HL Deb 14 March 1933 vol 86 cc1083-7

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee—(The Earl of Lucan)

On Question, Motion agreed to

House in Committee accordingly:

[The EARL OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]

Clauses 1 to 8 agreed to.

Clause 9:

Conditions to be fulfilled by body corporate in order to become authorised seller of poisons

9—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a body corporate carrying on a business which comprises the retail sale of drugs shall be an authorised seller of poisons within the meaning of this Act if the following conditions are complied with—

  1. (a) the business must, so far as concerns the keeping, retailing, dispensing and compounding of poisons, be under the management of a superintendent in relation to whom the following requirements are fulfilled:
    1. (i) he must be a registered pharmacist;
    2. (ii) a statement in writing signed by him and on behalf of the body corporate stating his name and specifying whether or not he is a member of the board must have been sent to the registrar;
    3. (iii) he must not be acting at the time in a similar capacity for any other body corporate; and
  2. (b) in each set of premises where the business is carried on, the business must, so far as concerns the retail sale of drugs, if not under the personal control of the superintendent, be carried on, subject to the directions of the superintendent, under the personal control of a manager or assistant who is a registered pharmacist; and
  3. (c) the name and certificate of registration of the person having the control of business as aforesaid, whether he is the superintendent or some other person, must be conspicuously exhibited in the premises.

(2) Notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by the foregoing provisions of this Act on the use of certain titles, emblems and descriptions, a body corporate which is au authorised seller of poisons may, if the superintendent is a member of the board, use the description of chemist and druggist, or of chemist, or of druggist, or of dispensing chemist or dispensing druggist, and the description "pharmacy" may be used in connection with the business:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall authorise the use of any of the said descriptions in or on any premises which are for the time being disqualified by virtue of a direction under this section from being registered in the register of premises, or in connection with any business so far as it is carried on in any premises so disqualified.

(3) A body corporate which is entitled by virtue of the last foregoing subsection to use certain descriptions as therein provided may, if it is a private company within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1929, and every director of the company is a pharmaceutical chemist, also use the description of pharmaceutical chemist or of pharmacist.

Loan COZENS-HARDY moved to, leave out subsection (3). The noble Lord said: When a similar Bill was before your Lordships on a previous occasion the noble Lord who was then in charge of the Bill accepted an Amendment from me in the terms of this subsection, but, for reasons which have come to my notice since then, I think that the case which this subsection was intended to meet does not in practice ever arise. I understand also there is a considerable doubt whether the subsection would not be abused, and I therefore beg to move that it be deleted.

Amendment moved— Page 8, line 8, leave out subsection (3)—(Lord Cozens-Hardy)

THE EARL OF LUCAN

As the noble Lord has said this subsection was put into the Bill in 1931 on his motion, but the condition to which it applies (that every director of a private company should be a pharmaceutical chemist) is very unlikely to arise in practice and there is no reason why it should not be dropped. I understand that the Pharmaceutical Society are anxious that it should be dropped. Therefore I will accept the noble Lord's Amendment.

On Question, Amendment agreed to

Clause 9, as amended, agreed to

Clauses 10 to 22 agreed to.

Clause 23:

Power of Secretary of State to make rules

23—(1) The Secretary of State may, after consultation with or on the recommendation of the Poisons Board, make rules with respect to any of the following matters or for any of the following purposes:

  1. (a) the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations containing poisons:
  2. (b) the sale, whether wholesale or retail, or the supply of poisons, by or to any persons or classes of persons and in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions—
    1. (i) for regulating or restricting the sale or supply of poisons by persons whose names are entered in a local authority's list and for prohibiting the sale of any specified poison or class of poisons by any class of such persons: and
    2. (ii) for prohibiting the sale by retail of poisons (being poisons included in Part I of the Poisons List) except on a prescription duly given by a duly qualified medical practitioner, registered dentist or registered veterinary surgeon, and for prescribing the form and 1086 regulating the use of prescriptions given for the purpose of rules made under this paragraph; and
    3. (iii) for dispensing with or relaxing with respect to poisons any of the provisions contained in Part II of this Act relating to the sale of poisons:
    4. (c) the storage, transport and labelling of poisons:
    5. (d) the containers in which poisons may be sold or supplied:
    6. (e) the addition to poisons of specified ingredients for the purpose of rendering them readily distinguishable as poisons:
    7. (f) the compounding and dispensing of poisons:
    8. (g) the period for which any books required to be kept for the purposes of Part II of this Act are to be preserved:
    9. (h) the period for which any certificate given under Part II of this Act is to remain in force:
    10. (i) for requiring persons in control of the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations containing poisons to be registered pharmacists or persons possessing the prescribed qualification in chemistry:
    11. (j) for prescribing anything which is by this Act to be prescribed by rules.

(2) The power to make rules under this section with respect to poisons includes the power to make rules with respect to any class of poisons or any particular poison.

THE EARL OF LUCAN moved to add to the clause: (3) The Secretary of State may issue to the Poisons Board a direction that the power of the Board to make recommendations as to the making of rules with respect to the matters or for the purposes specified in paragraphs (a), (b) (i), (c), (d), (e) and (i) of subsection (1) of this section shall not be exercised except after consultation with such body of persons as is specified in the direction, being a body which is, in his opinion, representative of persons engaged in the manufacture of poisons or preparations containing poisons, and the Board shall comply with any such direction. The Secretary of State may, from time to time, revoke or vary any such direction, without prejudice to the issue of a new direction.

The noble Earl said: This Amendment is being moved as a result of representations which have been made to the effect that the rules which will be made under Clause 23 will in several respects be in regard to matters upon which manufacturers have obtained considerable experience and about which they are in a position to give valuable advice. It has always been to the interest of responsible manufacturers of poisons to ensure that their products should not be misused or cause damage, and they have therefore given considerable thought to such questions as, for instance, the labelling of poisons and the containers in which poisons may be supplied. Their advice will be useful, too, on the question of the practicability of adding to poisons specific ingredients for the purpose of rendering them readily distinguishable as poisons. It is manifestly desirable that the advice of manufacturers should be obtained by the Poisons Board on such points, and the Amendment is moved to give statutory recognition to the principle.

Amendment moved— Page 23, line 22, at end insert the said new subsection—(The Earl of Lucan)

On Question, Amendment agreed to

Clause 23, as amended, agreed to

Remaining clauses agreed to.

First Schedule: