§ 12.15 a.m.
§ Mr. HeseltineI beg to move Amendment No. 3, in page 3, line 32, at end insert 'and'.
I suggest, Mr. Speaker, that we take at the same time the following two consequential Amendments :
§
No. 4, in page 3, line 33, leave out 'increase in the cost of labour and materials' and insert
'change in the cost of labour and materials and of other items relevant to the cost of carrying out any such works as are referred to in section 9(1) of the Act of 1951'.
§ No. 5, in line 38, leave out from 'enacted)' to end of line 39.
§ Mr. Speaker indicated assent.
§ Mr. HeseltineI must say that I view with slight regret the giving of so many Amendments to the Opposition if they take so long to accept them as they have done tonight. [Interruption.] The Amendments were requested by the Opposition in Committee, and I am happy to be able to help them.
1217 The purpose of Clause 3 is to deal with the reasons that must influence my right hon. Friend in changing the standard rate, which is a crucial concept within this legislation. The Bill sets out clearly the factors that my right hon. Friend must take into account in reaching his conclusion.
Broadly, the intention of the Clause is to ensure that my right hon. Friend varies the standard rate, as provided by subsection (2), to take into account, first, the rate which, immediately before the Order is made, is the standard rate for the purposes of Section 9 of the 1951 Act and any increases in the cost of labour and materials since that rate was last determined under that Section.
It was put to me in Committee that subsection (2)(c) should not be permitted to stand, because it also allowed my right hon. Friend to take into account any other factors which he considered to be relevant. This is a very wide piece of drafting. Therefore, the purpose of the three Amendments is to make it clear that "any other factors" is replaced and that the only factor which qualifies as a qualification to paragraph (b) is found in Amendment No. 4, which leaves out the words
increase in the cost of labour and materialsand insertschange in the cost of labour and materials and of other items relevant to the cost of carrying out any such works as are referred to in section 9(1) of the Act of 1951".I hope that hon. Members opposite will find this helpful. It is designed to achieve precisely what they asked for in Committee.
§ Mr. Alan WilliamsI am sorry that the Under-Secretary felt it necessary to say that he regretted making so many concessions by way of Amendments. There are only two real Amendments
§ that we requested in Committee. This set of three Amendments go together to achieve one objective, on which I see no need for great discussion, because we explained the point in Committee. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for taking it up and, to my mind, meeting it.
§ The hon. Gentleman must, however, bear in mind that when he referred to lengthy discussion that was in anticipation that the Amendment which appeared in his name was fulfilling an obligation which he voluntarily entered into in Committee to secure a rapid termination of that Committee stage. It is not good enough for him to make remarks about regretting making the Amendments because he is earning unnecessary ill will. We have been fairly restrained in our comments tonight about the fact that we have had to deal with wrong figures and with meaningless assurances, and we have had to do it at a singularly late hour. We could have been far less kind than we have been. I hope that on reflection the hon. Gentleman will realise that he is, perhaps, doing himself less than justice in the way he is behaving this evening.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Further Amendments made : No. 4, in page 3, line 33, leave out 'increase in the cost of labour and materials' and insert :
'change in the cost of labour and materials and of other items relevant to the cost of carrying out any such works as are referred to in section 9(1) of the Act of 1951'.
§ No. 5, in page 3, line 38, leave out from 'enacted)' to end of line 39.—[Mr. Heseltine.]
§ Motion made, and Question, That the Bill be now read the Third time, put forthwith pursuant to Standing Order No. 56 (Third Reading) :—
§ The House divided : Ayes 44, Noes 1.
1219| Division No. 438.] | AYES | [12.20 a.m. |
| Allason, James (Hemel Hempstead) | Haselhurst, Alan | Moate, Roger |
| Atkins, Humphrey | Havers, Michael | Monro, Hector |
| Batter, Kenneth (St. Marylebone) | Heseltine, Michael | More, Jasper |
| Boardman, Tom (Leicester, S. W.) | Hill, John E. B. (Norfolk, S.) | Morgan-Cities, Rear-Adm. |
| Bray, Ronald | Hill, James (Southampton, Test) | Normanton, Tom |
| Butler, Adam (Bosworth) | Howell, Ralph (Norfolk, N.) | Page, Graham (Crosby) |
| Clegg, Walter | James, David | Pym, Rt. Hn. Francis |
| Curran, Charles | Kinsey, J. R. | Reed, Laurance (Bolton, E.) |
| Eyre, Reginald | Kitson, Timothy | Rossi, Hugh (Hornsey) |
| Fisher, Nigel (Surbiton) | Knox, David | Russell, Sir Ronald |
| Fortescue, Tim | Le Marchant, Spencer | Speed, Keith |
| Griffiths, Eldon (Bury St. Edmunds) | Mather, Carol | Tebbit, Norman |
| Hall, Miss Joan (Keighley) | Mawby, Ray | Thomas, John Stradling (Monmouth) |
| Waddington, David | White, Roger (Gravesend) | TELLERS FOR THE AYES : |
| Ward, Dame Irene | Woodnutt, Mark | Mr. Victor Goodhew and |
| Weatharill, Bernard | Mr. Paul Hawkins. | |
| NOES | ||
| Oswald, Thomas | ||
| TELLERS FOR THE NOES : | ||
| Mr. George Lawson and | ||
| Mr. Eddie Griffiths. |
§ Bill accordingly read the Third time, and passed, with Amendments.