§ 4.5 p.m.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Merlyn Rees)I beg to move Amendment No. 90, in page 19, line 12, at end insert:
(2A) In Part VI of Schedule 3 to the Local Government Act 1933, in paragraph 5 (5) (which was substituted for the previous paragraph 5 (5) by section 5 of the Local Government Elections Act 1956 and applies certain provisions to polls consequent on a parish meeting)—This is a technical Amendment. Paragraph 5 (5), of Part VI of Schedule 3 to the Local Government Act, 1933 as replaced by Section 5 of the Local Government Elections Act, 1956, refers to local election rules. These are altered in the Bill and paragraph (b) of the Amendment deals with this. Paragraph (a) deals with the situation that between the date of the parish meeting at which a poll is demanded and the date at which the poll is held, more people may reach voting age and become electors. Under the Amendment, only the electors who were entitled to attend the parish meeting at which the poll was demanded will be entitled to vote at the poll consequent thereon. The poll is therefore, in 439 effect, an adjournment of the parish meeting.
- (a) after the words 'A poll consequent on a parish meeting' there shall be inserted the words 'shall be a poll of those entitled to attend the meeting as local government electors, and'; and
- (b) any reference to a provision of the Representation of the People Act 1949 which is amended by this Act shall have effect as a reference to that provision as so amended, and the reference to the local elections rules shall apply also to paragraph 11 of Schedule 2 to this Act.
§ Mr. Richard Sharples (Sutton and Cheam)I do not think that anyone will quarrel with the Amendment, which is probably useful. There is another reason why we do not quarrel with it. It is the first Amendment that the Government have put down. We are grateful to them for using the parish councils as this vehicle, because it gives us the opportunity of debating the matter on Report, which otherwise I do not think we should have been able to do.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
§ Clauses 25 to 28 ordered to stand part of the Bill.