HC Deb 20 June 1968 vol 766 cc1444-5

DURATION AND RENEWAL OF LICENCE

Mr. Snow

I beg to move Amendment No. 27, in page 18, line 40, at beginning insert: 'Subject to the following provisions of this section'.

Mr. Speaker

With this Amendment we can discuss Government Amendments No. 29, No. 45 and No. 47.

Mr. Snow

These two pairs of Amendments fulfil the promise made in Standing Committee on 4th April to meet the intention of Amendments put down by the hon. Member for Surbiton (Mr. Fisher). Under these Clauses as they now stand, a situation could arise in which the licensing authority had not made its decision on renewal before the period of validity of the licence or certificate had expired, so that the holder would either have to carry on in breach of Clause 7, Clause 8 or Clause 31 or interrupt his operations pending the licensing authority's decision. Paragraph (a) of the new subsection (6) of Clause 24 and of the new subsection (7) of Clause 34 would keep the licence or certificate in force until the licensing authority's decision to renew or to refuse renewal.

Further, paragraph (b) in these two subsections deals with a related point not covered in the hon. Gentleman's Amendments moved in Committee. If the licensing authority's decision is not to renew the licence or certificate or to renew with modifications, and a point is reached where the holder applies to the High Court under Clause 98, the Court has power to make an interim order under Clause 98(3)(a) suspending the licensing authority's decision pending the Court's determination of the application, but this is not enough to prevent the licence or certificate from expiring. The provision in paragraph (b) accordingly keeps the licence or certificate alive during the period of suspension. I hope that the hon. Gentleman feels that he did his duty very well and that we have aided him in the matter.

Mr. Fisher

I thank the hon. Gentleman not only for implementing the undertaking given by the Minister to me in Committee—for which we were obliged —in order to meet the gap revealed by my Amendments, but for the way in which the hon. Gentleman has moved his own Amendment.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendments made: No. 29, in page 19, line 32, at end insert: (6) Where an application for the renewal of a licence under this Act has been duly made—

  1. (a) the licence shall not cease to be in force by virtue of the preceding provisions of this section before the licensing authority have determined the application, and
  2. (b) If by an interim order made under section 98(3)(a) of this Act the operation of the decision of the licensing authority on the application is suspended, the licence shall not cease to be in force by virtue of those provisions so long as the operation of the decision continues to be suspended by the order.—[Mr. Snow.]

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