HL Deb 01 August 1923 vol 54 cc1516-7
THE EARL OF CLARENDON

My Lords, I beg to move the Motion which appears on the Paper in my name. I ought to state that the Order was considered by a Select Committee in another place which heard all the parties interested, and that Select Committee recommended that the Order be agreed to, subject to the modifications and conditions which now appear on the printed Paper before your Lordships.

Moved, That the Draft Special Order proposed to be made by the Board of Trade under Section 10 of the Gas Regulation Act, 1920, on the application of the Barnsley Gas Company, which was presented on the 24th April, and published, be approved, subject to the following modifications and additions:—

Page 6, at end of Section 25, insert— Provided that the Company shall not supply gas under any such contract beyond the limits of supply if and so long as such supply would interfere with the supply of gas within those limits.

Page 10, at end of Section 30, insert— Provided that this section shall not apply to any main used by the Company for the supply by them of gas under a contract entered into under Section 25 of this Order.

Page 15, line 1, leave out from the first "the" to "the" in line 2, and insert "1st day of October 1924," and after "fit" insert "on the application of the Company or of the Mayar, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Borough of Barnsley."

Page 15, after Section 46, insert Section 46A— 46A. Until the provisions contained in the First Schedule to this Order shall come into operation, and notwithstanding anything contained in Section 31 of the Gasworks Clauses Act, 1847, the amount which the Company may carry out of the clear profits of the undertaking after the 1st October 1924, to any reserve fund formed in pursuance of the said Section 31, shall not exceed a sum equal to one per centum per annum on the total authorised capital (including loan capital) of the Company."—(The Earl of Clarendon.)

THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES (THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE)

My Lords, I am glad that an agreement has been reached in this case, and I hope your Lordships will concur in the settlement which has been arrived at by the Commons as the result of an Inquiry. That, in my view, is the only proper way in which these Orders, when opposed, can be dealt with. But I hesitate to think what would happen if your Lordships disagreed with the Commons, for the authors of the Act have provided no means for reconciling any difference between the two Houses which might arise in a case such as this, and the moral I draw from that fact is that a Joint Committee of both Houses will be the best tribunal to enquire into future cases.

On Question, Motion agreed to.