wherever that is possible on condition that adequate safeguards are secured. I shall certainly look into the question of delay in connection with Provisional Order procedure and, if any steps can be taken which will safeguard all possible interests which might want to oppose an application under that procedure, I will certainly do my best to see that unnecessary procedure is cut out.
977 I should like to compliment the hon. Member on so successfully piloting the Bill through its various stages. The Bill seems to preserve all the necessary safeguards, and in a large number of deserving cases it seems to out out unnecessary expense and, possibly, considerable delay.
§ 11.35 a.m.
§ Mr. Ian Harvey (Harrow, East)I know the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Grimond) will forgive me for intervening at this stage, but I should like to support the Measure he has promoted, firstly, because I have had the pleasure on many occasions recently of being associated with the hon. Member, who seems daily to become more and more prominent in the party of which he is such a distinguished member, and, secondly, because it was my privilege to be associated with the islands of Scotland insofar as my grandfather built a very prosperous distillery on the Island of Islay. I must here declare my lack of interest, in that the distillery has now been taken over by another organisation. My grandfather was a pioneer; he designed a distillery in which the raw material started at the top of the hillside and then came down to the harbour, from which it was transported to the mainland.
Apart from the mechanical advantages of the Bill, I feel that it brings to the attention of the people of this country— who sometimes think of Scotland only in terms of Edinburgh and Glasgow, or of pillar boxes with "EI" or "EII" on them—that a very wide area of Scotland comprises islands which form such a vast part of the prosperity of the Scottish nation. I am sure you would not contradict me there, Mr. Speaker.
I am very glad in this respect that the Bill concentrates on the importance of de-centralisation, because in the islands of Scotland de-centralisation of authority is particularly important. Spread out as they are, it is essential that the central Government, for many reasons on which I will not dwell now, should give added authority and responsibility to the local authorities in order that they may maintain these highly important communications.
We are all well aware of the Scottish song, "over the sea to Skye," but if those harbours are not maintained in the conditions the hon. Member has so wisely 978 anticipated, there can be no question of a passage "over the sea to Skye." It is true that under modern conditions we have established a very satisfactory air service, but such is the climate of Scotland that passage from the mainland to the islands is, unfortunately, made extremely hazardous and unpredictable. It is particularly important, therefore, that these harbours and piers should be maintained in a serviceable and efficient condition.
As one who has a great interest in the motherland of Scotland, I am very happy to see that the hon. Member has been so successful with this Bill and in prevailing on the Government to facilitate its passage.
§ Question put, and agreed to.
§ Bill accordingly read the Third time, and passed.