HC Deb 17 October 1968 vol 770 cc699-701

Lords Amendment No. 76: In page 100, line 30, leave out "a public" and insert "an".

Mr. Carmichael

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

Mr. Deputy Speaker

It would be convenient to discuss, at the same time, Amendments Nos. 77, 85, 89, 90, 97, 98, 225 and 226.

9.0 p.m.

Mr. G. Campbell

The Government have not explained Amendment No. 76 and the other Amendments which we are discussing with it. I will not detain the House unduly, but these Amendments seem to meet a point which we made very strongly at all stages when the Bill was passing through the House. It concerned safeguarding confidential commercial information when inquiries were to be made. The Government indicated that they would consult the Council on Tribunals and would look into the position generally.

I hope that before we leave this group of Amendments the Government spokesman will tell us whether they result from consultations with the Council on Tribunals and whether, as we think, they seek to remedy the previous situation in the way in which we represented.

Mr. Carmichael

May I have the permission of the House to reply. The Amendments are designed to give effect to an undertaking given by the Government in Standing Committee F, in connection with the need for in camera hearings which occasionally arises. It would, however, remain in the discretion of the licensing authority or tribunal, as the case may be, to determine in the light of the particular circumstances whether it would be right to grant this request. The Government have put these Amendments down in the spirit of what they were asked to do in Standing Committee F.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.

Lords Amendment No. 78: In page 100, line 36, leave out "Minister" and insert "Transport Tribunal".

The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. Bob Brown)

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

Mr. Deputy Speaker

I invite the House to consider at the same time, Amendments Nos. 79, 80, 82, 83, 91, 96, 99, 100, 227 to 231, and 237 to 243. I have to inform the House that Privilege is involved in Amendments Nos. 78, 79 and 80.

Mr. G. Campbell

The Minister did not make a statement on this very large group of Amendments. This is another case in which the Government have met a point which we urged very strongly as the Bill passed through the House. I acknowledge that the Minister of State took my breath away on Report by telling me that the Government intended—although they had earlier said that they would not do so—to change the whole appeal procedure so that appeals would go to the Transport Tribunal and not to the Minister. We welcome the fact that this has been done in another place and that the Government are carrying out what we urged very strongly upon them, although it took some time for them to see the light.

They are right to do so. The Transport Tribunal is used to such work and operators are used to dealing with the Tribunal. In our opinion it would have been entirely inappropriate for appeals to have gone to the Minister. There would inevitably have been very long delays in Departments.

Question put and agreed to.

Subsequent Lords Amendments agreed to. [Several with Special Entries.]

Forward to