§ Mr. Harold LeverI beg to move Amendment No. 93, in page 97, line 10, at end insert:
10A. During the month of October, 1969, a gaming machine licence shall not be required 753 in order to authorise the provision on premises of gaming machines at any time when there are on those premises no such machines other than penny machines; but this exemption applies to premises only at a time when they have local authority approval under the Gaming Acts by virtue of paragraph 5 or 6 of this Schedule.
§ Mr. SpeakerWith this Amendment the House is taking the sub-Amendment, in line 3, leave out:
'penny machines; but this exemption applies to premises only at a time when they'and insert:'machines upon premises which'.
§ Mr. LeverThis Amendment adds a new paragraph to the Schedule exempting premises which satisfy the conditions relating to holiday season licences from duty during October, 1969: without this, sites which will enjoy the holiday season concession in future years would need a licence to operate during the last few days of this year's holiday season.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendments made: No. 94, in page 97, line 28, leave out 'a gaming machine' and insert 'an ordinary'.
§
No. 95, in line 32, leave out from 'the' to 'licence' in line 34 and insert:
'date on which the licence is to be in force; and, in the case of an ordinary'.
§
No. 96, in line 36, at end insert:
(2) An application for a holiday season licence in respect of any premises shall be made not less than fourteen days before the date on which the licence is to be first in force.
§ No. 97, in page 97, line 41, leave out 'A' and insert 'An ordinary'.
§ No. 98, in page 97, line 42, leave out 'a' and insert 'an ordinary'.—[Mr. Harold Lever.]
§ Mr. Harold LeverI beg to move Amendment No. 99, in page 97, line 44, at end insert:
(3) A holiday season licence shall expire at the end of 31st October next after the date on which it is expressed to take effect.(4) If a holiday season licence is granted in respect of any premises, any ordinary licence in respect of those premises shall (if not surrendered under paragraph 17 of this Schedule) become void as from the day on which the holiday season licence is first in force.(5) If an ordinary licence (whole-year or half-year) is granted in respect of any premises, any holiday season licence in respect of those premises shall become void as from the day on which the ordinary licence is first in force.754 This deals with the expiry of holiday licences. It is purely consequential.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendment made: No. 100, in page 98, line 17, leave out 'A' and insert 'An ordinary'.—[Mr. Harold Lever.]
§ Mr. Harold LeverI beg to move Amendment No. 101, in page 98, line 27, at end insert:
(3) A holiday season licence may be amended under this paragraph so as to increase the number of penny machines which are authorised by the licence for the premises in question.This Amendment and Nos. 102, 103, 104, 105 and 106 govern minor administrative conveniences in the administration of the holiday licence.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendment made: No. 102, in page 98, line 37, leave out 'a' and insert 'an ordinary'.—[Mr. Harold Lever.]
§ Mr. Harold LeverI beg to move Amendment No. 271, in page 99, line 5, at end insert:
§ Existing supply agreements
§ 16A.—(1) The following provisions of this paragraph shall have effect where a person (called 'the hirer') has, before 1st October 1969, entered into an agreement with another person (called 'the supplier') for the provision by the supplier on any premises of a gaming machine during a period beginning before, and extending beyond, that date.
§ (2) If the consideration for the provision of the gaming machine was determined on the assumption that someone other than the hirer would pay the duty on any gaming machine licence required for the premise; under section 14 of the Finance Act 1966, and the hirer has paid, or will be accountable for, the corresponding duty under section 5 of this Act, the hirer shall be entitled to recover from the supplier such amount, or to make such reduction in periodical payments due from him under the agreement, as may be agreed between them (or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by the appropriate court) to be fair in all the circumstances having regard in particular—
- (a) to the period for which, under the agreement, the supplier is to provide a gaming machine as aforesaid on the premises in question; and
- (b) to the incidence of the duty under the said section 14 and section 5 as respects that period.
- (3) In the last foregoing sub-paragraph, 'the appropriate court' means—
- (a) where the premises in question are in England or Wales, the county court; and
- (b) where the said premises are in Scotland, the sheriff.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe Financial Secretary should offer some explanation of an entirely new paragraph in the Schedule.
§ Mr. LeverI beg the pardon of the House. Perhaps I should give the reason for the Amendment.
The Amendment has been sought by the Working Men's Club and Institute Union Ltd., which raised the matter at a late stage. Working men's clubs commonly hire machines from firms of suppliers, and some clubs have entered into long-term agreements providing for the payment of a hiring charge at a rate which includes an element in respect of the existing gaming machine licence duty, under the Finance Act 1966, but without specifically saying so. Though the matter has not been raised by other clubs, it seems likely that some of them will have similar contracts.
The agreements in question commonly provide for the payment of a monthly rental with no provision for amending it in changed circumstances. Under the Finance Act 1966, the licence duty, of £75 per year per machine, is paid by the supplier. Under the provisions of the present Bill, the duty may be paid by one of a number of people, including the supplier and the hirer, though in practice, so far as working men's clubs are concerned, it is likely to be paid by the secretary of the club and will certainly be so paid where the secretary hires two machines from different suppliers. Moreover, since the supplier could hold the club to the terms of its agreement, it would be possible for unscrupulous suppliers to refuse to take out a licence in future, leaving it to the secretary to do so, but without reducing the hiring charge to take that into account. This would be an unfair financial hardship to the club.
The Amendment provides for existing contracts to be varied in the light of the changed circumstances in a way which would be fair to both parties. If the parties cannot agree, the matter is to be determined by the court. A similar provision was included in the Finance Act 1966, when the duty was first introduced.
756 I hope that that will meet with the approval of the House. It amounts to allowing an appropriate adjustment of agreements to take into account the imposition of the duty, which might have a very odd effect under pre-existing agreements were the right to modification not thus incorporated.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendments made: No. 103, in page 99, line 6, leave out 'a' and insert 'an ordinary'.
§ No. 104, in page 99, line 12, after 'officer 'insert 'either—(a)'.
§
No. 105, in page 99, line 15, at end insert:
'or
(b) that as from the date of the surrender there will be in force in respect of those premises a holiday season licence'.
§
No. 106, in page 99, line 37, after second 'rate' insert:
'or. as the case may be, as penny machines'. —[Mr. Harold Lever.]