HC Deb 25 July 1963 vol 681 cc1933-5

Lords Amendment: In page 104, line 9, after "Coombe" insert "and".

Mr. Corfield

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

This and the Amendment in page 105, line 33, are the substantive Amendments removing the three northern wards of Epsom and Ewell from Borough 23 of Greater London.

Mr. Ede

On 20th February about 7.30 p.m., in Committee of the whole House, I moved these Amendments. They were rejected by the Minister. We should have saved a great deal of time then and tonight if they had been carried. Earlier in the day the Minister announced that although he was still convinced that these wards ought to be moved out of the borough, he had decided to leave them in, for motives which I do not understand.

I assure him that if at any time in the future this absurd proposal is to be renewed, he can rest assured that the burgesses of Epsom and Ewell will oppose it even more heartily, and I hope successfully, than they have done on this occasion.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendments agreed to.

Lords Amendment: In page 107, line 15, at end insert: 8. Any expenses incurred by the Secretary of State under this Part of this Schedule in relation to any London borough, excluding (without prejudice to section 85 of this Act) the costs of any local inquiry caused to be held by him, shall, if and to such extent as the Secretary of State so requires, be repaid to him by the council of that borough.

Miss Pike

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

Clause 85(2) in applying Section 290(2) to 290(5) of the Local Government Act, 1933, gives the responsible Government Department discretion whether or not to recover the cost of holding local inquiries from the local authorities or other parties concerned. As regards the alteration of boundaries of wards of London boroughs, the Bill as passed by this House does not provide for other expenses of the Secretary of State such as the cost of causing notice given of proposals for altering wards under paragraph 1 of Part III of the First Schedule to the Bill to be met by local authorities.

It is considered that the Secretary of State should have discretion whether or not he should require these costs to be met by local authorities in the same way as he has discretion whether the cost of local inquiries should be met by local authorities. This Amendment will give the Secretary of State such discretion. This is reasonable since it would normally be the case that proposals for the subsequent alteration of ward boundaries under Part III of the First Schedule would be put forward by the local authorities themselves.

Question put and agreed to. [Special Entry.]