DUCHY OF LANCASTER BILL. [H.L.] (Hansard, 27 July 1920)

THE EARL OF CRAWFORD

My Lords, I am responsible for the administration of the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster, and my notice has been drawn to the fact that, being governed by somewhat obsolete legislation, the freedom of management of that estate is very seriously curtailed. I doubt, indeed, whether there are any great estates in Britain which are so much hedged and limited by old legal obstructions. This Bill is only a short three-clause measure. Clause I, as the Memorandum states, authorises the Chancellor of the Duchy and his Council to invest in any securities authorised under the Trustee Act of 1893. At the present moment we are limited by the Duchy of Lancaster Lands Act of 1855, which gives us scope far too narrow for the investment of such funds as can be set aside from revenue. Clause 2 extends our power of granting mining leases. There again, under an old Statute, it is impossible for that Department to grant mining leases for more than 31 years. Nowadays a good first-class pit costs very little short of £1,000,000 to lay down, and a lease of 31 years is quite incommensurate with the amount of capital expenditure which is involved. This clause enables us to grant mining leases for 99 years. Clause 3 invests the solicitor of the Duchy with the attributes of a corporation sole. That exhausts the provisions of the Bill for which I ask a Second Reading.