§ Order for Second Reading read.
1.40 am§ The Solicitor-General (Sir Ian Percival)I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
The Bill consolidates the law concerning highways, with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Law Commission contained in its report No. 100. As the House will have seen, the Bill is a monster. It has 348 clauses and 25 schedules. It is a major consolidation measure, and I pay tribute to the Law Commission and its draftsmen, Mr. Rippengal and Miss Christie. The praises of a consolidation draftsman often go unsung, but the benefit to the users of the statute book of the continuing process of consolidation is immeasurable, and we are much indebted to them.
A Bill of this length and complexity might be expected to occupy the House for a considerable period. However, at this late hour the House will be relieved to hear that, as a consolidation measure, the Bill has been considered in detail by the Joint Committee. The Committee made certain amendments to improve its form and to bring it into conformity with the existing law.
The Committee was of the opinion that apart from those parts of the Bill that are 1236 the subject of the Law Commission's recommendations, the Bill as amended is pure consolidation and represents the existing law. It was satisfied that the recommendations are for the purpose of producing a satisfactory consolidation of the law and that the amendments which the Bill proposes to make to the existing law give effect to those recommendations. The House is much indebted to the members of that Committee for the immense amount of work that lies behind those few words.
As I have said, this is a highly desirable measure of consolidation and I commend it to the House.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Bill accordingly read a Second time.
§ Motion made, and Question proposed. That the Bill be committed to a Committee of the whole House.—[Mr. Brooke.]
§ Mr. Albert Booth (Barrow-in-Furness)There is no provision on the Order Paper to indicate that any remaining stages are to be taken. If the Bill is committed at this stage, may we have some indication of when the remaining stages are to be considered?
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bernard Weatherill)We shall come to that in a minute.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Bill committed to a Committee of the whole House.
§ Committee this day.