Schedule 21 (Hansard, 19 July 1972)

§ Mr. Speed
I beg to move Amendment No. 717, in page 285, line 14, leave out from 'section' to end of line 15.

§ Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Sir Robert Grant-Ferris)
With this Amendment it will be convenient for the House to discuss Government Amendments Nos. 719, 718, 1108, 689, 710, 711, 712, 715, 716, 690, 713 and 714.

§ Mr. Speed
These are consequential and small drafting Amendments. Amendment No. 717 is concerned with Section 30 of the Highways Act, 1959, relating to the making up of new footpaths and bridleways. Paragraph 10(2) of the Schedule inserts a new subsection 4(A) into Section 30 and provides that a local authority may carry out works which it would be the duty of the highway authority to do and recover its expenses from the highway authority.
The Amendment deletes the provision allowing a local authority to recover its 863 expenses. This would be a departure from present practice under which a local authority may, if it wishes, carry out works which a highway authority would normally do, but for which it may not claim expenses from the highway authority.
Amendment No. 719 is concerned with Section 38 of the Highways Act, 1959. Paragraph 15 of Schedule 21 amends Section 38 of that Act, which concerns highways maintainable at the public expense. The effect of the paragraph as it stands is to provide that where a local housing authority carries out housing operations inside its own area, the liability to maintain the roads vests in the county council whether or not the council is satisfied that the road has been properly constructed. The present situation is that no local highway authority has to take over liability for a road unless it is satisfied with its construction. It is desired to amend the Bill so that this will continue to be so after 1st April, 1974.
Amendment No. 718 is purely and simply a drafting Amendment.
Amendment No. 1108 concerns the existing provision in the Schedule which enables both district and county councils to make orders extinguishing or diverting public paths under Sections 110 and 111 of the Highways Act, 1959. The Amendment ensures that a district council and the county council for the area in which the district lies consult one another before either makes an order affecting a path in respect of which they have concurrent order making powers. The provision as drafted in paragraph 32(1)(a) does not make this clear.
Amendment No. 689 concerns the wording which applies the sub-paragraph only to a path which acts both as a footpath and a bridleway. The Amendment proposes to substitute the word "or" for the word "and" so that Section 112 of the Highways Act, 1959, applies to all sorts of public paths.
Amendment No. 710 is connected with paths and bridleways. It concerns the phrase which is a footpath or bridleway, and and omits this phrase, the effect being to extend the district council's powers under Section 124 of the Highways Act, 864 1959, to unclassified urban roads which it is maintaining.
Amendments Nos. 711 and 712 are purely drafting Amendments.
Amendments Nos. 715 and 716 provide that where a county council takes over a road after 1st April, 1974, any drain used in connection with it on the take over date may continue to be used for that purpose by the county council.
Amendment No. 690 is a drafting Amendment.