- (1) If it appears to the Minister that there has been a serious or persistent failure on the part of any person to comply with one or more of the requirements imposed on and notified to that person under section 25 of this Act, the Minister may, after consultation with the Minister of Transport, revoke any licence for the time being held by that person.
- (2) On deciding to act under the foregoing subsection the Minister shall give notice in writing of his decision to the holder of the licence, the Board and licensing authority stating the reasons for the proposed revocation and the date on which the decision will come into force in accordance with the next following subsection.
- (3) The decision shall come into force on the expiration of the period of six months from the date of the giving of the notice of the decision.—[Mrs. Shirley Williams.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour (Mrs. Shirley Williams)I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time.
548 Just now the hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) quoted the Economist as saying that it was a pity that too much material should be introduced on Report. I think that the hon. Gentleman will agree that this proposed Clause is material which should be introduced on Report in an attempt to meet points raised in Committee.
The object of this Clause is to meet a point that was raised by a number of my hon. Friends in Committee in connection with the requirement that an employer's licence shall be revoked should there be a serious and persistent failure to meet his obligations under the welfare provisions of this Bill. As is pointed out by this Clause, which carries with it ancillary Amendments Nos. 38 and 54 which are consequential upon it, the Minister would have the power to revoke a licence in this event, but would have to hold an inquiry before such a revocation could taken place. This is the effect of Amendment No. 54.
I do not believe that hon. Members will require me to advance detailed arguments or reasons for introducing this Clause. I am sure that they will feel that just as there is provision in the Bill for the revocation of a licence in the event of an employer's failure to carry out the other conditions to the licence, so this provision should also be extended, by this Clause, to the welfare conditions and any serious breach of them. We are convinced that employers will wish to introduce decent amenities for workers and, therefore, the new Clause will be acceptable to both sides of the industry.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.