HARBOURS, PIERS AND FERRIES (SCOTLAND) BILL. (Hansard, 27 April 1937)

§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL)

My Lords, in moving the Second Reading of this Bill there is no need for me to point out to your Lordships the importance of the smaller piers and harbours of Scotland to the welfare of the country. Your Lordships will think first of all of the Highlands and Islands where sea communications are a primary necessity of life and then of the fishery harbours round the coast upon the maintenance of which the welfare of that important industry and of many a township depends. This Bill is the result of a general recognition that behind many of these piers and harbours there are not adequate resources. A harbour is subject to constant wear and tear from exposure to the elements. Changes in economic conditions have in many cases rendered pier-owners less able to meet the cost of maintenance and lessened the capacity of the pier traffic to contribute by way of dues. There is consequently a liability to progressive deterioration.

Now the first and main proposal of the Bill towards meeting this situation is to empower local authorities to take over "marine works," as they are called, from their present owners and to apply the rates to their maintenance. The local authority will in the ordinary case be a county or town council but in some cases such councils may combine. Noble Lords will doubtless have observed that the term "marine work" occurs constantly 26 throughout the Bill and that the term is defined in Clause 31. Part I of the Bill provides for the transfer of marine works to local authorities, either by agreement under Clause 1, or under Clause 2, where the local authority are desirous of acquiring a marine work and are unable to do so by agreement on terms which are in their opinion reasonable, by compulsion. The provision for compulsory acquisition is not one to which it is expected resort will be had to any great extent. As a general rule it is anticipated that the local authorities and the owners will be glad to come to reasonable terms. It is necessary, however, to provide for the exceptional case where an owner is unwilling to transfer and also unwilling to undertake himself works which may be necessary in the public interest. Later in the Bill, in Clause 17, provision is made for the formation of special districts for the maintenance of marine works, so that when a particular area benefits from such a work, any rate which may be necessary to meet a deficiency in revenue can be levied on that area.

Part II of the Bill is devoted to a simplification of the procedure which is necessary to enable a local or harbour authority to undertake works of construction or improvement. At present such works require the promotion of a Provisional Order under the General Pier and Harbour Acts, or the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act. Special provision is made for works costing less than £2,000 by the Western Highlands and Islands (Scotland) Works Act, 1891. The procedure under that Act is, however, out of date and, as will be seen from Clause 32 of the Bill, it is proposed to repeal it. The Bill deals with this question in the following manner. It divides works, in effect, into two classes, those costing over and those costing under £5,000. Those under £5,000 it again divides into two classes: firstly, construction of a new marine work; secondly, reconstruction, extension or improvement of an existing marine work. Clause 7 proposes that the Secretary of State should be enabled to authorise the execution of work of the last class, that is, improvements costing less than £5,000, subject to the simple procedure laid down in the Second Schedule, which provides for public notice and the consideration of objections. In the case of the Highland counties, in which the risk of interference 27 with other interests is less, indeed almost non-existent, this simple procedure would also apply to the construction of a new marine work costing less than £5,000.

Improvement works costing over £5,000 are considered to fall in a category where a more formal procedure is necessary; and the same applies to the construction of new marine works outside the Highland counties even although they may cost less than £5,000. For the benefit of authorities desiring to undertake such works, the procedure for obtaining Provisional Orders under the General Pier and Harbour Acts is simplified by Clause 5 in a number of ways. In particular, the clause obviates the necessity for confirmation by Parliament in cases where there is no opposition. Under Clause 4 applications for Provisional Orders relating to marine works will in future fall to be made to the Secretary of State instead of to the Minister of Transport.

Part III of the Bill contains a number of useful provisions connected with the maintenance of marine works. This Part of the Bill applies automatically to marine works required by a local authority under Part I, marine works constructed under the Western Highlands and Islands (Scotland) Works Act, 1891, and vested in a local authority, and marine works constructed or improved under Part II. In other cases the provisions only apply after the local authority have passed a resolution or the Harbour Authority have secured a certificate from the Secretary of State. These provisions are largely concerned with finance: for instance Clause 12, which empowers the Secretary of State to fix or revise harbour dues on application by the harbour authority or other interested party; Clause 14 which provides for the proper application of harbour revenue; and Clause 15 which provides a necessary safeguard in connection with the expenditure of public money. Under that clause (Clause 15) the appropriate Department can require an authority which has received assistance from public funds for a marine work to keep that work in proper repair.

The remaining Part of the Bill, Part IV, deals with a number of miscellaneous matters, including the power of a local or harbour authority to borrow for the purposes of a marine work. Clause 24, which relates to the fixing and revision of dues 28 on certain inland navigation undertakings, will enable the existing charges on the Caledonian and Crinan Canals, which, as the House is aware, are managed by the Minister of Transport, to be continued on their present footing. Of late years these charges have been continued from year to year by the Expiring Laws Continuance Act. These are, briefly, the main and most important features of this Bill. The Bill has met with general approval elsewhere, and I hope your Lordships will have no difficulty in agreeing to its Second Reading, which I now move.