§ Mr. Harold WalkerI beg to move Amendment No. 116, in page 83, line 46, at end insert—
'(d) after subsection (10) there shall be inserted the following subsection—(10A) This Act shall apply to premises in England occupied by a Board of Governors of a teaching hospital (being a body for the time being specified in an order under section 15(1) of the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973) as if they were premises occupied by the Crown."'.This amendment amends Section 40 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971, which deals with the application of that Act to the Crown, to the same effect as respects hospitals in England as did the amendment which I moved in Committee, to insert paragraph (c) in the subsection as respects hospitals in Scotland. The 399 amendment is necessitated by the reorganisation of the National Health Services.Section 40 of the Fire Precautions Act provides for premises occupied by the Crown to be treated in certain ways, including being certified by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Fire Services rather than by the local fire authority, as would be the case for non-Crown premises. All National Health Service hospitals in England and Wales are regarded as being occupied by the Crown, with the exception of those hospitals which are administered by boards of governors, which are deemed to be owned, but not occupied, by the Crown. Such hospitals are, therefore, liable to different treatment from normal National Health Service hospitals under the Fire Precautions Act, which seems illogical. The amendment rectifies that anomaly.
§ Amendment agreed to.