Clause 16.—(SCHEME FOR RAISING LEVY OTHERWISE THAN BY DEDUCTION.) (Hansard, 9 March 1965)

§ Mr Hoy

I beg to move Amendment No. 8, in page 13, line 1, to leave out from the beginning to "may" and to insert: So far as is necessary for determining the liability of persons to a levy imposed in accordance with a scheme under this section, such a scheme". This Amendment also derives from an undertaking which was given in Committee when we were discussing an Amendment to Clause 16(2,b) moved by hon. Members opposite. Clause 16(2,b) provides that a scheme under Clause 16 may empower the Authority to require growers, dealers or processors to furnish returns and other information and to produce for examination books and other documents in its custody or under its control. The point made by the hon. Member for Edinburgh, West (Mr. Stodart) was that there was apparently no limitation in the Clause on the kinds of books and other documents that might be required to be produced and that the requirement might even, on the face of it, extend to books or documents of a private nature extraneous to the Authority's business. This, of course, was not the intention and I therefore undertook to move an Amendment on Report which would make the position clear.

The effect of the Amendment is that any of the powers referred to in subsection (2) can be conferred on the Authority only to the extent that this is necessary for determining the liability of growers to the levy. Thus there can be no question of the Authority seeking access to books or other documents other than those which are strictly relevant to the purposes of a scheme for the direct collection of a levy under the Clause. I hope that the hon. Gentleman and the House will feel that I have fulfilled the pledge that I gave in Committee.