§ Amendments reported (according to Order).
§ Clause 14:
§ Indication of presence of obstructions near aerodromes.
§ (3) Every such order as aforesaid shall provide for requiring the proprietor of the aerodrome to which the order relates to pay to any person having an interest in any land affected by the order such compensation in respect of any loss or damage which that person may suffer as a consequence of the order as may, in default of agreement, be determined from time to time by a single arbitrator appointed by the Lord Chief Justice, and for the purposes of this subsection, any expense reasonably incurred in connection with the lawful removal of any apparatus installed in pursuance of such an order, and so much of any expense incurred in connection with the repair, alteration, demolition or removal of any building, structure or erection to which such an order relates as is attributable to the operation of the order, shall be deemed to be loss or damage suffered as a consequence of the order.
§ (7) The following provisions shall have effect for the protection of statutory undertakers:—
- (a) any order made under this section affecting any property held by such undertakers for the purposes of their undertaking shall be so framed as to avoid interference with the proper carrying on of the undertaking;
- (b) no person shall, except in a case of emergency, enter, in pursuance of such an order, upon any land held by such undertakers for the purposes of their undertaking, unless he has given to the undertakers at least three clear days' notice of his intention so to do, and any person so entering on any such land shall comply with any reasonable directions given to him by or on behalf of the undertakers for preventing interference with the proper carrying on of the undertaking.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR (VISCOUNT SWINTON) moved, in subsection (3), after "Every such order as aforesaid shall provide," to insert: 200
- "(a) that, except in a case of emergency, no works shall be executed on any land in pursuance of the order, unless, at least fourteen days previously, the proprietor of the aerodrome to which the order relates has served in the manner prescribed by the order on the occupier of that land, and on every other person known by the proprietor to have an interest therein, a written notice containing such particulars of the nature of the proposed works, and the manner in which and the time at which it is proposed to execute them, as may be prescribed by or in accordance with the order; and
- (b) that if, within fourteen days after service of the said notice on any person having such an interest, the proprietor of the aerodrome receives a written intimation of objection on the part of that person to the proposals contained in the notice, being an intimation which specifies the grounds of objection, then, unless and except in so far as the objection is withdrawn, no steps shall be taken in pursuance of the notice without the specific sanction of the Secretary of State;
§ The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this Amendment is intended to carry out an undertaking which I gave to your Lordships at the Committee stage to put down an Amendment which would give effect to two points raised by my noble friend Lord Eltisley. The first is that where an order is made due notice shall be given by the aerodrome proprietor. Your Lordships will observe that in the Amendment I am proposing notice has to be given to the occupier of the land and to every other person known by the proprietor to have an interest therein. I think that fully covers the point of notice. The other point raised which I thought was reasonable was that if the owner of land took objection, and specified his objection to the nature of the works which it was proposed to execute upon his land, the owner should have a right of appeal to the Secretary of State as to whether his objection was reasonable or not. Paragraph (b) of the Amendment carries out that provision. I think the two paragraphs together carry out fully the undertaking I gave to your Lordships.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 14, line 26, after ("provide") insert the said new paragraphs.—(Viscount Swinton.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT SWINTONMy Lords, the next Amendment on the Paper is a drafting Amendment. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 14, line 29, leave out ("in respect of") and insert ("for").—(Viscount Swinton.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT SWINTONMy Lords, the next Amendment on the Paper is also a drafting Amendment, but I want to be allowed to move it in a somewhat different form. Instead of inserting "in respect of that interest in" I move to insert the word "in" only.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 14, line 31, leave out ("as a") and insert ("in").—(Viscount Swinton.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT SWINTONMy Lords, the next Amendment is also a drafting Amendment. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 14, line 41, leave out ("as a") and insert ("in").—(Viscount Swinton.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
VISCOUNT SWINTON moved to add to subsection (7):
(c) If any such undertakers show that, by reason of the operation of such an order, they have been obliged to take special measures for the purpose of ensuring the safety of persons so entering on any such land or otherwise acting under the order in relation to any property of the undertakers, the amount of any expenses reasonably incurred by the undertakers in taking such measures shall be paid to them by the proprietor of the aerodrome to which the order relates, and any dispute as to whether any sum is payable under this paragraph, or as to the amount of any sum so payable, shall, unless the parties otherwise agree, be referred for determination to a single arbitrator appointed by the Lord Chief Justice.
§ Nothing in this subsection shall be taken to affect the general application of subsection (3) of this section."
§ The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is an Amendment of substance. Your Lordships will remember that we had a considerable discussion during the Committee stage as to the liability of statutory undertakers. I felt it was impossible to ask your Lordships to alter the general Common Law as to the liability of statutory undertakers towards a person who went on to their land by statutory authority, but I was impressed by the case made by my noble friend the Earl of Radnor. The noble Earl put it to me that there might be 202 certain exceptional cases—for instance, that of a railway company with an electrified line, where, in order to ensure that harm should not come to a person going on to that line, the statutory authority might deem it necessary to put somebody to look after that man and see that he did not meet with an accident. I think that is a genuine case which ought to be met.
§
As I told your Lordships, it was common ground between us that we did not want anybody to make a profit out of the safety measures which it might be necessary to take. It would be quite unreasonable, however, that where measures have to be taken, and rightly taken, by the aerodrome proprietor, a man on whose land these measures are taken should actually suffer loss thereby. I think that in the case of a statutory undertaker, if it is right and indeed necessary that he should incur expense in order to ensure the safety of the aerodrome employee who goes on to his land, then the aerodrome proprietor ought to meet the reasonable and proper cost of ensuring the safety of the aerodrome employee. This paragraph is inserted in order to give effect to that principle. The short sentence at the end:
Nothing in this subsection shall be taken to affect the general application of subsection (3) of this section,
is merely inserted in order to show that the special right which the statutory undertaker has under my Amendment will not deprive him of the ordinary rights which he, in common with every other landowner, has where entry is made on to his land. I think that is a fair compromise, if I may say so. It leaves the Common Law liability where it stands, but it does ensure that the statutory undertaker shall be indemnified against any proper expense which he incurs in the carrying out of this measure. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 16, line 13, at end insert the said paragraph.—(Viscount Swinton.)
THE EARL OF RADNORMy Lords, I should like to express my thanks to my noble friend Lord Swinton for putting in this Amendment in response to an Amendment of mine which I moved on the Committee stage on behalf of the railway companies. I think it goes 203 a very long way to meet what I asked for. In fact I think, on consideration, that it is probably a great deal better than the Amendment which I moved. So far as I can see, in practice under this Amendment what will happen will be that if there is real danger to the aerodrome employee in any particular case, the expenses of the statutory undertaker in protecting him will be such that the aerodrome proprietor will turn round to the statutory undertaker and ask him to affix and look after the necessary light. That will mean that, instead of a man who may be experienced in aerodrome work working on a dangerous railway line, you will have a railway employee who is cognisant of the dangers, knows how to deal with them and is therefore much less likely to suffer death or injury. I should therefore very much like to thank my noble friend for the way in which he has met my difficulty.
§ LORD MOUNT TEMPLEMy Lords, on behalf of the gas, electricity and water interests, may I join in thanking the noble Viscount for this Amendment? I, too, agree that it is better than the Amendment which was put down, and I thank him very much.
VISCOUNT MERSEYMy Lords, I should like to add a word on behalf of the gas undertakers to thank the noble Viscount, who has met us, if I may say so, in a very handsome manner. I hope he will not object to the shower of praise that has fallen upon him.
§ VISCOUNT SWINTONIt is very unusual, and I accept it with pleasure. On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 24 [Amendment of s. 13 of 7 and 8 Geo. 5 c. 51]:
§ VISCOUNT SWINTONMy Lords, there is a consequential and drafting Amendment to this clause.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 25, line 11, leave out ("and") and insert ("(3)").—(Viscount Swinton.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.