§ Lords amendment: No. 2, in page 3, line 20, leave out "one" and insert "two".
§ Mr. GummerI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
Mr. Deputy SpeakerWith this it will be convenient to take Lords amendment No. 3, in page 4, line 17, leave out "of that subsection".
§ Mr. GummerAmendment No. 2, to provide for at least two independent members of the authority who would fill the offices of chairman and deputy chairman, was originally tabled on Report by the Opposition but not moved. However, two other amendments that flowed from the proposed change were moved and accepted, and it was necessary to tidy up the situation. Similarly, amendment No. 3 tidies up the drafting of the clause, removing part of it.
§ Mr. John Home Robertson (East Lothian)It is probable that one of the reasons why we are debating this Lords amendment is the fast work by you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, when you were in the Chair on Report. You caught both the Minister and I on the hop, so the amendment was not dealt with.
We covered the point of the amendment in Committee. We were rather concerned that there would be one solitary independent member of the Home-Grown Cereals Authority who would also be the chairman. We thought that there was a need for proper representation of the independent public interest on the authority and for a guarantee for some back-up for the independent chairman, particularly when there might be conflict between the evenly balanced interests of the growers and the processors on the HGCA.
We welcome this minor amendment, and the guarantee that there will be at least one further independent representative on the HGCA.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Subsequent Lords amendment agreed to.