Clause 4.—(ANCILLARY PROVISIONS AS TO AUTHORISATIONS.) (Hansard, 11 May 1953)

§ Mr. Nugent
I beg to move, in page 6. line 27, after "subject," to insert: or after being given may be subjected. The purpose of the Amendment is to make quite clear that the Minister may attach conditions to a works authorisation after he has given it. As the Clause is at present worded, it might be held that once the Minister had given his works authorisation he could not make a condition afterwards.

§ Mr. Blenkinsop
I take it that this covers the point dealt with in the earlier Amendment and enables the Minister to give this further notice for the restoration of land in certain cases where he might have to give a direction after the authorisation had been given.

§ Mr. Nugent
I beg to move, in page 6, line 33, at the end, to insert: Provided that he or they shall—

(a) before attaching a condition to an authorisation after it has been given, consult the river board; and
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(b) before varying conditions attached to an authorisation, or varying or revoking an order under section two of this Act, consult the river board, and, so far as appears to him or them to be practicable, persons appearing to him or them to be liable to be adversely affected by the variation or revocation.

The effect of the first part of this Amendment is that the Minister, or, in the case of an order affecting highways, the Minister and the Minister of Transport, should consult the river board before attaching a condition after a works authorisation has been given. I think my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Horncastle (Commander Maitland) had the point in mind in the Amendment in his name during the Committee stage. The effect of the second part of the Amendment is that, when conditions are varied in a works authorisation or an order under Clause 2 is varied or revoked, the Minister, or the Minister and the Minister of Transport, should consult the river board and anyone else, such as any private person, whose interests may be adversely affected by varying the conditions or revoking the Order.

Commander Maitland
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for putting in these words, particularly as I was not able to move my Amendment, owing to circumstances over which I had no control.

§ Mr. Nugent
I beg to move, in page 7, line 10, after "unless," to insert "in any case."
The effect of this Amendment, and the following one to line 11, is to distinguish between the period of notice needed for mere entry into a building and the period of notice needed for entry to do work. There was considerable discussion in Committee about the length of notice for entry to do work, and my right hon. Friend has agreed that we should extend the original provision of 24 hours' notice to seven days' notice in the case of entry to do work. I should mention that the river boards are required by Clause 3 (6) to notify people of the giving of a works authorisation so that people with buildings on the line of a bank will know early on where the bank is to be, and the effect of the notice is simply to let them know that the time has arrived when the work will actually have to be done.

§ Mr. Blenkinsop
Again, we must express our gratitude to the Minister for going, not the whole way that we asked, but at least half the way. We made representations in Committee that notice of 14 days should be granted in these cases where work was being done. After some consideration of the Amendment, we decided that a compromise is properly established in the case when we are offered half our case, and we therefore think it reasonable that there should not be any delay imposed on the river boards in carrying out work which is very urgently needed. If the river boards plan their work so that seven days' notice is given, we are sure that it is a reasonable provision to safeguard the interests of ordinary people whose houses, garages, stables or whatever it may be might well be affected.