HC Deb 04 July 1956 vol 555 cc1487-8

Lords Amendment: In page 3, line 25, leave out from "building" to second "to" in line 27 and insert: or in any boiler or industrial plant attached to a building or for the time being fixed.

11.45 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Mr. J. Enoch Powell)

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

If this Amendment were not made, an undesirable result would follow. If a boiler or plant were installed on land outside a building and a furnace had already been fitted in that boiler or plant before its installation, it would escape from the restrictions and control which the Bill otherwise places upon out-door installations. The Amendment closes that gap.

Question put and agreed to.

Further Lords Amendment agreed to: In page 3, line 43, leave out "as part of" and insert "in".—[Mr. Powell.]

Lords Amendment: In page 4, line 5, at end insert: not being furnaces of boilers with a maximum heating capacity of fifty-five thousand or more British thermal units per hour.

Mr. Powell

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

When the Bill was passing through the House considerable anxiety was felt about the exemption from Clause 3 of furnaces to heat domestic premises and it was argued that many such furnaces, where the domestic premises were very large, such as a block of flats or a hotel, might be entirely comparable in their smoke producing capabilities with industrial plant. Eventually the suggestion was made that the way to achieve the desired distinction between small domestic appliances, which no one desired to control, and the larger appliances comparable with industrial appliances was to find some distinction of size or capacity.

Their Lordships took up this suggestion and they have produced the Amendment, which makes a maximum heating capacity of 55,000 B.Th.U. per hour the dividing line. I understand that that dividing line is adopted because it is the largest British Standard specification for purely domestic plant of the character which we have in mind. It would exclude from control by the Bill appliances suitable for heating buildings containing up to five to seven bedrooms. I think that is the kind of distinction which the House wished to see drawn.

Mr. A. Blenkinsop (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, East)

I still feel that it is rather odd that we could not get agreement for the modest and to our mind very simple Amendment which we on this side of the House put down earlier and which followed precisely the provisions in the Manchester Act. We believe that this Amendment meets the point and we are therefore satisfied.

Mr. David Jones (The Hartlepools)

We are thankful in this connection for small mercies. We are pleased to note that the Ministry is prepared to listen to the plea of another place, although it was not prepared to listen to sound, solid arguments advanced for this kind of thing being done when the Bill was examined in Committee. I argued the point, based on information supplied by people who know a good deal about this—the Association of Municipal Corporations. We are glad that at last the Government have decided to listen, even in an indirect way, to what the Association of Municipal Corporations suggestion ought to be done.

Question put and agreed to.

Further Lords Amendment agreed to:

In page 4, line 5, at end insert: (5) This section shall apply in relation to the attachment to a building of a boiler or industrial plant which already contains a furnace or the fixing to or installation on any land of any such boiler or plant as it applies in relation to the installation of a furnace in any boiler or industrial plant attached to a building or for the time being fixed to or installed on any land."—[Mr. Powell.]