§
`(1) The Secretary of State may by order provide that the Commission shall have such functions as—
in relation to the parts situated in England of any monuments, buildings, gardens, areas or sites which are only partly so situated and which are specified in the order.(2) For the purpose of making such provision, any such order may contain—
(3) Any such order shall have effect subject to such supplementary provisions (which may include savings and transitionals) as may be specified in the order.
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(4) Nothing in this section permits the Commission to be given a function of making regulations or other instruments of a legislative character.
(5) The power to make an order under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument, and no such order shall be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.'—[Mr. Macfarlane.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Mr. Deputy SpeakerWith this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 40, 83, 84, 91, 98, 99, 109 and 117.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe new clause is needed to clarify the position of monuments or buildings that straddle a national border. I know that the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) feels passionately about this. The new clause also deals with powers in relation to those monuments.
§ Dr. David ClarkThe confusion about this matter arises from clause 37, which states:
This Act does not extend to Scotland or Northern Ireland, except so far as it amends or repeals any enactment which extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland (as the case may be).I found that a little confusing. Almost everyone who has read the Bill has found it a little confusing. There has been a great deal of mystery about what powers the commission will have in Scotland and Wales. I welcome the new clause. I hope that I have not implied that Hadrian's wall should be the boundary between Scotland and England. As we all know, Hadrian's wall is considerably south of the present border. I would not wish to cede parts of our country to our northern neighbour.Amendment No. 40 seems acceptable to me, but it is not clear whether it would apply to monuments that were situated partly in England and partly in Wales. Amendment No. 40 refers to giving
power to amend any enactment which extends to Scotland.There is no mention of Wales. I wonder whether that contingency is covered by later Government amendments. A bridge or a building might straddle the English-Welsh border. It would be wrong if we omitted such cases simply through oversight. I know that that is a rather tricky and nit-picking question, but it would be helpful if the Minister could give us an assurance about it.
§ Mr. CormackThis is a useful and helpful proposal. Many of us are longing for the day when Scotland and Wales have a system which is similar to that which we are giving England in this Bill. We believe that the Government have been extremely enlightened and they have had strong backing from the Opposition.
We warmly welcome the founding of a new commission. It is an excellent development. The new clause shows formally that the Government would like Wales and Scotland to enjoy the same benefits in due course. I hope that it will be soon.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI am sure that the words of wisdom of my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, South-West (Mr. Cormack) will have been noted. We discussed the subject at some length in Committee and I am grateful for his comments. This group of amendments confirm the status of monuments or buildings that straddle a national border. That includes Wales, although the boundary between England and Wales is not as clearly defined as 462 that between England and Scotland. I accept the point that Hadrian's wall is not the border between England and Scotland.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.