§ THE CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES (THE EARL OF ONSLOW)had given Notice that he would move, That the Standing Orders relative to Private Bills and Special Orders be amended as follows: Standing Order 212, page 78, line 18, at end insert ("It is hereby declared that an Order requiring an Address to His Majesty by the House before it is made is for the purposes of this Order an Order requiring an affirmative Resolution.")
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, I beg to move the Motion which stands in my name. I think perhaps it requires just one word of explanation. As your Lordships are aware, all Special Orders which require an affirmative Resolution of both Houses of Parliament are submitted to the Special Orders Committee of your Lordships' House and a Report is made upon them to the House. Standing Order No. 212 specifies those Orders which require an affirmative Resolution of both Houses of Parliament. The other day an Order came before your Lordships' House which required an Address to His Majesty by the House before it was made. Obviously such a procedure is equivalent to an affirmative Resolution: it is moved in the House that an Address be presented to His Majesty to make the Order operative. A little doubt, however, arose as to whether the Standing Order does really require that such an Order should go before the Special Orders Committee. On my own responsibility I brought it before the Committee to ask their advice on the subject, and the unanimous opinion of the Committee was that such Special Orders requiring an humble Address to be presented should be considered to be of the same nature as Special Orders which require an affirmative Resolution. Therefore it was thought proper to bring an Amendment of Standing Order No. 212 1740 before your Lordships in order that the matter might be made perfectly clear.
§ I ought to make one further observation. The Military Manœuvres Act, 1897, was of course law for many years before the Special Order procedure was introduced into your Lordships' House. That Act requires an humble Address to be presented to His Majesty. The procedure is so well known that it was not thought necessary to raise this question in regard to the Military Manœuvres Act, which as far as I can ascertain is the only one which specifies this procedure. But when the procedure became used in other Acts it seemed necessary to bring it on to all fours with the existing procedure for Special Orders. In those circumstances I thought it proper, with the consent of the Special Orders Committee and their approval, to bring this Amendment before your Lordships, as I say, in order to bring the whole matter into line. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Standing Orders relative to Private Bills and Special Orders be amended as follows:
§ Standing Order 212, page 78, line 18, at end, insert ("It is hereby declared that an Order requiring an Address to His Majesty by the House before it is made is for the purposes of this Order an Order requiring an affirmative Resolution").—(The Earl of Onslow.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to, and ordered accordingly.