HC Deb 18 April 1967 vol 745 cc434-7

Lords Amendment: No. 14, in page 60, line 37, leave out "to him".

Mr. John Mackie

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

Mr. Speaker

With this Amendment I suggest that we take Amendment No. 23.

Mr. Mackie

The Amendment is consequential to proposed Amendment No. 23. In fulfilment of an undertaking given to the House on Report, we have reconsidered the desirability of making it possible to transfer a planting licence when ownership of the land passes. The new subsection proposed to be inserted after subsection (4) would enable a licence to be transferred by a simple endorsement procedure. The Amendment to line 37 is consequential on that proposal. I recommend these Amendments to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Lords Amendment: No. 15, in page 60, line 41, after "force" insert: but without prejudice to the enforceability of any condition contained in a licence granted before it was entered into or, as the case may be, took effect".

Mr. Mackie

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

Mr. Speaker

I suggest that with this Amendment we discuss Amendment No. 16.

Mr. Mackie

It is convenient to discuss Amendment No. 16, Sir.

It was represented to the Government in another place that land which is the subject of a forestry dedication covenant ought not also to be subject to the Board's licensing arrangements on the grounds that the licensing procedure would discourage prospective planters. On consideration, the Government took the view that the arrangements made for consultation between the Board and the Forestry Commission would ensure that any land accepted for dedication by the Commission would also meet the requirements of the Board and that such land could therefore be exempted from the licensing procedure.

This would be affected by Amendment No. 16. The purpose of Amendment No. 15 is to make it clear that, if land is accepted for dedication after a licence has been issued, any condition of the licence remains enforceable. I hope that the House will find these Amendments acceptable.

Earl of Dalkeith

I am very grateful to the Government for having accepted the Amendment, which goes a long way towards meeting some of the points about which I was very anxious. I therefore withdraw some of the accusations which I made in the early hours of the morning on the preceding stage of the Bill. Amendment No. 16 gives recognition to serious foresters.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment: No. 17, in page 60, line 44, leave out "the Forestry Act 1947" and insert: section 5 of the Forestry Act 1967.

Mr. John Mackie

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

Mr. Speaker

I suggest that with this Amendment we take Amendments Nos. 18 and 20.

Mr. Mackie

The Forestry Act, 1967, which received the Royal Assent on 22nd March, 1967, is a consolidating Measure which repealed the 1947 Act together with those of 1919 and 1951, and other Measures.

These Amendments are necessary to substitute references to those Acts by references to the consolidating Act. I invite the House to accept these Amendments.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

10.15 p.m.

Lords Amendment: No. 19, in page 61, line 5, after "person" insert: or, where two or more agricultural units are in the same ownership, more than ten acres in each unit.

Mr. John Mackie

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

I am sure that the noble Lord the Member for Edinburgh, North (Earl of Dalkeith) will be even more delighted now and will give us a further apology for his hard words in the early hours of the morning, to which he referred a moment or two ago.

Representations were made in another place that landowners or companies owning a number of farms and wishing to plant shelter belts on several of them should not be limited to a total area of 10 acres of unlicensed planting a year.

On reflection, we feel that this is a valid point and that the ten acres should relate to each farm. I hope that the House will accept the Amendment.

Earl of Dalkeith

It may well be that, if it had not been for some of my harsh accusations in the early hours of the morning, we would not have extracted even this meagre concession. It is a meagre concession, but I say "Thank you" for it, nevertheless.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment: No. 21, in page 61, line 30, leave out "or".

Mr. John Mackie

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

This is a drafting Amendment, and I hope that the House will find it acceptable.

Question put and agreed to.

Lords Amendment: No. 22, in page 61, line 39, leave out from "planting" to end of line 41 and insert: and any fencing in connection therewith, to be carried out in such a way that access to other land will not be blocked.

Mr. John Mackie

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

This Amendment is the result of an undertaking given on Report to look again at the point raised by hon. Members opposite that, when trees are planted, it is usually the fencing rather than the planting which blocks access to other land. I hope that it satisfies the Opposition and will be acceptable to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment: No. 24, in page 62, line 31, leave out "two" and insert "one".

Mr. John Mackie

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

The House will recall that, on Report, hon. Members opposite pressed for a reduction in the penalty for non-compliance with the licensing procedure or the breach of any condition of a licence. Bearing in mind that this subsection specifies the maximum fine which can be imposed, we did not feel able to accept a reduction from £200 to £50. However, after considering the further representations made in another place, I am happy to be able to tell the House that we have reached the conclusion that a figure of £100 would be more appropriate.

I hope that hon. Members will feel able to accept this Amendment. It is the old story of splitting the difference.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.