HC Deb 30 June 1959 vol 608 cc297-8

(1) The council of a county or county district in which a new town or part of one is situated may, at the request of the Commission and for such consideration and on such other terms and conditions as may be agreed between the council and the Commission, do for the Commission any building or other work on land (including land outside the county or county district), being work undertaken for the purposes of the Commission's functions in relation to the new town, or any work preliminary to or connected with any such work on land as aforesaid, or allow the Commission to have for the purpose of any such work as aforesaid the services of officers or servants of the council or the use of premises or equipment of the council.

(2) This section shall apply in relation to a joint board discharging functions of any such council as aforesaid as it applies in relation to the council.—[Mr. H. Brooke.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

6.0 p.m.

Mr. H. Brooke

I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time.

I hope that this new Clause will not give rise to as great a strength of feeling as the last one. Its object is a fairly simple one. There are precedents for it, and I hope that it may be regarded as universally acceptable.

Occasions may arise after the new Commission has been set up when it would be a practical way of doing things for the Commission to borrow staff from a local authority rather than provide it itself for a short time. I am advised that under the law as it stands there would be no power for the local authority to assist the Commission in that way even though it seemed sensible to the Commission and the local authority that staff should be lent or that the local authority should in other ways give assistance and even though there was complete agreement between the local authority and the Commission about the terms of the transaction.

The sole purpose of the new Clause is to make sure that the local authority which might be either a county district council or a county council, should have power to assist the Commission if it seemed good both to the Commission and to the local authority that an arrangement of that sort should be made. I will willingly explain the Clause at greater length if it is desired, but I hope that the House may feel that this would be a sensible arrangement to enact.

Mr. Mitchison

The purpose of the Clause seems to be both excellent and practical, and if the right hon. Gentleman never proposed anything worse than this we should have very little about which to quarrel with him.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.