§ 5.45 p.m.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI beg to move, in page 13, line 38, to leave out "as if" and to insert:
subject to the following modifications, that is to say—(a)This Amendment, and those in lines 39, 41 and 44 are all paving Amendments for the longer one to line 47, so perhaps, with your permission, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, I may deal with them together quite shortly.The Public Health Act, 1936—some of the provisions of which are applied to the mental nursing homes by Clauses 14, 15, 16 and 17—does not apply to London, and this Clause applies the corresponding provisions of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, to mental nursing homes in London. The substantial Amendment in line 47 really makes provision for London equivalent to that which we have already made in the new subsection (3) of Clause 14, which was the subject of the Government Amendment in page 9, line 9.
The Public Health (London) Act uses the term "local supervising authority" in relation to nursing homes, and that term is defined in Section 240 as the Common Council for the City of London, and the London County Council for the rest of the county. Section 249 enables the London County Council to delegate its powers under Part XI, relating to nursing homes, to metropolitan boroughs, save only for the power to make bye-laws. The Amendment that I now move applies this Section to mental nursing homes in the same way as the Amendment in page 9, line 9 applies Section 194 of the Public Health Act, 1936, to places outside London.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonI have tried hard to follow the Minister in this rather complex maze of cross-references. Can he just say, quite simply, whether or not the effect of the Amendment is that Metropolitan boroughs are enabled to be registration authorities under delegated powers from the L.C.C.?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithYes.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendments made: In page 13, line 39, leave out "were" and insert "shall be".
§ In line 41, leave out "and as if" and insert "(b)".
§ In line 44, leave out "were" and insert "shall be".
§
In line 47, at end insert:
and
(c) for subsection (3) of section fourteen there shall be substituted the following subsection:—
(3) In this Part of this Act "registration authority", in relation to a mental nursing home, means the local supervising authority as defined by section two hundred and forty of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936; and section two hundred and forty-nine of that Act (which enables the London County Council to delegate to the council of a metropolitan borough certain powers exercisable under Part XI of that Act) shall have effect as if the reference to the said Part XI included a reference to this Part of this Act so far as it relates to mental nursing homes"—[Mr. Walker-Smith.)