HC Deb 23 July 1958 vol 592 cc494-8

Lords Amendment: In page 26, line 35, at end insert new Schedule "A":

The Allotments (Scotland) Act, 1922

1. Section nine of the Allotments (Scotland) Act, 1922 (which requires the councils of certain burghs to establish allotment committees) shall cease to have effect.

The Education (Scotland) Act, 1946

2. In section three of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1946 (which relates to the provision of facilities for recreation and social and physical training), in subsection (1), the words 'with the approval of the Secretary of State' shall cease to have effect.

3. In section twenty-five of the said Act of 1946 (which relates to contributions by education authorities to the maintenance of certain schools and institutions), in subsection (6), the words 'with the sanction of the Secretary of State' shall cease to have effect, and for the words 'the Secretary of State,' where those words secondly occur, there shall be substituted the words 'the education authority'

4. In section twenty-seven of the said Act of 1946 (which relates to educational research) the words 'with the approval of the Secertary of State shall cease to have effect.

5. In section thirty-four of the said Act of 1946 (which relates to exemption from school attendance) subsection (5) shall cease to have effect.

6. In section forty-five of the said Act of 1946 (which relates to the provision of transport and other facilities), in subsection (1), the words 'or as the Secretary of State may direct' shall cease to have effect.

7. In section seventy-four of the said Act of 1946 (which relates, among other things, to the examination of accounts of education authorities) subsections (2) and (3) shall cease to have effect:

Provided that this paragraph shall not have effect as respects accounts for any period before the year beginning on the sixteenth day of May, nineteen hundred and fifty-nine.

The National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947

8. In section twenty-two of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947 (which relates to the care of mothers and young children), in subsection (3), the words 'with the approval of the Secretary of State' shall cease to have effect.

9. In section twenty-seven of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947 (which relates to the prevention of illness, the care of persons suffering from illness or mental deficiency and the after care of such persons), in subsection (3), the words 'with the approval of the Secretary of State' shall cease to have effect.

10. In section fifty-one of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947 (which relates to the duties of local health authorities under the Lunacy and Mental Deficiency Acts), in subsection (3), the words 'with the approval of the Secretary of State' shall cease to have effect.

11. The Fifth Schedule to the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947 (which requires local health committees to make the minutes of their proceedings available for inspection by electors) shall cease to have effect.

The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1957

12. In section one hundred and five of the Act of 1947, subsection (2) (which requires county councils and town councils of large burghs to have administrative schemes for the discharge of their functions as local health authorities), subsection (3) (which requires county councils to have administrative schemes for the discharge of their functions relating to roads) and subsection (4) (which precludes county councils and the town councils of large burghs revoking administrative schemes approved under section fourteen of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929, otherwise than by making another administrative scheme) shall cease to have effect and any reference in subsection (5) or subsection (6) of the said section one hundred and five to an administrative scheme shall be construed as a reference only to an administrative scheme relating to education.

13. Section one hundred and seven of the Act of 1947 (which prescribes the contents of certain administrative schemes required to be made by county councils and town councils of large burghs) shall cease to have effect.

14. Section one hundred and ten of the Act of 1947 (which requires county councils to appoint committees for the purposes of their functions relating to roads) shall cease to have effect.

15. Section one hundred and eleven of the Act of 1947 (which relates to health committees required to be appointed by county councils and town councils of large burghs) shall cease to have effect.

16. Section one hundred and twelve of the Act of 1947 (which requires county councils and town councils which are police authorities to appoint committees for the purposes of their functions relating to police) shall cease to have effect.

17. In section one hundred and fourteen of the Act of 1947 (which relates to the appointment of sub-committees of committees for administrative scheme functions) for subsection (1) there shall be substituted the following subsection, that is to say—

'(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Part of this Act a sub-committee of the education committee of a county council may consist of an extent not exceeding one half of persons who are not members of the council:

Provided that a person who is not a member of the council or of the committee shall not be appointed to a sub-committee except with the consent of the council.'

18. Section one hundred and fifteen of the Act of 1947 (which relates to the appointment of committees and sub-committees of county councils, town councils of burghs and district councils) shall have effect with the addition of the following subsection, that is to say—

'(3) Any committee appointed by a local authority under subsection (1) of this section for the purposes of the authority's functions under the Allotments (Scotland) Act, 1922, the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947, the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1947, or the National Assistance Act, 1948, may to an extent not exceeding one third of its membership consist of persons, not being members of the local authority, who have special knowledge or experience in regard to the functions for the purposes for which the committee is appointed.'

19. In section one hundred and fifty-seven of the Act of 1947 (which relates to the acquisition of land in advance of requirements) the words 'with the consent of the Minister concerned' shall cease to have effect.

The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1947

20. Part IV of the First Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1947 (which requires local planning authorities to establish planning committees for the discharge of their functions under that Act) shall cease to have effect.

21. In Part V of the First Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1947 (which relates to sub-committees), in paragraph 1, for the words 'The planning committee of a local planning authority' there shall be substituted the words 'Any committee established by a local planning authority for the discharge of their functions under this Act'; after the words 'the committee' there shall be inserted the words '(hereinafter referred to as "the planning committee")' and for the words 'not less than three-fourths of the members of any such sub-committee which consists of more than three persons' there shall be substituted the words 'not less than two-thirds of the members of any such committee'; and, in paragraph 3, for the words 'a planning committee established under Part IV of this Schedule', there shall be substituted the words 'a committee to which paragraph 1 of this Part of this Schedule relates'.

The Local Government Act. 1948

22. In section one hundred and thirty-five of the Local Government Act, 1948 (which relates to instruction, lectures, etc., on questions relating to local government) in subsection (1), the words 'Subject to such conditions and restrictions, if any, as the Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe' shall cease to have effect.

The National Assistance Act, 1948

23. Part I of the Third Schedule to the National Assistance Act, 1948 (which requires county councils and town councils of large burghs to establish committees for the discharge of their functions under Part III of that Act) shall cease to have effect.

The Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act, 1956

24. Section two of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act, 1956 (which requires valuation authorities to have administrative schemes for the discharge of their functions relating to valuation) shall cease to have effect."

Line 41, at end insert:

"11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 58. The Trusts (Scotland) Act, 1921. In section ten, in subsection (1), in paragraph (a), subparagraph (8)."

Read a Second time.

Mr. Ross

I beg to move, as an Amendment to the Lords Amendment, to leave out paragraph 2.

Paragraph 2 removes the need for the approval of the Secretary of State in relation to the provision of facilities for recreation and social and physical training. I raise this because the matter was covered partly in the 1956 Act which was piloted so nobly through the House by the hon. Member for Fife, East (Sir J. Henderson-Stewart). When we expressed our concern that the Government seemed to be taking a light view of the need for further education and the provision of facilities for recreation and social and physical training, within the context of the original Act, he produced a certain argument. The first thing to notice is that the provisions in regard to the facilities for recreation and social and physical training are applicable to primary and secondary as well as to the adult stages in the original Act. This is not something just for grown-ups; it is tied in with the ordinary education of children in the junior and senior secondary schools of Scotland.

At that time, the Government introduced an Amendment which meant that they did not require local authorities to provide them with schemes in respect of what they were doing in these matters. We questioned the wisdom of that, and the Joint Under-Secretary of State—he will find his words reported in column 1099 of the OFFICIAL REPORT, 29th October, 1956—drew attention to this very phrase in the Section which the Government now say shall cease to have effect. He said that this was the great safeguard. The Government would know what was going on and would be able, if necessary, to spur on the local authorities to do this desirable work.

I want to know why the Government have now completely thrown over the former Joint Under-Secretary by drawing our attention to Section 3 of the Act and have now decided to remove the one thing that gave them the information about what was happening in this still very valuable field of education—not adult education this time, but primary school education and senior and junior secondary school education. I want to know from the Government exactly what has moved them to do this. They should give an explanation to the House for this very considerable change of mind.

It being Seven o'clock, and there being Private Business set down by direction of The CHAIRMAN OF WAYS AND MEANS, under Standing Order No. 7 (Time for taking Private Business), further Proceeding stood postponed.