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Lords Amendments: No. 11, in page 27, line 16, leave out paragraph (d) and insert:
(d) for appeals against refusals, variations, suspensions or revocations of licences to lie to a prescribed body or person (which may be a court, a Minister of the Crown, a body or person constituted or appointed by or under the regulations or such other body or person as the Secretary of State thinks fit) and for applying the provisions of an enactment, with or without modifications, in relation to such appeals;
§ Mr. NobleI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This is another Amendment on the question of appeals. There is, I believe, a need to examine in some depth with those principally concerned the precise grounds for appeal and to whom the appeal would lie. The Amendment gives the necessary width to do this at the appropriate stage.
§ Mr. MillanI do not object to this Amendment because it gives a certain flexibility which is not in the Bill at the moment. But I must say that I think it is rather unsatisfactory that when this Bill is at this very late stage we should have an Amendment which leaves the whole question of appeals under the Clause very vague. We do not know now whether an appeal will be to the courts or to the Minister or to some specially constituted body.
There is, perhaps, a case for the Government thinking again about this, but I must say that I think it is very unsatisfactory that when one considers 1510 the whole genesis of this Bill—the Edwards Committee's Report, the Labour Party White Paper and the tremendous amount of discussion that we had—we should be faced with a power on the part of the Minister, after the Bill has become an Act, to decide the question of appeal.
I do not want to sound churlish, but I think the Minister will agree that this is rather an unsatisfactory situation. However, I do not object to it because I think it will give everybody a chance to have second thoughts about it, but I think it is a pity that it was not more carefully considered before this late stage.
§ Mr. NobleI take the hon. Gentleman's point. Perhaps I should have pointed out that this Amendment merely gives powers, but hon. Members will have a further opportunity of considering the Government's proposals. They will have to be set out in regulations at the appropriate time. Therefore, another opportunity does exist.
§ Question put and agreed to.