§ Order for Second Reading read.
§ 3.55 p.m.
§ Mr. Hamish Gray (Ross and Cromarty)I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
I am sure that the House will appreciate that in introducing a Bill of this kind there is a considerable amount of detail which needs to be put before the House. However, with only a few remaining minutes at my disposal I do not propose to do that today. I hope that the House will give the Bill a Second Reading, so that I can go into the details which I have to produce when the Committee stage is reached.
The Bill deals with only a very small group of people in this country. When I say that, I really mean Scotland, since the Bill brings Scotland into line with the rest of the United Kingdom. This is a group of very severely mentally handicapped children, for whom at present education authorities are not responsible.
The Bill is sponsored by representatives of all parties in this House, and I wish to put on record my gratitude to the Secretary of State for the co-operation which his Departmnt has given me in drafting it. The Bill is almost identical to that which would have been presented in the last Parliament by the hon. Member for Midlothian (Mr. Eadie), to which my own Government had given their blessing. Unfortunately, it became a casualty of the General Election, and I feel privileged to have this opportunity of presenting it to the House. In view of what I have said, I hope that the House will agree to give it a Second Reading.
§ 3.58 p.m.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Robert Hughes)I congratulate the hon. Member for Ross and 1549 Cromarty (Mr. Gray) on his good fortune, and thank him for taking up this Bill. The Government give it their support and wish it good fortune. We hope to discuss its details in Committee.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Bill accordingly read a Second time.
§ Bill committed to a Standing Committee pursuant to Standing Order No. 40 (Committal of Bills).