§ Adaptation of Enactments.
§ 4. The Minister may by order made on the application of any council exercising 614 functions under this Act make such amendments or adaptations of any local Act as may appear to him to be necessary for the purpose of bringing any provision of that Act into conformity with the provisions of this Act.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR moved, after paragraph 4 to insert "and any such Order shall be laid before Parliament as soon as may be after it is made." The noble and learned Lord said: My Lords, this is to ensure that the provisions of Clause 126 shall come into operation, whereby any such Order can be disallowed by an Address from either House of Parliament. I gave fin undertaking, when we were discussing Clause 123, that when my noble friend Lord Beauchamp moved to leave out a paragraph in the Schedule I would move to insert words to this effect, but unfortunately that Amendment was not moved.
§
Amendment movod—
Page 143, line 25, at end insert ("and any such Order shall be laid before Parliament as soon as may be after it is made"). (The Lord Chancellor.)
§ EARL BEAUCHAMPMy Lords, I am much obliged to the noble and learned Lord.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendments moved—
§ Page 143, line 27, at the beginning insert ("as from the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine")
§ Page 144, line 3, leave out ("as from the appointed day")
§ Page 145, line 33, at the beginning insert ("as from the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine")
§ Page 145, line 35, at the beginning insert ("as from the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine")
§ Page 145, line 36, after the second ("and") insert ("in the administration thereof")
§ Page 145, line 38, leave out ("thereof") and insert ("of such a council").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, in paragraph 21, which makes certain adaptations in the Poor Law Act, 1927, to insert:
(b) section six, as applied by subsection (4) of section twenty-four of the Local Government Act, 1894, shall have
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effect as if the words 'or in the case of a guardian for a parish wholly or partly situate within a borough is qualified to be elected a councillor for that borough' were omitted therefrom.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, this subsection of Section 24 of the Local Government Act, 1894, applies to rural district councillors the provisions of that Act with respect to the qualifications of guardians. In 1927 that Act, so far as it deals with guardians, was repealed and included in the Act of that year, and the qualification for the office of guardian is, as provided in Section 6, that, if a parish is wholly or partly situate within a borough, any person qualified to be a councillor of the borough shall be qualified to be a guardian for the parish. It is proposed by the Amendment to omit these words from Section 6 of the Act of 1927 as being inapplicable to rural district councillors. Where a parish is wholly within a borough no rural district councillor can, of course, be elected for the parish, and no instance exists of a parish which is partly within a borough and partly within a rural district.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 146, line 2, at end insert the said paragraph (b).—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, in paragraph 21, to leave out sub-paragraph (c) and to insert:—
(c) from subsection (1) of section forty-six, the words 'for the district wherein the Poor Law union or the greater part thereof is comprised' shall be omitted;
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, Section 46 of the Poor Law Act, 1927, provides that any relief granted by way of loan to any person may be recovered in the County Court or other court for the recovery of small debts "for the district wherein the Poor Law union or the greater part thereof is comprised." These words are proposed to be omitted. County Court districts are usually of greater area than Poor Law unions, but smaller than counties which will be substituted for "Poor Law union" as from 1st April, 1930, by paragraph 1 of the Tenth Schedule. It is therefore proposed to repeal the words I have quoted, with the result that it will usually be necessary for the council to take proceedings in the County Court for the area in which the defendant resides. The Amendment is in the interests of the defendant, as 616 it would be unreasonable, for example, to allow the West Riding County Council to sue in the County Court where the offices of the County Council are situate, in respect of relief due from a person residing in a remote part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 146, line 47, leave out paragraph (c), and insert ("(c) from subsection (1) of section forty-six, the words 'for the district wherein the Poor Law union or the greater part thereof is comprised' shall be omitted;").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, in paragraph 21, to insert:—
(d) in subsection (1) of section forty-nine, the words 'a majority of' shall be omitted;
(e) from section fifty-two, there shall be omitted, in proviso (i) thereof, the words 'in the interval between their meetings,' and in proviso (ii) thereof, the words 'the board of guardians are not sitting or,'
(f) in subsection (1) of section seventy-three, for the words 'poor law union' there shall be substituted the words 'county or county borough or in any part thereof';
(g) in subsection (2) of section eighty-eight, there shall be substituted for the words 'one of their number' the word 'person';
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, these Amendments of the Poor Law Act, 1927, are desired in order to prepare the way for a new consolidating measure at a later date. During the debates such a measure has been foreshadowed, and these Amendments will be of great assistance when it comes to be brought before Parliament.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 3, at end, insert the said new paragraphs (d), (e), (f) and (g)—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved also to insert:—
(e) in subsection (1) of section one hundred and twenty-three, for the words 'the workhouse of the last-mentioned board' there shall be substituted the words 'any workhouse within the area of the last-mentioned council or, if any particular workhouse has been designated for the purpose by them, at that workhouse,' and from subsection (2) of the said section, the words 'guardian or' shall be omitted;
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, this Amendment requires a little explanation. 617 Section 123 of the Poor Law Act, 1927, enables a board of guardians to remove a person ordered by an order of justices to be removed to the Poor Law union to which he is ordered to be removed, and goes on to provide that the delivery of any such person "at the workhouse of the last mentioned board" shall be deemed a delivery to the board of guardians. A county council will, probably have several workhouses, and therefore to refer to "the workhouse of the county council" might lead to disputes as to whether delivery at a certain institution was a sufficient compliance with the section. It is accordingly proposed to substitute the words "any workhouse within the area of the last-mentioned council or, if any particular workhouse has been designated for the purpose by them, at that workhouse." The second subsection of the section provides that "If any guardian or officer of a workhouse refuses to receive any person so delivered" he shall be liable to a penalty. The duty of receiving persons is a duty of the officers of the workhouse, and it is accordingly proposed to repeal the words "guardians or."
§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 7, at end, insert, the said paragraph (e).—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, after the word "words" in sub-paragraph (e) of paragraph 21, to insert "in the County Court." The noble Earl said: My Lords, the Poor Law Act, 1927, provides that where a removal order is suspended the removing guardians may recover the cost of any relief granted by them to any person named in the order "in the County Court within whose district their Poor Law union or the greater part thereof is situated." It is proposed by this and the subsequent Amendment to substitute for the words quoted the following words: "in any County Court the district whereof is wholly or partly comprised in their county or county borough." Amendment moved—
§ Page 147, line 9, after ("words") insert ("in" the County Court").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
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§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 11, after ("words") insert ("in any county court").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, in paragraph 21, to insert the following:—
(f) In subsections (1) and (4) of section one hundred and twenty-eight, for the words 'the workhouse,' wherever those words occur, there shall be substituted the words 'any workhouse'.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, a prisoner discharged from prison may be ordered by a justice to be removed to the workhouse of the union in which he appears to be settled, or, if his place of settlement is not as certainable, or is outside England and Wales, to "the workhouse of the Poor Law union" in which he is deemed to be chargeable. Under subsection (4) if a discharged prisoner is too ill to be removed he is ordered to be conveyed to "the workhouse of the Poor Law union." As explained on the preceding Amendment, it is desired to change the wording, and to say "any," instead of "the," workhouse of a county or county borough.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 13, at end insert the said paragraph.—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, in paragraph 21, to insert the following:—
(g) From subsection (1) of section one hundred and eighty-six, the words 'and where meetings of the dispensary committee may be held' shall be omitted.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, the payment of dispensary committees is required by Section 185 of the Act, which is being repealed by the Bill, and it is therefore no longer necessary to retain these words.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 17, at end insert the said paragraph.—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 20, at end insert ("(h) from section two hundred and ten, the words 'or a dispensary committee,' and the words 'dispensary committee' shall be omitted").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
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§
THE EARL OF ONSLOW moved, at the end of paragraph 21, to insert the following:—
(i) For section two hundred and twenty-five, the following section shall be substituted:—
A certificate of changeability in such form as may be prescribed by order of the Minister, or in a form to the like effect, may be issued by the council of any county or county borough, and every such certificate purporting to be signed by the clerk of the council shall, unless the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence of the "truth of all the statements contained therein, and shall, within the period of twenty-one days from the date of the certificate, be received in evidence accordingly by all courts of law and all justices and for all purposes without proof of the signature or of the official character of the person signing it.
22. The provisions of the Poor Law Act, 1927, with respect to the qualification, election and term of office and retirement of guardians and to the qualification of the chairman of a board of guardians shall, as applied by subsection (4) of section twenty-four of the Local Government Act, 1894, to district councillors and to the chairman of a district council of a rural district, have effect as if for references therein to 'a guardian,' 'guardians,' 'guardians of a Poor Law union,' 'board of guardians' and 'members of a board of guardians,' there were substituted references to 'a rural district councillor' or 'rural district councillors,' as the case may require, and as if for references to 'a union' or 'a Poor Law union' there were substituted references to 'a rural district.'
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, boards of guardians can make certificates to the effect that a person became chargeable to their union on a given day. County councils do not hold their meetings frequently, and it is proposed by this Amendment that instead of a certificate being given at a meeting the clerk should be allowed to give the certificate.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 147, line 24, at end insert the said paragraph.—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 148, line 42, leave out from ("enforced") to the end of line 45.—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Eleventh Schedule:
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§
Amendment moved—
Page 158, lines 20 and 21, leave out ("in respect of administrative expenses"),—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Twelfth Schedule:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 169, line 43, at end insert (in the third column) ("subsection (2) of section two hundred and twenty-five").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendments moved—
§ Page 170, line 6, leave out ("thirty-nine") and insert ("forty")
§ Page 171, line 14, at end insert:
| ("45 & 46 Vict. c. 50. | The Municipal Corporations Act, 1882. | Section two hundred and thirty-six,"). |
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.