LORDS AMENDMENT. (Hansard, 5 August 1925)

§ LORD EMMOTT

My Lords, I am very grateful to your Lordships for giving permission for this matter to be considered at once. I have now to move that this House doth not insist on its Amendment. The Amendment to which the Commons have disagreed—and it is only one out of about eight pages of Amendments—was that introduced on the Motion of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, to make it possible for a charge to be made for a motor car left on the public highway for the purpose of paying an attendant. The words are: Where any parking place is part of a street, regulations may provide for charges to be paid to the local authority in respect of the services of on attendant The noble Earl himself was not very keen on the matter; neither, perhaps, was the House. The Reason given by the Commons for disagreeing is that the Commons consider it inexpedient to authorise the making of a charge, direct or indirect, for the use of the highway. I must say that I also was not at all keen on this Amendment, and for these reasons I beg to move that we do not insist upon it.

§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY

My Lords, I think the noble Lord has very accurately stated the situation. I do not think, however, that the noble Earl opposite—although I ought not to speak for him; he has got his own leaders to speak for him—set very great store upon the Amendment. It arose out of a controversy in different quarters in your Lordships' House, and I am in exactly the same position as the noble Lord who has just spoken. I was not at all keen about this particular Amendment. It appeared to me that it would be a considerable departure from established practice to make a charge and, although the proposal was modified in deference to the criticisms in all quarters of your Lordships House, yet it may be very reasonably contended that the changes made do not really remove the vice of the Amendment, which, in effect, proposed to make a charge for the use of a public place to which all His Majesty's subjects have access as of right. Therefore, so far as the Government are concerned, we shall certainly not resist the Motion which the noble Lord has made.