Lords Sitting of 17 June 1937

Preamble
The House met at a quarter past four of the clock, The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL (MONEY) BILL.
Read 2a, and committed.
DARTFORD TUNNEL BILL. [H.L.]
Read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.
LIVERPOOL UNITED HOSPITAL BILL. [H.L.]
Read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.
STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL BILL.
Read 3a, and passed.

METHYLATED SPIRITS (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.
Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Kinnaird.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
House in Committee accordingly:
[The EARL OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]
Clause 1:
Restrictions on sale of methylated spirits.
1.—(1) It shall not be lawful to sell by retail any methylated spirits or surgical spirit unless—
(i) the seller's name is entered in a local authority's list kept in pursuance of this Act, and the sale is effected on premises specified in that list; and
(2) It shall not he lawful to sell by retail methylated spirits or surgical spirit to any person under the age of fourteen.
LORD ASKWITH LORD ASKWITH moved, in subsection (1), at the beginning of paragraph (i), to insert "either the seller is an authorised seller of poisons and the sale is effected on registered premises or."
The noble Lord said: The Amendments which have been placed on the Paper by myself and by my noble friend Lord Leverhulme are practically the same as were put down on June 1 and circulated at that date. Since then, however, they have been redrafted in the office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, and I understand that the promoters of the Bill in another place, my noble friend Lord Kinnaird here, and the Government are prepared to accept the Amendments. I do not know if I need say much more than I said on the Second Reading of the Bill. The object is to avoid double listing and dual authority. The chemists in Great Britain, not only in Scotland, are placed by an Act passed in 1933 under the Lord President of the Council and under a Statutory Committee the Chairman of which, Sir Ernle Blackwell, has been an eminent civil servant. This Committee exercise a great many powers, and certain provisions in Clause 1, (i) (ii), (iii) and (iv) will be applied by them. The proposal is that while local authorities and the resellers of surgical spirits or methylated spirits will be chiefly hit by the Bill, the doctors and chemists, who are already under stringent regulations, should be treated as an authority whose powers will continue to exist. I therefore beg to move the first Amendment.
Amendment moved—
Page 1, line 8, after ("(i)") insert ("either the seller is an authorised seller of poisons and the sale is effected on registered premises or").—(Lord Askwith.)
LORD KINNAIRD: I accept the Amendment.
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD ASKWITH LORD ASKWITH moved, in subsection (2), to insert "knowingly" after "lawful." The noble Lord said: This is simply to bring the sales within the provisions of the licensing laws. Apparently the word "knowingly" is wanted. It is in two of the Intoxicating Liquors Acts, and this Act should be made to tally with them. I beg to move.
Amendment moved—
Page 2, line 19, after ("lawful") insert ("knowingly").—(Lord Askwith.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD ASKWITH LORD ASKWITH moved to insert at the end of the clause:

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"(3) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply to surgical spirit sold by an authorised seller of poisons on registered premises or supplied by a duly qualified medical practitioner, registered dentist or registered veterinary surgeon for the purposes respectively specified in subsection (1) of Section nineteen of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, 1933, if the requirements of subsections (2) and (3) of the said section are complied with in relation to such sale or supply of surgical spirit in like manner as if it were a medicine."
The noble Lord said: The rest of the Amendments are consequential upon the first Amendment.
Amendment moved—
Page 2, line 21, at end insert the said new subsection.—(Lord Askwith.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 2:
Lists of persons entitled to sell methylated spirits.
2.—(1) Every local authority shall keep for the purposes of this Act a list containing the names of persons who are to be entitled (subject to the possession of the necessary excise licence), to sell methylated spirits or surgical spirit by retail, and specifying the premises on which such persons are respectively to he so entitled to sell, and subject as hereinafter provided, shall, on application in the prescribed form by any person having premises in the area of the authority to have his name and such premises entered in the list, enter the same therein:
LORD ASKWITH: The Amendment to this clause is to insert certain words after "persons."
Amendment moved—
Page 2, line 24, after ("persons") insert ("other than authorised sellers of poisons").—(Lord Askwith.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 3:
Excise licence for sale of methylated spirits not to be granted except on production of certificate of entry in list.
3. It shall not be lawful for any officer of Customs and Excise to grant or renew
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any excise licence for the sale by retail of methylated spirits unless the person applying for the grant or renewal of such licence produces a certificate issued under the hand of the clerk or other officer of a local authority that such person's name is in the list kept by that authority in pursuance of Section two of this Act.
LORD ASKWITH: The first Amendment to Clause 3, to insert certain words after "produces," is consequential.
Amendment moved—
Page 3, line 38, at end, insert ("either (a) a statutory declaration that he is an authorised seller of poisons and that the premises for which the licence is sought are registered premises or (b)").—(Lord Askwith.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
LORD ASKWITH: The next Amendment is also consequential.
Amendment moved—
Page 3, line 42, at end, insert ("in respect of the premises for which the licence is sought").—(Lord Ashwith.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Clause 3, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 4 and 5 agreed to.
Clause 6 [Interpretation]:
LORD ASKWITH: The last Amendment, to the Definition Clause, is merely to say what certain expressions mean.
Amendment moved—
Page 4, line 18, at end insert ("the expressions 'authorised seller of poisons,' 'registered dentist, 'and' registered veterinary surgeon,' have the like meanings as in the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, 1933, and the expression 'registered premises' means premises duly registered under Part I of that Act.").—(Lord Askwith.)
On Question, Amendment agreed to.
Clause 6, as amended, agreed to.
Remaining clauses agreed to.
House adjourned at twenty minutes past four o'clock.