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Lords Amendment: No. 1, in page 1, line 22, after "stipulate" insert
(being a fee which is in the authority's opinion sufficient to meet the direct and indirect costs which it may incur as a result of the application)
§ Mr. Peter Temple-Morris (Leominster)I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
Before dealing with the amendment, I should like to give the House the apologies of the sponsor of the Bill, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Thomas), who unfortunately has been indisposed this week. He is now better, and will shortly be with us again.
1139 I should also like to thank Lord Chelwood for his support in another place The Bill was thrust upon him and he was obliged to deal with all sorts of animals the like of which I am sure he had never heard of before. I hope that he is grateful that he has heard of them now. He dealt with the matter very well in another place, and on behalf of the sponsors and the House I thank him for that. I also thank the Home Office for its help and support throughout the passage of the Bill. I have found it refreshing, since entering the House, to know that on a non-party political Bill the same help can be given to any hon. Member, whatever his party.
The amendments were made after consultation with all the parties affected. This amendment concerns the fee that might be charged by local authorities throughout the country. The principle of the Bill is that it should pay for itself and not be a financial burden on the ratepayer or anyone other than those who apply for licences. Concern was expressed in another place that local authorities should be given guidance or at least an intimation that it was not the Bill's intention that fees should be used as a weapon to prevent people applying for licences or keeping the animals covered by them.
This intimation—the amendment amounts to no more than that—is that it will be a fee which in the authority's opinion is sufficient to meet the direct and indirect costs that may arise as a result of the application.
§ Question put and agreed to.
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Lords Amendment: No. 2, in page 3, line 3, leave out from "licence;" to end of line 7 and insert—
(iv) the person to whom the licence is granted shall hold a current insurance policy which insures him and any other person entitled to keep the animal under the authority of the licence against liability for any damage which may be caused by the animal; and
(v) the terms of any such policy shall be satisfactory in the opinion of the authority;".
§ Mr. Temple-MorrisI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
This amendment seeks to tidy up the insurance provisions in the Bill, which originally stated that insurance covered injury to any person. The effect of the 1140 amendment, apart from the drafting improvement, is that it now covers not only injury to any animal the subject of this legislation but any property and general damage.
§ Question put and agreed to.
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Lords Amendment: No. 3,
divide Clause 1 into two clauses, the first consisting of subsections (1) to (10) inclusive (Licences) and the second consisting of subsections (11) to (18) inclusive (Provisions supplementary to section 1).
§ Mr. Temple-MorrisI beg to move. That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
This is a purely drafting amendment. I would only point out that Clause 1 has steadily grown greater and greater. Since it was becoming more difficult to understand, the provisions were split into Clauses 1 and 2.
§ Question put and agreed to.