HL Deb 29 June 1938 vol 110 cc410-3

Constitution of Central Board.

1.—(1) …

(2) Of the representative members other than those appointed from among members of the area boards, one-half shall be persons who in the opinion of the Minister represent employers of workers to whom Part I of this Act applies and one-half shall be persons who in his opinion represent such workers, and before determining the number of such representative members and before appointing any such members the Minister shall consult any organisations appearing to him to represent such employers and workers respectively.

Supplementary Provisions as to Constitution of boards.

7. Subject as hereinafter provided a quorum shall not be formed at a meeting of the Central Board or of an area board unless there are present at least one-third of the whole number of members appointed to represent employers and at least one-third of the whole number of members appointed to represent workers, and in the case of a meeting of the Central Board at least one of the independent members:

Provided that if, at the end of half-an-hour after the time appointed for any such meeting, the quorum required by the foregoing provisions of this paragraph is not formed the meeting shall, in accordance with regulations made by the Minister, stand adjourned to a future day, and at the adjourned meeting a quorum shall be formed if at least one-third of the whole number of members of the board, exclusive of the independent members, is present and, in the case of the Central Board, at least one of the independent members is also present.

EARL HOWE moved, in sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 1, to leave out "before appointing any such members the Minister shall consult any organisations" and insert "the Minister shall appoint representative members on the nomination of organisations." The noble Earl said: This Amendment and the two which follow and stand in my name are put down in the hope of securing an assurance from the noble Lord that the Minister will appoint to the board the nominees of the representative organisations. The proposal in the Bill is that the Minister shall consult the organisations affected but that he will make his own appointments. Some of the organisations are somewhat anxious: they feel that while they may make nominations, their nominations may be disregarded. Experience has shown in connection with the National Joint Conciliation Board that it is necessary to get the full support of the road motor transport industry, and the Central Board and area boards should therefore be as completely representative as possible of the industry through its representative organisations and its nominated representatives serving on the Central and area boards. As I say, the purpose of the Amendments is to try to secure an assurance that any nominations made by the organisations concerned will receive the careful consideration of the Minister, and that the organisations will not be liable to find their nominations turned down.

Amendment moved— Page 17, line 22, leave out from ("and") to ("appearing") in line 23, and insert ("the Minister shall appoint representative members on the nomination of organisations").—(Earl Howe.)

LORD TEMPLEMORE

I am afraid I cannot accept these Amendments of the noble Earl. They have, of course, the object of substituting nomination for the system provided in the Bill, which we think is an essential part of the Bill: that representative members of the Central Board and area boards shall be appointed by the Minister after consultation with the organisations or area boards. In constituting the Central Board and area boards the Minister will have to be fully satisfied that they are representative of the interests concerned, and he will be under an obligation to consult the organisations of employers and workpeople. He will also be prepared to follow their advice and views to the fullest possible extent. By this means he will be able to constitute the boards in such a way that all the various interests will have adequate representation. Any system of nomination by organisations will not ensure this, particularly as I am informed that the organisations concerned with road haulage do not fully represent the industry. The Minister cannot delegate to the organisations a function which is properly his—namely, that of appointing members to the Board.

Similarly, he cannot delegate to eleven area boards his duty to ensure that as far as possible the Central Board shall be a proper representative body. We consider that the method proposed in the Bill is the only practicable one to ensure that the Central Board shall be a properly-balanced body reflecting fairly the just claims to representation of both A and B licence holders, of large and small employers and of the various types of trades and businesses affected by the decisions of the Central Board. Having said that, I realise the fears and apprehensions of the noble Earl, and I should like to do everything I can to remove them, although I do not think that there is any ground for them. I will undertake, if he will withdraw this Amendment, to look into this matter between now and the Report stage and see whether we can put in words to allay the apprehension of the noble Earl and of his friends.

EARL HOWE

I should like to thank the noble Lord yew much for his assurance, which I shall certainly accept, and to withdraw this Amendment and refrain from moving the others.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

LORD TEMPLEMORE moved, in the proviso in paragraph 7, after "formed," to insert "or if thereafter such a quorum ceases to be present." The noble Lord said: This is a small matter. Paragraph 7 of the First Schedule provides generally that the quorum at a meeting of the Central Board or of an Area Board shall be one-third of each side. The intention of the proviso to which the present Amendment is proposed was to prevent one side of the Board from holding up the proceedings of the Board indefinitely by refraining from attending the meeting. Under the proviso, however, it has been pointed out that it would be possible for one side to hold up the proceedings by attending at the beginning of a meeting and withdrawing before any business was done. The original provision and the present Amendment have the full approval of the organisations of employers and workers concerned. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 19, line 10, after ("formed") insert ("or if thereafter such a quorum ceases to be present").—(Lord Templemore.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

First Schedule, as amended, agreed to.

Second Schedule: