HL Deb 04 February 1930 vol 76 cc460-3

Provisions as to the Applications and inquiries under Section Forty-five.

1. Every application under Part III of this Act that the driving of vehicles on any road may be prohibited or restricted shall be made in the prescribed form and shall state the grounds upon which the application is made.

2. The Minister, on receiving any such application as aforesaid, shall forthwith take steps for the holding of any inquiry which may be necessary to consider the application and shall for that purpose appoint a competent and impartial person to hold the inquiry and to report to him thereon.

3. The council by which the application is made shall publish in the London or Edinburgh Gazette, as the case requires, and once at least in each of two consecutive weeks in some local newspaper circulating in the district in which the road to which the application relates is situate, notice of the fact that an inquiry will be held to consider the application, and the notice shall contain sufficient particulars of the application and shall contain a statement as to the time and place at which the inquiry will be held, and shall also state that all persons interested may attend and be heard at the inquiry.

4. The inquiry shall be held in public, and, subject as hereinafter provided, all persons interested may appear at the inquiry either in person or by counsel, agent or solicitor:

Provided that no person shall be entitled to be heard at the inquiry unless he has within one week from the last publication of the notice of the holding of the inquiry sent a notice in writing to the Minister of his desire to be heard at the inquiry, and the person holding the inquiry inky refuse to hear any person if he is satisfied that the views of that person have been adequately stated on the inquiry by some other person.

5. A witness on the inquiry may, if the person holding the inquiry thinks fit, be examined on oath, and the person holding the inquiry shall for that purpose have power to administer an oath.

6. Subject as aforesaid, the inquiry and all proceedings incidental thereto shall be conducted in the prescribed manner.

EARL RUSSELL moved to substitute the following for the paragraphs in the Second Schedule:—

"1. Every application under Section forty-five of this Act shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed and shall state the grounds upon which the application is made.

2. The council by which the application is made shall publish such notice of the application as the Minister may require.

3. In cases where a public inquiry is required or where the Minister considers such an inquiry to be desirable he shall for that purpose appoint a competent and impartial person to hold the inquiry and to report to him thereon.

4. In any case where a public inquiry is by virtue of the said Section forty-five required to be held the council making the application shall publish in the London or Edinburgh Gazette as the case requires, and once at least in each of two consecutive weeks in some local newspaper circulating in the district in which the road to which the application relates is situate notice of the fact that an inquiry will be held to consider the application, and the notice shall contain sufficient particulars of the application and shall contain a statement as to the time and place at which the inquiry will be held, and shall also state that all persons interested may attend and be heard at the inquiry.

5. In any case where a public inquiry is held by virtue of a direction given by the Minister in pursuance of the said Section forty-five the council making the application shall publish notice of the inquiry in such form as the Minister may require.

6. Subject as hereinafter provided, all persons interested may appear at the inquiry either in person or by counsel, agent or solicitor:

Provided that no person shall be entitled to be heard at the inquiry unless he has within one week from the last publication of the notice of the holding of the inquiry sent a notice in writing to the Minister of his desire to be heard at the inquiry, and the person holding the inquiry may refuse to hear any person if he is satisfied that the views of that person have been adequately stated on the inquiry by some other person.

7. A witness on the inquiry may, if the person holding the inquiry thinks fit, be examined on oath, and the person holding the inquiry shall for that purpose have power to administer an oath.

8. Subject as aforesaid inquiries and all proceedings incidental thereto shall be conducted in the prescribed manner."

The noble Earl said: My Lords, this is really a redraft of the Schedule in a better form.

Amendment moved— Page 84, leave out from end of line 3 to the end of the Schedule and insert the said new paragraphs.—(Earl Russell.)

THE EARL OF CRANBROOK

My Lords, I am sorry to trouble the noble Earl once more, but there is one point which I do not quite understand. In the proviso in paragraph 6 of the proposed new Schedule it is stated that the person holding the inquiry may refuse to hear any person if he is satisfied that the views of that person have been adequately stated … I do not quite understand how he is going to find out if those views have been adequately stated without hearing the person.

EARL RUSSELL

My Lords, I think the object of this is fairly clear. It is to prevent waste of time and money. How the person holding the inquiry will know whether views have been adequately stated by some other persons I do not know, but I suppose he might know it from the submissions that they have made or in some other way. The object is merely to save time. It does not mean, of course, and is not likely to mean that anything material will ever be shut out, but it means that you cannot have six people representing the same case occupying the time of the tribunal by saying the same thing six times over. That is all. It is very desirable to stop that kind of thing, because all this is costing money to all the parties to the inquiry.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Fourth Schedule: